August 9, 2020
As the pandemic rages on during the dog days of summer, we are increasingly gripped by a sense of hopelessness. Spurred by the twin accelerants of Trump’s criminal indifference to American deaths and the toxic selfishness of Americans who refuse to endure the minimal discomfort of wearing masks to save lives, the case count and the death toll keep climbing.
Those of us in the Northeast who endured months of strict lockdown, only to see it frittered away by corrupt partisan hacks who disdained science, are now facing at least six more months of working remotely, if we’re lucky enough to be able to do so. College students are looking at another entirely virtual semester, evaluating whether sitting in their childhood bedrooms in front of their laptop is worth the thousands of dollars in tuition that schools are still charging.
Despite the economic devastation caused by this entirely preventable crisis, neither Congressional Republicans nor The White House has agreed to a recovery package on the scale required to help millions of struggling Americans, (Source: “As Jobs Report Looms, White House and Congress Say Stark Divisions Remain Over Stimulus Plan,” by Emily Cochrane and Jim Tankersley, The New York Times, 8/6/20). Instead, Trump has pursued a rogue strategy of dubious legality, issuing a raft of executive orders that will do nothing to help small businesses, lower and middle income workers or strapped state governments, (Source: “Trump’s Go-it-Alone Stimulus Won’t Do Much to Lift the Recovery,” by Jim Tankersley, The New York Times, 8/8/20).
Our best hope of getting out of this quagmire and setting the country on a path to normalcy is to get rid of Trump and of every Republican elected official, yet, while we are buoyed by polls showing Biden leading Trump nationally and in key battleground states, powerful steps are being taken to thwart the will of the majority and permanently entrench minority rule in this country.
On Thursday, the Director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center confirmed that, as it did in 2016, Russia is engaging in a “range of measures” aimed at helping Trump to be re-elected, (Source: “Russia Continues Interfering in Election to Try to Help Trump, U.S. Intelligence Says,” by Julian E. Barnes, The New York Times, 8/8/20). Yet despite this intelligence and the fact that Trump was impeached over his effort to secure foreign help in his reelection bid, Republicans have repeatedly blocked election security measures introduced by Democrats.
The machinations of Trump-appointed Postmaster General, Louis DeJoy, are sabotaging this vital organ of our democracy at a critical time when scores of Americans will be voting by mail in order to safeguard their health. DeJoy’s elimination of overtime has led to mail delays and his Friday night massacre which “reassigned or displaced” 23 top Postal Service executives make clear that his mandate, like that of every Trump appointee, is to hollow out and cripple the Postal Service from within, (Source: “Postal Service overhauls leadership as Democrats press for investigation of mail delays,” by Jacob Bogage, The Washington Post, 8/7/20).
As with all Trump attacks on democracy, these moves are not hidden and they are not subtle. We cannot afford to be paralyzed by shock or fear. Our job is to be clear eyed about the array of obstacles being thrown in our path and steely in our determination to overcome them. If the mail is intentionally being delayed, mobilize to get absentee ballots early. If we have to face long lines to vote in person, mobilize armies of lawyers to protect those voters, along with volunteers to provide masks, hand sanitizers and water so that people can be as safe as possible. A lot of us say that we will crawl through broken glass to vote Trump out. Be ready, because before this is over we just might have to.
#VOTE
#NAACPLDF.org
#LawyersCommitteeforCivilRights
Clear eyed and steely determination is the order of the day!