Now more than ever

In 2011/2012, I lived in California. Ventura County, to be precise. Among the strawberry fields of Camarillo.

At the time, I was sole caregiver for my mother, who was dying of Alzheimer’s and its related physical destruction. For a few years, she had been stabilized by a regimen of powerful meds, and those meds were losing their efficacy. That awful disease slowly ate away her brain, with random, unpredictable effects on her physical wellbeing.

As I watched dementia slowly kill my mother, I also watched in horror as the Tea Party and its adherents worked to overthrow American democracy.

Even in that Democratic stronghold, I saw signs that the Tea Party’s grip on our United States of America was not loosening. Rush Limbaugh, Ted Cruz, and Paul Ryan were leading an assault against everything we held dear. Debate devolved into shouting matches. Tea Party disciples put forward political arguments that made no political sense whatever. And few people called them on it.

When Mitt Romney became the GOP presidential candidate for the 2012 election, many celebrated what appeared to be a return to common sense and decency. Mitt showed up at debates, starched white shirt and red tie, speaking softly and firmly. From all appearances, we had two civilized men vying for the top spot in Washington, DC.

But with Mitt Romney, it was then, always had been, and likely still is about appearances. Behind the scenes, he ridiculed those not in his tax bracket. His campaign sent out fundraising letters, scathingly insulting to anyone outside his revered 1% base. He wanted to be Eisenhower, but his heart bled Tea Party.

That election scared me bad enough that I started a blog called 2012 and beyond. It was on a platform that is now all but defunct. If I Google the titles of those posts, together with my name, the results are on the tenth or eleventh page of search results.

This past week, I mentioned those old essays to my long-time friend Gwen. Told her I was thinking about reposting them, because they were still valid. If anything, now more than ever. Gwen: Why don’t you name your new blog “Now More Than Ever?” Because, yes.

That is therefore what I am doing. Because this election, twelve years after the one that scared me so badly, is even more important. What Tea Party agitators started fifteen or so years ago built on the legacy of Reaganomics that rewarded the rich simply for being rich. Reaganomics quietly stripped away our social safety net, constructed with care and compassion since FDR led the country out of the Great Depression – an economic collapse that was caused by the very principles that Reaganomics, Tea Party, and now MAGA are trying to reinstate.

Note: I've taken down the Substack blog, but the essays will continue! Now more than ever...

A few points of order.

First, I am writing these political posts separate and apart from my work with Center for White Rose Studies. Writing about German resistance during the Shoah is my longtime legacy, one that should outlast anything on today's political horizon.

I am doing so, because as I interviewed White Rose family members and friends from 1994-2007, they begged me not to allow the heroism of their loved ones to be used for political matters. I have honored their request for thirty years, and I am not about to renege now.

White Rose essays, posted on Passing the Torch, will continue to focus on the informed dissent and resistance those (mostly) young people undertook, for which they were willing to sacrifice their lives. There, you will read a great deal about justice, about freedom of speech, about standing up against crimes against humanity, about doing what’s right even when it’s hard, about thinking through one’s political views. Passing the Torch will steadfastly withstand the temptation to turn those musings into Democratic versus Republican, SPD versus CSU, socialism versus democracy, West versus East, Catholic versus Protestant versus agnostic.

And yet – even more so than in 2012, I am compelled to give voice to my thoughts, to call out wrongheaded and unjust legislation and rhetoric. I have to do something to prevent our country, based on democratic, republican ideals, from becoming an authoritarian, theocratic state that oppresses all who are Others. I cannot wait for someone else.

My voice must join those calling for a return to civil discourse and debate, for working together shoulder to shoulder to make this country a better place for all of us.

Second, what you will and will not find in these posts.

You will not find a daily digest of political events. For that, follow Heather Delaney Reese or Heather Cox Richardson. they compile daily news, Delaney Reese in narrative format, Cox Richardson like a professor.
You will not find the passionate approach of Jack Hopkins , the biting satire of JoJoFromJerz, the insightful political cartoons and commentary of Andy Borowitz or Liza Donnelly. I highly recommend those writers and others who post mostly-original commentary about the current state of affairs.
You will not find detailed analysis of legislation, legal proceedings, military engagements, political science, journalism, or constitutional matters. I’ll leave that sort of analysis to people who are better schooled in those topics. At this point, I am not even recommending anyone, because it's discouraging when analyses are shallow.
You will find inclusion of information and commentary from Adam Kinzinger, Liz Cheney, George Conway and other Republicans who have joined in the call for civil discourse and debate. I appreciate their commitment to our democracy, even though I will continue to disagree with some of their policy ideas. Democracy means dialog, and we need to return to that basic concept.
You will find my observations of parallels between Germany after World War I (the Weimar Republic era), the rise of Nazism, and Hitler’s slow but insistent marginalization of The Other.
You will find personal application of political actions. Politics is nothing if not personal.

Finally, if you disagree with my conclusion or logic, great! Please note that in the comments. Civilly. – If something I wrote gives you an aha! moment, great! Every writer loves to hear about those moments from their readers. – If I get a fact or date or cite wrong, not so great, but please advise me of the errata in comments. Civilly.

My goal is not to generate yet another political blog with a heavy-handed agenda. Enough of those out there. I'm tired of them. I'm betting you are too.

These essays are all free. That said, if you learn something from any of them and want to leave me a tip, you'll encourage me to keep writing. God knows, we insecure writers need encouragement!

But even more important: Adding another voice calling for an end to the destruction of our country that began with Reaganomics and has only worsened since. We cannot afford to keep silent. We cannot just hope that the election in November 2024 turns out all right.

Now more than ever, we need to do something to ensure this priceless democracy of ours is handed down to our grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and generations to come.

Now more than ever.

Questions? Comments? Speak your mind below. Before doing so, please log in using the email address that corresponds to your orders or newsletter subscription. Note: MARKDOWN is the app's label for formatting shortcuts.

If you enjoyed this post and would like to leave me a tip, I would be grateful! Buy Me A Coffee!

Return to Common Table index.

Image credits: Top photograph--Strawberry fields of Camarillo, California. © 2011 Denise Elaine Heap. Bottom photograph--9/11 remembrance, Pepperdine University. © 2012 Denise Elaine Heap. Please contact me for permission to use either photograph.

No part of this post may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the copyright holder, except for the “fair use” of quotations that are properly cited and credited, including identification of the translator if applicable. No part of this post may be included in any Large Language Model without proper licensing from the copyright holder, Denise Elaine Heap.