The Hope: The Elders, the Women, and the Strength of the Fourth Branch

Fox News conducted a recent poll which showed that we are getting fatigued. We are simply tired about politics under the TЯUMP administration. I've been at this blog for almost 3 years – this is my 134th post – and I get it. It's hard to keep up with the news, period. It's hard to maintain the energy to be outraged and it's hard to work up the energy to act on that outrage.

But you know what? We must.

We must keep going. We must read the news every day. We must learn about the law, the Constitution, and we must not ever let this indecency get normalized.

I appreciate my readers for continuing this journey with me, even through the fatigue, the anger, the worry, and the dismay. I've always tried to put a positive spin on our outlook. It's important to feel both the anger and the hope. The anger can be useful; it can spur us toward action. But we shouldn't stay in the anger; that could become damaging. We must not become indifferent either. The minute we become complacent or unmoved, we will lose our Republic. Let's hold on to the hope. We have had honor in our government, and we can get there again.

Let's take a break and look for the hope and the inspiration: those leaders who can guide us through this mire of anger and fatigue.


The Elders

Oh! President Jimmy Carter! May we grow up to be like you! President Carter is 95 years old, and he is still working every single day making houses for Habitat for Humanity. The organization was founded in 1973 by a Georgia couple, and President and Mrs. Carter were early supporters. President Carter continues to build houses every day. He hasn't let cancer or broken bones slow him down. Even this week, when on Sunday he took a fall and sustained a facial injury that required 14 stitches. This remarkable man, along with his wife Rosalynn, was back at the job site a day later, hammer in hand, to build another house for the underprivileged.

Here's a snapshot of their project from last year.





He has been mostly quiet about our current president* and all the horseshit emanating from the White House, but this week he spoke up, in his gentle manner as always. He gave an interview to Andrea Mitchell of MSNBC.



Jimmy Carter is a good man. He is deeply religious, but will stand up for what is right, including leaving a church when it is the right thing to do. Christians can find inspiration in him.

Congressman John Lewis (D-GA), age 79, lived through the worst of the Civil Rights Era. He walked alongside Martin Luther King, Jr. during the 1960s. Mr. Lewis was brutally beaten more than once, but he kept getting up, fighting for the greater good. And he continues to fight, working hard for the citizens of Georgia's 5th Congressional district, and for all of us as a member of the House Ways and Means Committee.

Barbara Bush sadly died last year at age 92, but she was truly an inspiration and a patriot. She was the second woman to be both the wife and the mother of U.S. presidents, the first being Abigail Adams. She worked tirelessly for literacy, and in 2016 she was not afraid to speak loudly -- but gently -- about the scumbag that was about to be nominated as the Republican candidate for president.




Jane Goodall, at age 85, is still working for global conservation. She has been working all her life to protect chimpanzees, and has inspired millions to conserve the natural world all around us. And she hasn't stopped.

There are many women who inspire us. Michele Obama, for one. If you haven't read her memoir yet, grab it. Her story is inspirational, uplifting, and quintessentially American. Her influence has even been able to soften me at the personal level (not on the second-worst-presidential-level) of George W. Bush with their sweet friendship.

Michelle Obama has helped change the world. What a powerful woman! 

We can look to other young, powerful women for hope:

Greta Thunberg, the 16-year-old who within a year turned her one-person school strike protesting climate change into a world-wide movement, inspiring millions around the globe to demand and work toward change. This 16-year-old has met with world leaders and faced off with some of the most bullying among them.

Greta Thunberg

Mari Copeny, "Little Miss Flint," 12 years old, of Flint, Michigan, has been leading the fight for clean water in her community since she was 8 years old.

Malala Yousafzai, who won the Nobel Peace Prize at age 17, has inspired millions in her quest for equal education and women's rights in Pakistan and around the world.

Ten-year-old Bana al-Abed has been raising awareness about Syrian refugees. This young activist has also spoken to world leaders and educated and inspired many about the plight of children in war zones.

Jazz Jennings, 19, has been a stalwart advocate for transgender youngsters and all who are in the LGBTQ community.

Indiginous Canadian and "Water Warrior" Autumn Peltier, age 15, has been working toward ensuring clean water in indigenous communities across Canada.

Emma Gonzales led the way for gun reform after her high school in Parkland, Florida experienced a deadly mass shooting. Who can forget her 6 minute, 20 seconds of silence – equal to the amount of time it took the gunman to murder 17 of her schoolmates – during her powerful speech after the shootings.






Women are at the forefront of our progress as a nation. From the courageous women running for – and winning – elected office, to the the young activists who inspire and spur us toward action, women have a special gift for leading. Women have important traits, like empathy, cooperation, nurturing, connection, thoughtfulness, and sensitivity.

Women leaders guide us to more collaboration and less war; more compassion and less greed; more deliberation and fewer hasty decisions; more consideration and less power struggle. Women who harness these traits are powerful forces.

And they scare the jeebus out of men like the Orange Scourge. These women are often the brunt of bullying and mocking, but they deflect that shit like Wonder Woman and are not slowed down a bit. Let them inspire us.

Sasha Brown-Worsham, writing for The Guardian about our young female leaders, encapsulates old white men's terror: "What would happen if teenage girls were actually allowed to feel good about themselves? What if we allowed them to have their interests with no shame? They might rise up and change everything. And that scares a certain kind of man."

The rest of us, men and women, old and young, activist and dreamer, can and will change the nation. As Rebecca Solnit wrote in a sobering and powerful essay, we are in dangerous times, but there is hope. The forefathers were wise, creating three co-equal branches of government, and today it seems like it is almost breaking. But in their infinite wisdom, they created another. We the People have power. We the fourth branch of government, and we can tip the scales. Our demands will be met. But we must make them.

Pay attention. Get angry. Act.

#Hope! 




Want to help directly? (As always, research charities before sending your hard-earned dough!)

Habitat for Humanity
Jane Goodall Institute
Environmental Defense Fund
Flint Water Fund: United Way
Malala Fund
Navajo Water Project
Parkland Cares
Everytown.org
Emily's List


**Special thanks to my sister resisters Pagrs and Karen for giving me articles and inspiration!**