Today, on MLK Day, the White House released a document called “The 1776 Report.”
This “a-historical” document adds nothing to the actual historical record. In fact, on Page 1, it says this:
“Of course, neither America nor any other nation has perfectly lived up to the universal truths of equality, liberty, justice, and government by consent. But no nation before America ever dared state those truths as the formal basis for its politics, and none has strived harder, or done more, to achieve them.” (emphasis added)
Umm, yeah, okay, if you say so. But to release this trash on MLK Day is just one last trolling, one last kick in the groin, to Black people in particular, and to fair-minded non-racists in general. It is a parting shot on the way out the door that seeks to gloss over the realities of the horrors of our history as a nation.
Then there is also this little nugget. In these last days of the 45 Nightmare…I mean, Administration, he is rushing, no forcing through a new General Counsel of the NSA.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/17/politics/michael-ellis-nsa-general-counsel/index.html
Gee, what could go wrong? I won’t even speculate. But you should feel free to.
I bring these things up, not because I don’t think any of you knew about them, but rather, because I am pretty sure that you do know about them. MY question is, what do we do about them? What do we do about a nation wherein several elected officials are still, even in the wake of recent events, are still promoting the notion that the election was stolen. And they are apparently succeeding in their messaging—polls show that roughly 70% of Republicans claim to believe that Biden stole the election.
So, I can only see two options: either these elected officials and their tens of millions of supporters actually believe something for which there is simply NO actual evidence whatsoever, or they know that that’s BS and are using that as cover for their real agenda—to keep America a White/Far Right-controlled nation for as long as possible. So…what to do?
My somewhat tongue-in-cheek suggestion had been something like this: “upon further review, the ruling on the field at the Civil War is over-turned…y’all can go!” But as I think of it, does the abusive spouse typically file for divorce? I’m guessing not. So…maybe it’s up to US to leave. Maybe it makes sense for us to start thinking about what we want a free, fair, fact-and-science-based country to look like…and to create one!
What is the other option? To expect the ~72 million people who voted for 45 to suddenly “come to their (actually, to our) senses” and start to see the error of their ways? For them to start to see themselves as the “Bad Guys” who are in need of rescuing from their Darker Angels? Good luck with that!
We have learned a lot from the last 4 years, haven’t we? And one thing that I have learned is that there are far more people who want an entirely different future than I want than I had been aware of, and more than I am willing to live with as compatriots. Again, they are either entirely clueless, &/or in full denial (or, just an utter lack of empathy) of the implications of their actions and beliefs. But from where I sit, there is no shot at reconciliation here.
They are proud of themselves!
I’m not just talking about the insane fringe that stormed the Capitol. I’m talking about the tens of millions who, if there was an election today, would no doubt still vote for 45!
So, we need to start having some very hard, but I think, very real discussions about what a new, divided nation might look like. Where would we live, and which parts of the country would we concede to them? There do seem to be way more of us than there are of them, so we should have much more physical land than we leave behind, but we would need to have some type of national vote to see how many people want to remain behind, and how many want to be a part of the New American Experiment? (Hey, maybe “New America” will be our new name?)
A few other key questions: how long would we allow people to move, freely, from one nation to the other before their citizenship status becomes “permanent.” Would we both keep using the same currency, just as most of Europe does with the Euro? What about things that cross back and forth over the borders between the two nations—rivers, mountains, clean air, oil pipelines, etc?
Most of the other trappings of government will take some serious negotiations—starting with the nukes and military might, of course. I would expect/hope to maintain an open border and a peaceful neighbor status…like we have with Canada. But I really think it’s time to move on.
Please don’t look at this as a bad thing. The new nation we create really can seek to achieve what the words of the Founding Fathers always spoke of—but never came close to implementing. And maybe, just maybe, one day, the people we’ll be leaving behind (in what might still be called the United States of America) will see why we left…and why our way is “better.” But I’m not holding my breath on that one. And as for remaining in a “marriage” of citizenship with them? I’m done. I don’t see any reason for it. I don’t see any path forward.
But (maybe) that’s just me…what do you think?