O-B-A-M-A

On January 20, 2009, eight years ago today, Jen and I were working at the Copley Square offices, storefront and small production facility of a once great printing company. It was Inauguration Day and Barack Obama was going to be sworn in. We chanted, we teared up, we were so damn relieved.

He proved to be the smartest, most connected-to-the-people, eloquent, talented and savvy president of my lifetime.

That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost, jobs shed, businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly, our schools fail too many -- and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet. (source)

Just THINK of how much more, over these past four years, he could’ve accomplished had he not been saddled with a Republican House AND Senate.

True, lasting change can’t be accomplished by electing one big, shiny-ass star to sit up top. The president is not a king, not a dictator and I do dearly wish that President-Elect Cheeto Manatee understood this.

What more can we do now beyond building panic rooms and staying/being, otherwise, engaged – calling and writing our elected officials regularly, protesting and VOTING! Remember, those unsexy lower elected offices are extremely important. 

But, but…but gerrymandering! There’s no hope the system’s thoroughly rigged by the Reich-wing! Yup, that’s me bleating while at peak hopeless dread.

A friend posted this video about how manipulated our elections are. Beyond Putin pulling on Trumps marionette strings, there’s astoundingly obscene amounts of gerrymandering – North Carolina being just one absolutely ridiculous example. The video, while informative ends on a tremendous, there-ain’t-no-hope note.

Is there any hope? I’ll take even a pinpoint of it right now. PLEASE!

The simplest and most obvious reform would be to take redistricting out of the hands of politicians completely. Several states have already set up independent commissions to handle their redistricting - California, Arizona, Washington and Idaho. (source)

So then, let's call our reps and senators, tell them we want them to work toward ending the heinously, bullshit gerrymandering! Also, we can work towards getting more folks out and voting. Register ourselves and others, offer to drive the Olds and Infirms to the polls.

Emily Ellsworth, who worked in Congress for six years, has put together a wonderfully informative 21 page FREE downloadable guide (though donations are appreciated) – Call the Halls: Contacting Your Representative the Smart Way. I just downloaded it and am looking for what I can do as a deafie. I can’t make phone calls but there’s GOT to be other things that I can do.

America:  In the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words.  With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come.  Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations. (source)