Begone, Begone, Chicken Little, You Have No Power Here

 

Words have power. Their meaning crystallizes perceptions that shape our beliefs, drive our behavior, and ultimately, create our world. Their power arises from our emotional responses when we read, speak, or hear them.

--found on The Google

Upon reading this, you may be saying, "Thank you, Captain Obvious.  OF COURSE words have power.  Have you been living under a rock the past four years?"

Sometimes I wish. 

Like so many, my frustrations and anxieties lie not solely in awaiting election results.  My biggest wonder from the election of Donald J. Trump--how did we as a country get to this place and what was my role in this descendancy--has been on its own personal journey.  For the main, I'm admitting to having lost significant faith in my fellow man and my country, absolutely in the Republican party.  Hope has been a commodity in short supply.  During the run up to the election, I listened religiously to podcasts from Pod Save America; The Lincoln Project; Throughline; Al Franken; Talking Feds; Michelle Obama; The Argument.  (I also take the words of Dr. Michael Osterholm on the Osterholm Update as gospel.)

Ah ha, there, see, doing so is fueling my lack of faith in others and the country since these are voices which resonate with my own beliefs.  To that end, I permitted myself to harbor hope that these pundits and talking heads were right.  As a country, we'd had enough.  Polls told us a blue wave was right over the horizon.

As a child, one of my adult children (and I can't recall which one but I'm thinking it might be He Who Must Not Be Named) used to ask me: "Fool me a trick."

Well, if many of us didn't get fooled a trick.  With presidential election results pending, one thing is clear:  America remains a divided nation.  I read an article yesterday about the conference call Nancy Pelosi had with Democratic members of the house.  One person on the call, who was permitted to speak with anonymity (how does that happen?), felt that the spin the Speaker put on election results was nothing more than putting lipstick on a pig.

I continually circle back to my role in this, because, whether you're comfortable with this premise or not, my personal belief is we are all culpable for where America stands today.  For the past four years, I took what, retrospectively, was the Minnesota Nice approach.  Listen.  Nod.  Find a way to gently tell someone you don't necessarily share their viewpoint, when what you really wanted to do was scream in their face, "YOU ARE A FUCKING MORON."  Or, at least I did.  

Below is the photograph which moved me to write this post this morning.  It is taken by Pete Souza, posted on his Instagram account @petesouza.  He was the Presidential photographer for both Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama.  I highly recommend the documentary about Pete that showed on MSNBC.  If this doesn't capture graphically where we have devolved as a country, I'm not sure what would.

This morning a flurry of social media posts insisting that Democrats have stolen this election from Donald J. Trump popped up.  Typically, especially if they come from people I know personally, I bypass them, usually, I'll admit, with a sigh and/or head smack.  Today Chicken Little popped into my head as I read one from our Minnesotan newly elected Michelle--Fischbach, not Bachmann--propagating a baseless argument: If we haven't seen evidence of fraudulence, that only means it's really, truly, pinky swear out there and given enough time (Ronna McDaniel, RNC Chair), by God, we'll find it!  (AKA the virus is going away, give it enough time, it'll go away argument)

Isn't this Chicken Little in a nutshell?  The sky is falling?  Or RBG's infamous you don't throw away an umbrella in a rainstorm just because you're not getting wet yet?  

It's time, fellow listeners who continue to work overtime to understand those who we find misinformed (and who we absolutely know, in return, believe we, too, are equally misinformed), to call BS.  I loved the character Cliff Clavin on Cheers, but even his fellow bar mates, well soused, knew enough to call out Cliffy when he went too far.  (My personal favorite, from Sam: "What color is the sky in your world, Cliff?").  I am a member of POEM--Professional Organization of English Majors.  We studied not only the need for documentation of facts, but also how to correctly format these references!  COME ON, PEOPLE!

I'm naming this my Chicken Little Response™ and I'm going to practice it over and over until it becomes my elevator speech because I don't think our silence and attempts to understand are getting our country anywhere.  If we don't stand up against this BS...who will?  If we don't demand truth and justice, who will?

As a public service, allow me to offer it to you:

I need to read the fact based evidence with documentation, not simply hear someone say  evidence exists. That’s the Chicken Little Response™ and I firmly believe it is causing irreparable damage to the country we all love. It’s time we move past this, with all due respect.

This election is reminding us that hope was not an option.  Neither is silence and listening can only take us so far. I'll continue to listen while challenging myself.  You're welcome to take the challenge as well.

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