Returning to the Middle Ages isn’t a winner
As we get closer to Election Day, the more we see far-right Christian nationalists and extremists trying to scare people to death.
The Republican Party platform of removing rights and making it harder to vote; cutbacks to Medicare, Social Security and health care; removing protections that keep our air and water safe; opposing the right of labor to organize and bargain; tax cuts for the wealthiest and their push to make certain sects’ Christian dogma the law of the land doesn’t reflect the majority opinion of U.S. citizens. Returning to the Middle Ages isn’t a winner.
So, to retain power and control, they throw everything at the wall to see what sticks. What will get Americans to question the election process and weaken trust in American elected officials, health departments, county clerks, law enforcement, public libraries and schools? Lie about a global pandemic and safe, effective vaccines and other public health measures; pretend there’s something questionable about the election process and get people to show up in Detroit and other cities and make up lies about voter records and ballot-counting. Pretend Donald Trump won the 2020 presidential election (he didn’t, by the way). Insert operatives who tamper with voting machine tabulators. Put out ridiculous propaganda about ballot-box stuffing, Hunter Biden and any conspiracy that scared, gullible people will believe. Plot an insurrection, try to steal the election.
In the meantime, ramp up the culture wars. Ignore pedophilia by so-called “Christian” conservatives; make up lies about Hillary Clinton and insane conspiracy theories about Jews, immigrants, Antifa, BLM and satanic woke liberals. Get manly men and the manosphere, with their creepy obsession not only about their own genitalia but also that of others (including dolls), to rage about manly things such as guns, chopping firewood, scary women and using force. Scare people about imaginary things that aren’t happening: CRT and schools grooming kids. Use the extremists’ old favorites like getting parents to ban books and programs in public spaces. Theocrats and right-wing extremists should get to make the decisions for everyone, right?
Michigan Republicans apparently decided the best way to get people to ignore their actual objectives is to choose candidates for elected office from the bad-guy table at the Mos Eisley Cantina on Tatooine. Select an alleged soft-core vampire zombie film star, someone who reportedly threatened to kill herself and her family, and an election-denier operative who may face federal charges, for top state offices. It gets worse down the line.
Far-right media constantly tells us America is bad, things are terrible, we should admire fascists and strongmen like Putin and Orban. We’re watching as Putin follows Hitler in real time, annexing a sovereign independent nation and those anti-democracy factions are making excuses for Putin. History repeats itself, the same way appeasers made excuses for Hitler as he annexed his way across Europe.
Then the final straw broke — Lizzo played a flute!
Not just any flute. This crystal instrument was a gift to President James Madison, made by Claude Laurent in honor of Madison’s second inauguration in 1813. Lizzo, a 34-year-old, super-talented, Detroit-born, American pop superstar, is a classically trained, concert-quality flutist. She was invited to the Library of Congress to see their flute collection, which is the largest in the world. As far as anyone knows, she was the first to ever play this particular instrument. While there, she also played some of the others.
She didn’t just play that crystal flute; she lit it up. You can find a video of her playing in the Library of Congress building at youtu.be/3mb62QNXY0g.
What caused the ultra-MAGA collective heads to explode, with more calls to fight back in a war against woke liberal enemies destroying all that is good in America? Lizzo’s large. She’s Black. She wore a body suit. She twerked.
That’s it.
As a proud band geek, I say: Enjoy the music; tune out the noise.
Pam Taylor is a retired Lenawee County teacher and an environmental activist. She can be reached at ptaylor001@msn.com.
This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Returning to the Middle Ages isn’t a winner
