Don't Turn Away

September. 1980. Elkhart, Indiana.

Immediately following college graduation, I moved to Washington, DC where I landed a job with my Congressman, a Democrat, who represented my hometown comprising what was then the 3rd District of northern Indiana. He held a prominent House leadership spot of Majority Whip, a position he served for 4 years, placing him immediately behind the Majority Leader and Speaker of the House. His rise in power was a boon to the manufacturing cities in Northern Indiana.

The 3rd CD included not only my hometown of Elkhart, but also rural agriculture-heavy areas and South Bend, the most populous and the seat of both Saint Mary’s College and Notre Dame University.

The 3rd District by today’s standards, was ruby red. But not by today’s standards, people registered as Democrats or Republicans, voted for the candidate they believed best represented their values, regardless of party affiliation. Then Democrats held nationally, majorities in the House and Senate. Democrat Jimmy Carter was President, serving his first term. A trifecta

So it was then that September, I left the safe and comforting bubble of Washington, D.C., returning home to work on my boss’ campaign. His opponent was a 25 year-old, pro-choice candidate with absolutely zero political or policy experience and limited business experience. Game on.

Returning home after a day on the campaign trail, I was met at the door by my Mom. In her hand was a mimeographed sheet, the pungent smell of the purple ink on the thick paper, hanging in the air.

As my Mom recounted, two very nondescript, unassuming women knocked on the door in the middle of the afternoon. Two women were about to speak to a proud and unapologetic, dyed-in-the-wool, card-carrying Democrat, who had voted Democrat her entire life. Their message —- Her Congressman was a baby-killer and a gay-lover, both rejected by the “Bible.” His opponent was in fact, a God-fearing man and a far better choice. The only choice.

The mimeographed paper they handed her had paragraph-after-paragraph, bullet-pointed, listing the sins of abortion and gayness. My Mom was lectured for nearly an hour of the disdain God, The Father, had for her Congressman and for the people who supported him. My Mom denounced their hate speech, they cloaked under their faith and reinforced her unyielding support for her Congressman. Nothing they could say would change her mind.

That document of 1980, of course, was riddled with lies and disinformation.

As my Mom recounted what had occurred, I will admit I dismissed out-of-hand, her encounter, thinking these women had no real power behind them, instead neighborhood volunteers, religious zealots, looking to intimidate voters. She disagreed vehemently, predicting this was only the beginning. The women were passionate about their message. She countered the women were by no means acting alone. In fact they had a well-funded, organized and structured movement behind them. They were there at the blessing of Jerry Falwell. While I had only a cursory knowledge of who the hell this guy Jerry Falwell was, my Mom was fully aware of him and the “movement” he was creating.

Hence the Presidential election of 1980 gave birth to the dawning of the Moral Majority Movement. (More on that later.)

In the end, Ronald Regan went on to win overwhelmingly, his election forever referred to as the “Regan Landslide.” And my Congressman, who served in the U.S. House of Representatives for 22 years, lost 55%-45% —- to a man wholly supported and funded by the Moral Majority, elected on a pile of lies.

I will never forgive myself for ignoring those early warning signs of what was to come over the next 40 years, nor will I forgive myself for doubting my Mom and her prescient premonition. If only she was here at this moment. I would give her the biggest, strongest hug, and tell her she was right.

January. 2025. Washington, DC.

It is now 4:00pm on Monday, January 20th in Washington, DC. The 47th President of the United States of America, the most powerful position on the planet Earth, was sworn in four hours ago.

I sincerely understand and by no means judge the millions of citizens who refused to tune in to the Inaugural events. Nor those who have sworn off watching even a second of cable news. No one can be blamed, because listening to him, about him and all Trump pundit analysis, is far worse than nails on a blackboard.

It’s not just a matter of being disparaged by the outcome of the November election. It goes so much deeper than that. There is an extreme-right information ecosystem that has purposely fed hundreds upon millions of Americans lies, disinformation and misinformation for decades. (More on this topic later.) There is no solid infrastructure in place to counter anything within that extreme-right information ecosystem. There are no leaders within the Democratic party or otherwise, willing to step up to challenge even one word the 47th President and his surrogates. It is non-stop, unrelenting propaganda.

Too many Democrats within the party and elected leadership are too risk-averse to confront the constant barrage of outright lies from Trump’s lips. It’s not about being “anti-Trump.” More like “anti-lies” and “here’s the truth/facts.” It’s not about leaders standing up to convince the other side/present them with facts, hoping to change their minds. Rather, it’s about speaking truth to the people. If we had done that over the course of the 2024 election, more than a few would have been better educated on policies implemented by the Biden administration, countering what was being fed over the airwaves and social media platforms.

It’s almost as if those-in-the-know are waiting, foolishly, for him to fail, for his administration to fail. If that is the strategy, we are going to do so at our own peril and will forever lose. We need a plan.

Over the last nine plus years, we have waited. Waited for the Mueller investigation. Waited for the Mueller Report. Waited for his first impeachment. Waited for his second impeachment. Waited for Merrick Garland. Waited for the Documents case. Waited for the Georgia Election Interference case. Waited for Americans to understand what they were voting for if they chose Donald Trump. Waited for Americans to come to their senses. Waited for an election. Waited. Waited. Waited. No one came to save us.

So we turn away.

As cringe as the prospect may be, if we are to save ourselves for what is in store over the next four years, we cannot look away. We must be aware, play close attention and educated about what we are up against, what injustices need to be preserved, who of our brothers and sisters need protecting, what constitutional and individual rights are being violated and unchecked corruption. Because what should be painfully obvious, no one, absolutely no one, is coming to our rescue. It is up to each and every one of us. That is if preserving our republic is a priority.

Find your community. A book club. Social media platform. Church group. Breakfast or lunch club. Gaming Club. Friday night club. Wherever you and your tribe gather.

Because if the threat of losing our representative democracy, its institutions, its protections, is more important to you than the threat of losing access to a social media app, then the next four years is your moment.