Perhaps the most chilling, most terrifying, most sobering lesson I got from reading about the rise of Hitler and the atrocities of the Third Reich was seeing how ordinary people, people who just went to work everyday and were inclined to do a good job and be good parents, good citizens, good Christians, were willing to put fellow humans to death in gas chambers, with firing squads, by turning in longtime neighbors for interment or to be worked to death, by standing in rank and raising their hands in salute to the Nazi’s, by going along with Hitler and his sycophants and enablers, by letting a free press be put to death because it was convenient for power…yes…it is all too easy to become corrupt and see your fellow citizens as minor road bumps on the way to a more perfect world and before long you’ve become a monster wearing a smile and taking away their health care, their right to vote, their right to affordable housing, their right to the freedom and justice you reserve for yourself.
Yes, it is easy to become a monster or an enabler of monsters. Biden isn’t perfect, no one is, but he won’t make our country a charnel house of lies, racism and sexism, all marinated in the blood of democracy. Trump’s continued threats and machinations against the upcoming elections now include floating armed intimidation by co-opting law enforcement officers – which isn’t in his power to do anyway – but that is hardly a deterrent for a fascist. Do you want your democracy? Do you want your children to have children who won’t die because of climate change? Do you want health care that doesn’t cripple you with medical bills? Do you want to live in a country where all lives matter?
Vote for Joe Biden. Vote for Democrats and Progressives who are down ballot. If there are Conservatives or Republicans who have shown they have the moral fortitude to withstand Trump and company’s assault on democracy and decent human morality and policy, vote for them. But if they have enabled Trump vocally or silently, throw them out. Your democracy, your life, the democracy you give to your children and grandchildren, the life you give to your children and grandchildren – it is all on the line.
Mike Ulen, Grand Marais
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