Now that wasn’t so hard. We won again!
AP: “Government Shut Down Averted as Congress Rejects Trumps Debt Limit Demands”
CBS: “Biden Signs Stopgap Bipartisan Measure to Fund Government”
BAL-TV: “Biden Signs and Brings a Close to Days of Washington Upheaval”
NBC: “House Averts Government Shutdown hours before deadline”
Picking up where we left off: We must believe that government can be a benevolent provider. Underpinning that idea are the Golden Rule, honesty, and decency. Our collective resistance; standing together; and hissing nastiness, selfishness, willful chaos, and destruction can create that form of government—it is called democracy. What saves democracy is practicing the Golden Rule and resisting the spurious arguments that rationalize the needless harm to the many for the aggrandizement of the few.
The character of our community is the sum of the behavior we will accept and that which we will rally against. It works. Think of smoking. Think of Matt Gaetz. Think, we just did it again. Remember, we do it with unexpected allies. This time it was 38 Republican representatives. Do not worry about their reasons. If they stand with us by design or by accident, if they support the Constitution, the Golden Rule, common sense, and fairness, if they stand against bullying, misinformation, then stand with them.
So here they are 38 Republicans who stood up to the pressure of bullying and the threat of being “primaried” and voted against an unnecessary shutdown. If they tended to their job, did the best they could for those they represented, withstood loud demands to do the opposite, and voted against the power grab of an unnecessary rise in the debt ceiling, then they stood against the man we elected and the man who elected himself. Ravo and brava!
Here they are, the 38:
Bean (Fla.)
Biggs (Ariz.)
Brecheen (Okla.)
Burchett (Tenn.)
Burlison (Mo.)
Cammack (Fla.)
Cloud (Texas)
Clyde (Ga.)
Crane (Ariz.)
Curtis (Utah)
Duncan (S.C.)
Fulcher, (Idaho)
Good (Va.)
Gosar (Ariz.)
Harris (Md.)
Hunt (Texas)
Lesco (Ariz.)
Lopez (Colo.)
Lamborn (Colo.)
Luttrell (Texas)
Mace (S.C.)
Massey (Ky.)
McCormack (Ga.)
Mills (Fla.)
Mooney (W.Va.)
Moran (Texas)
Norman (S.C.)
Ogles (Tenn.)
Perry (Penn.)
Posey (Fla.)
Rosendale (Mont.)
Roy (Texas)
Schweikert (Ariz.)
Self (Texas)
Spartz (Ind.)
Tiffany (Wisc.)
Van Duyne (Texas)
OK, now what? Stick it in the win column and like the Golden Rule (and your Mama) told you, thank them, each and every one. Call the Hill and leave a message. Send an email, regular mail, or text, and say thank you. Say, “We see you, and we appreciate you. Thank you for being you.”
Good manners and kindness work every time. Next time we need them, maybe the numbers will have grown. Maybe when the only voice they hear is “do what I tell ya or we gonna git you,” they listen. Maybe when they hear a countervailing voice, they will hear that too.
Oh, and don’t forget the Democrats, they held the line. No matter how many thanks you give away, just like hugs and kisses, you have then same number left.
Can you imagine, when bullied and threatened, how easy it is to give in? All that money and power is on the other side. If the bullies keep up the pressure—and they will, because they want what they want when they want it—it gets harder to resist. Know what makes it easier to stand firm? The support and appreciation of other people. We stand together and let the bullies know: They will get what we give when we give it. That is democracy.
OK, we made mistakes. We fired Santa Claus (Joe Biden) and hired the Grinch who stole Christmas. They said Biden was too old to lead and we believed them because he walked funny. We forgot FDR led from a wheelchair and did an excellent job for We the People.
But hey, why do you think the nogoodniks name a bill in benevolent terms when it is a money grab or a power grab? Why do you think they hold out the carrot and hide the stick? They know who we are. They know what we believe. They know for whom we would vote if we weren’t buried in misinformation. Therefore, they must lie to lead. We just have to remember who we are. It is easier to win than you think. Sign up. Here’s my email: Carole42@verizon.net.
Merry Christmas, happy Chanukah, may your Kwanzaa be blessed, and a joyous 2025.
