It Will Take a Tidal Wave

How can this be? It’s a question many are asking right now. It’s said that a clear majority of the American people want more gun control. A clear majority are said to support a woman’s right to choose. And yet, the Supreme Court and the legislators in half the states seem out of touch. Why? The simple answer is, it was allowed to be this way.

Math is cruel. It doesn’t care what would be nice or what is supposed to happen. It’s what is. When it comes to elections, it’s all about numbers.

No, it isn’t, you may say. In many states, there is gerrymandering, there are restrictions on who is a registered voter, who can vote by mail, how many ballot drop boxes there are and where they are located. In the Senate, there is the filibuster. And then there is the seeming precedent that the party that is out of power wins back the power in a midterm election.

The President is right. Abortion is on the ballot in November. Those who support the right to abortion will have to elect enough legislators to codify it in federal law. But what about all the obstacles that would seem to nullify a fair count?

I have an analogy for this, which is also a little cruel, but I believe it applies. Think back to the great Japanese earthquake of 2011. It spawned a huge tidal wave rolling across northern portions of that country. Aerial shots showed the wave erasing everything in its path. There was no man-made barrier that could hold it back.

The current Supreme Court abortion ruling is no surprise. We even had a leaked opinion weeks ago. The composition of the Court itself isn’t a surprise either, nor is the composition of the legislatures in many states.

The wake-up calls have been loud and frequent. The court ruling is just the latest. It’s becoming clear that we came within a hair’s breadth a while back of losing this democracy, and November’s election, only four months away, may be the last opportunity to save it. Those who oppose the status quo have to show up in such numbers that, just like that Japanese tidal wave, they will overwhelm all barriers, leaving no question about what most Americans really want. This is the only pathway to change. There is simply no other solution.

 

Is Mike Pence a Hero?

 I put this question to my Facebook friends following the latest January 6th Select Committee hearing, and as you might expect, it resulted in quite a discussion.

For many, Mike Pence has been a national joke. He is known for calling his wife “Mother” and his refusal to be in the company of another woman unless Mother is there. But we also remember him for his seemingly robotic adherence to the wishes of President Donald Trump during their mutual term in office.

Until January 6th, 2021, that is, when he pushed back on Trump’s incessant and demeaning pressure that he not certify the 2020 electoral votes, a ceremonial but necessary function to seal the victory of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as the new President and Vice President. Trump claimed the election was stolen from him, and the extremists who broke into the Capitol on 1/6 screamed their intention to kill Pence for his plan to proceed with the ceremony.

Pence was in hiding in the Capitol for more than four and a half hours. The murderous mob never found him, but at one point was only about 40 feet away. Even Pence’s own Secret Service chief insisted that the Vice President get into a waiting car to be driven to safety, but Pence, not knowing where that car might take him, refused. After authorities regained control of the Capitol, Pence proceeded with the ceremony, completing the electoral vote certification with a joint session of Congress in the wee hours of January 7th.

What is a hero? There are those whose decades of unyielding bravery in battle or against other forms of opposition earn them that title. But then there are people who have led otherwise unremarkable lives, yet do a single brave thing exactly when it is  needed.

Critics have pointed out that while Pence eventually stepped up to do his duty, it was only after he had consulted with others, like former Vice President and fellow Indianan Dan Quayle, to find out if there were any legal way to do what Trump wanted. Quayle, and Pence’s own legal advisors, insisted there wasn’t, so Pence went on to do the right thing, directly defying Trump. It is my feeling that in history books, if there are still such things in the future, Pence will go down as having saved the republic, for that moment, at least.

Pence may now  seek to run for President himself. I don’t plan to vote for him. But I’m not laughing at him anymore.

 

We ARE Seeing the Movie

  

One of my unpursued dream careers in life is that of a Hollywood casting director. After major news events, I was always wondering who might play whom in the inevitable feature film. I was sometimes disappointed when the movie came out, and I thought a key figure in the actual news story had been miscast. Why didn’t they pick X?

The goal of many docudramas is to show us what went on behind the scenes in major news stories. We know the basics of each event, but it takes either a long investigative New Yorker-type article to connect the dots or some PBS TV show like Frontline or American Experience. Most of us however, will wait for the feature film to do it.

The difference between the January 6th incident and say, Watergate, is that in the modern one, there seem to be fewer behind-the-scenes moments. The scenes are right in front of us, documented from almost every angle, enhanced by an actual filmmaker’s work. We have seen much of this saga already, and more is coming. A feature film would be kind of a pale afterthought, not like All the President’s Men.

Take the committee hearings themselves. Who could play Liz Cheney besides Liz Cheney, or Bennie Thompson, or any of the Proud Boys, General Milley, Ivanka Trump, or Capitol police officer Caroline Edwards, without leaving us a little disappointed? Even Saturday Night Live might not work now, largely because nothing is funny about all this anymore, least of all Donald Trump. Are the days of spoofing him over?

A good deal of the case against him for interfering with the peaceful transfer of presidential power doesn’t even need proving. There is the tape of him asking the Georgia election boss to find him 11,780 votes. And there is the fact that he did virtually nothing to stop the riot.

Look, I understand that January 6th is beginning to fade in importance when compared to inflation, the economic and social upheavals caused by the pandemic, mass shootings, and the war in Ukraine. All the more reason to hope that we can stop talking about Mr. Trump and see him just go away, But it seems like he is going to have to be PUT away. Will the remaining hearings in Washington help get that done? I think there’s time to head out to the theater lobby and get a refill on the popcorn.