Oh, Say Can You See?

  I've said before and I'll say again that this is the most important election of my lifetime. I say that for a number of reasons.  Our planet is reaching a critical tipping point and if we don't start dealing with climate change the damage is going to be so overwhelming...well, I can't even fathom it.  Republicans have snuggled up in bed all cozy-like with ultra-conservative Christians bent on forcing their faith and sense of morality on us all.  Then there are the issues of the overwhelming national debt, fiscal responsibility, defense, healthcare, job creation.  The list goes on and on.  But the biggest...absolutely ginormous, huge issue that makes this election the most absolutely important one of our generation is this...it might be the last one we ever have.  Ever.  No kidding.  I mean it.

   There is something so sinister, so heinous, so absolutely deplorable going on in this country right now, even as we speak, that we should all be out rioting in the streets.  Shouting from our roof tops, protesting.  Demanding this wrong be righted.  And I don't just mean Democrats...I mean all of us.   By god we should be demanding justice.  So you're wondering what on Earth you've missed?  You're quickly clicking on the MSNBC to see what's going on?  You probably haven't missed it, for it's been reported, and it is this:  Voter suppression.  On a cataclysmic scale.

Fort McHenry, Baltimore, MD

  
 Let's start with a story, shall we?  As some of you know, I am from Baltimore.  I'm sure you all know that the National Anthem was written in my city. In 1814 while on a diplomatic mission, Francis Scott Key was held captive on a British ship, watching as that very ship and many others attacked Fort McHenry.  Through out the long night, he wondered if the Fort would fall, as he watched the ordinance exchanged. At dawn, he was heartened to see that the American flag was still proudly flying.  The battle was won.
  Oh, say, can you see? 
    
We're pretty damned proud of that song in Baltimore.  We add our own special flavor to it in my city (Ever been to an Orioles game)?  Let's just say that the "Oh's" are our favorite part!  Francis Scott Key's poem, Defence of Fort McHenry, means a great deal to us Baltimorians.  As our National Anthem, it is a celebration of our perseverance as a nation.  Who doesn't get a shiver when the performer hits "O'er the land of the free" pitch perfect?!  It's our song!
  
 The very foundation of this nation is that every man and woman has a voice.  It took us a while to get there, yet we arrived--all men (and women) are created equal.  A lot of courageous men and women died for the right to cast a ballot.  Many more suffered shame, humiliation, poll taxes and jail all for the right to choose our leadership.  It should mean a hell of a lot more to us than this passive, "Oh, my goodness I can't believe they're doing that." reaction this news is receiving. 

 I've been a proud Democrat for 23 years of my life, and by god if the Democrats decide that they have to disenfranchise certain blocks of voters to stay in office--Even if I believe with every fiber of my being that the Dems are right, then I'm not going to be a Democrat anymore.  Because that's not how it works.  I won't be a part of it.  Not now, not ever. This is not who we are as a country or as a people.
   
The facts are clear.  Voter fraud is NOT, NOT, NOT I say it again, NOT a problem.  It just isn't.  What is a problem is a Republican party who is so desperately trying to cling to power and grab more of that power, that they will do whatever it takes to prevent people from voting who they know vote against Republican candidates.   Even if it undermines the very democracy that we hold so dear.   Simply put, if you're in a demographic that's likely to vote Democratic; they're going to make it as difficult as they possibly can for you to vote.  They're going to make these people believe that there's no point in trying to register, and no point in waiting in long lines to cast a ballot.  If you don't have the proper ID, you don't get to exercise that most fundamental right of being an American...casting a ballot to choose your leadership.  It's not only unconstitutional,  it's unpatriotic and goes against every principle America stands for. A political party does not get to choose who gets to vote.     

   So WHY, WHY, WHY aren't people rioting in the street for this to stop?  I just don't understand it.  Today, it's just a couple hundred thousand elderly who don't have driver's licenses.  It's just a few thousand first or second generation legal immigrants.  Only a few hundred thousand African-Americans.  It's just happening in a few states, or in select cities that aren't yours (yet).  So, if this push for voter disenfranchisement is successful in this election, where and when does it stop?  How long before you're segmented into a smaller group and stricter, nearly impossible to meet restrictions are applied to you?  

(The other one is the Maryland State Flag)!

   I'm here to tell you, friends, that voter suppression and partisan redistricting, coupled with the Supreme Court's Citizen's United decision that made corporations people too are the beginning of the end of our democracy.  Without the ability to hold a fair election where ALL the people have a voice and a choice, our way of life in this nation is over and we might as well surrender to our corporate overlords now.  Or, we fight back.  We can take to the streets in peaceful protest (while it's still possible), we can take up our pens as swords,  and DEMAND that we have fair elections where every single American who is of proper age with a desire to cast a ballot is not only able, but empowered to do so.  We  must honor Francis, who looked out across the Chesapeake, saw that flag--our flag, and as his heart swelled, pulled out his pen and wrote on the back of the letter in his pocket,  "Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just...And the Star Spangled Banner in triumph shall wave, O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave."   
  
 This time, the enemy is within, and they seek to segment and divide us.  They strive mightily to take away our voice and our choices.  If it happens to one of us, it happens to us all.  We are our brothers and sisters keepers.  We are all in this together.  We must stand together, with a sense of moral outrage and righteous indignation.  We must demand justice be done. Party affiliation doesn't matter now. Republican and Democrat, Independent, Socialist Workers, Green, Working Family and The Rent Is Too Damn High Party...together, as Americans.  This is our way of life, our government of the people, by the people and for the people...ALL the people.  And damnit, it matters.