A couple of years ago my grandson was attending a charter school for the first time. He was interested in farming and agriculture and this looked like a good option. The majority of families that farm in the southwest part of the state tend to be conservative and Christian, which I respect. Heck, I grew up in Utah and conservative is an identity that people wear on their lapel. On this particular day, my daughter asked if I could pick my grandson up from school and whenever I get the chance to spend time with my grandsons, I do it.
I waited in the pick-up line as each car slowly inched forward towards the line of kids. I spotted him amongst all the other children. He grinned and waved when he saw my face. Pulling the handle of the car, he hopped in asking if Starbucks might be an option. I’m a sucker, so I told him “Of course!” and off we went in search of the nearest Starbucks Mango Dragon Fruit Lemonade Refresher (no ice).
As usual, I asked about his day, what he learned, favorite classes, worst part of the day, you get the picture. This is one kid that has always had something to say and I’m impressed with his insights. He is willing to talk about complex subjects, give his opinion and listen, which are important qualities in life if you want to have any small slice of success. Somehow we got on the subject of religion and he explained to me that most of the kids in his class were Christians, but he had decided that he wasn’t sure he believed in God and had said so, outloud. I raised my eyebrows and asked how that statement had gone over with his classmates.
“A couple of kids told me I was going to hell for saying I didn’t believe in God.” he said, looking over at me.
“What did you say?” I was genuinely interested to know how this ten year old kid handled what some adults might consider peer pressure and a very challenging situation.
“I said that if I believed in hell it would be a problem, but I don't, so it's not.” He looked at me and grinned then continued. “I didn’t think it was very Christian of them either, I mean, what would Jesus do?”
I was stunned at how quickly he had taken what had been an insult away from them, and taken his own power in hand. This from a ten year old. I agreed with him, that their comments hadn’t been very Christ-like and we proceeded to talk about ways to stand up for ourselves and others when they are being bullied. This is a hard kid to bully. He has already figured out something that many of us haven’t learned yet, the art of not accepting another person’s bullshit.
Why am I telling this story? At this moment we have a President that has proclaimed to the world that many of the people living in the United States are not worthy of acknowledgement or respect. He is scrubbing “DEI” from every public entity and bullying private companies to do the same and we are outraged, but I hate to tell you folks, he is doing it anyway and he doesn’t care. Neither do most of our Republican officials, or at least they are too afraid to speak out for fear of being targeted. I think we need to change our perspective. Remember the story of The Grinch Who Stole Christmas?
“The Grinch, (Trump & Musk) sour, solitary creatures with hearts "two sizes too small" live on a mountain overlooking Whoville, (the United States) the home of the Whos (We The People). Having been annoyed by Whoville's noisy Christmas festivities for years,(or Liberal Merriment of any kind) the Grinch pair resolve to stop Christmas or anything that includes Diversity, Equity or Inclusion from being celebrated. They disguise themselves as Santa Claus and travel to Whoville on a sleigh pulled by their dog, Max (GOP). Slinking down the chimney of the first house on the square, the Grinch pair steal all of the presents, the food for the feast, and even the Christmas tree along with MLK Day, Black history month, Women in Science, Dept. of Education, USAID, Meals on Wheels, Immigrants, and anything that annoys them. They are briefly interrupted by Cindy-Lou Who, (Civil Servants) but they concoct a crafty lie (buy-out or get fired) to send her away.
After doing the same to the other Whos' (duped but hopeful Republicans) houses, the two Grinches take their sleigh to the peak of Mount Crumpit and prepare to dump all of the stolen items into an abyss (the 1%’s pockets). As morning arrives, they expect to hear the Whos crying, but are surprised to hear them singing a joyous Christmas/Everything named above, song instead.”
Trump and Musk are our version of The Grinch, and the GOP in office is the hapless dog Max attempting to pull the sleigh up the mountainside. They think if they erase words, ideas will die with them. They are wrong.
What is happening right now is a sense of entitlement from the GOP, attempting to erase history, people, pride and anything that doesn’t represent what they believe is the way forward. They want us to feel overwhelmed, tired and afraid. There is a firehose of actions from the right that are meant to distract from their actual goal. While we are chasing insults, they are dismantling the government. We are not obligated to accept their shit. They are not entitled to our happiness and I suggest we don’t give it to them. Make a plan, call your senators and representatives and let them know where you stand on the issues. There is a terrific app called 5 Calls. Download it on your phone and use it. Get to know your neighbors, help out in your community and don’t isolate yourself. We have the power, let’s not give it away.