I'm not going to pretend that since last night, I haven't felt the same soul-rattling despair that I've seen expressed all over my social media feed. The news of RBG's death is terrifying. And there's a sick, additional horror in the fact that fear is anyone's natural first response, rather than celebrating the life's work of this revolutionary, towering woman.
But here's the deal: Trump is on a course to lose. The polls on this have been saying so for months. They've been steadier in saying this than ever in the modern history of U.S. elections and polling.
Yes, the results of 2016 have left everyone wary, but come on: "don't believe what you're seeing and hearing" has been the mantra of those in power for nearly four years now. Yes, there's a segment of the population (a voting segment) that have bought that line. But don't let yourself accept it too. I almost didn't want to post this, for fear of eating my own words later. But that's exactly what they want, for their considerable opposition to sit down in hopelessness and shut up. But I am not crazy. You are not crazy.
You are not the only one who knows that things need to change, that we can't carry on stuck in our homes, being pointed at people to blame and fear, and letting the preposterously wealthy continue to siphon away the little we have. If you and everyone else who knows this votes accordingly, the outcome is assured. The only chance they have at winning is if everyone is too demoralized to fight.
Believe what they do, not what they say. They know they're going to lose. And that is why they're going to try to force through a new Supreme Court nomination as fast as they can. Of course they are. They are nightmare renters, trashing every appliance, smashing every window, and removing every fixture before we evict them. (Which is poetic, given how little they care about actual people facing actual eviction in these times.)
Don't waste your time trying to shame anyone by pointing out the hypocrisy of how Merrick Garland was treated in 2016. What in the last four years has possibly led you to believe these people are capable of feeling shame? That they care about looking like hypocrites? That they're interested in anything but the accumulation of power? They're going to keep behaving reprehensibly until the end.
Recognize the truth. Recognize what confidence looks like. Mitch McConnell and his Republicans stonewalled a Supreme Court nomination for the better part of a year because they were confident they would not be penalized for it. Now they're going to rush this through because they have absolutely no confidence. They're on the brink of defeat. If they had any confidence, they wouldn't have to rush. Cowards cannot take the high ground, and the weak cannot hold it.
So, prove them right.
Phone bank if you're willing. Donate if you're able. Have that uncomfortable conversation with a family member who "just doesn't think they're going to bother." And above all: VOTE. Prove to those currently in power that they're right, by delivering to them the defeat they're expecting. And since politics is now a sport -- every bit as motivated by rooting for your team as anything currently being played to an empty stadium -- invite everyone you know to get behind the winning team.
Yes, this latest blow hurts. Keep fighting. It is what Ruth Bader Ginsburg would do.
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