My last blog of 2016 was about my one and only New Years Resolution–flourishing through acts of resistance and through living and loving well. Flourishing is all about lovingly acting in the margins of resistance and in flourishing. Love is a second birth into the public sphere. Elsewhere I quote Hannah Arendt who wrote, “I love you, I will that you be.” Natality, being a human being, a natal, is all about love in action
Although the new President of the United States has not taken office yet (he who shall not be named because he gets far too much publicity as it is), things don’t look that great. The Republican Congress is threatening to repeal Obamacare without having a replacement health care plan and by and large most of them are ignoring concrete evidence that Putin ordered Russian cyber interference in the US Presidential Election. See http://apps.washingtonpost.com/g/page/politics/the-intelligence-community-report-on-russian-activities-in-the-2016-election/2153/ Even if it had no impact on the election results, the fact that a foreign power interfered in our elections is alarming and wrong. It doesn’t matter which political party you’re a member of, this action is traitorous and unpatriotic and to support this action or disregard it as inconsequential is wrong. It poses a threat to national security whether one likes it or not.
In this brief blog, I will list opportunities for Americans abroad and Americans living in America to get involved. We can’t be quiet. We are we the people and we can’t expect someone from the outside to come and save us. We are the answers to our prayers, so let’s get busy. Everyone can make a contribution. What is your passion, art? Then paint? Dance, then dance? Phone Congresspeople, well then do that. There is so much we can do. And above all do it with love, compassion and empathy.
One of the things I’m most intrigued by is Van Jones’ love army. I love that he talks about engaging with our families, friends, neighbors and colleagues who voted Republican for President in what he calls ‘messy conversations.’ The temptation is to build walls, but let’s build bridges. Believe me I know this is hard. I am not doing very well with this myself at the moment.
A dear member of my close circle of family and friend won’t listen to reason even when I empathize and make concessions when I speak to him and try to see his point of view. For example I agreed with him that there are issues with Obamacare and that Obamacare is messy and imperfect. However he, like most of those who voted for PEOTUS, still thinks Obamacare should be repealed immediately and that somehow magically out of the 50 plans Republican leaders are looking at now, they will have a new plan in place by the end of January or if not January, very soon. It is crazy making. As someone who’s worked in government, I know that the paperwork alone in making such a huge change will take months, if not years.
And when I say that the conflicts of interest of PEOTUS and most of his cabinet appointees are at least as egregious, if not more (I think more but okay I’m trying to build bridges here) than those of potential Clinton appointees had Hillary Clinton been elected, he disagrees. I say let’s have one rule that applies to everyone, Democrats and Republicans alike. Good grief what has happened to the United States if you have to argue about whether or not potential cabinet members should be held to certain ethical standards.
It doesn’t matter what political party you supported. Ethics matters! I cannot even begin to imagine as someone who has worked for a Congressman and for an elected official here in the UK as their chief of staff and monitoring officer, someone who was specifically appointed to the role in order to uphold ethics in public office, that you can appoint people without vetting them or sufficiently interviewing them in a public hearing for the job. If I as a lowly UK civil servant had to go through a confirmation hearing to determine my suitability for a local government civil servant support role, not even a role for public office, surely a cabinet appointee for one of the most important and largest countries in the world, a country with a history of upholding ethics in public office and public life and who regularly butts its nose into those countries’ affairs where they think their public officials are corrupt, should be properly vetted and interviewed in a public forum! I’m sure the dictators of several corrupt nations are rubbing their hands gleefully and popping popcorn at the travesty and the hypocrisy of do as I say not as I do!
I, myself, as a civil servant in the UK had to be vetted and had to fill out an exhaustive financial statement showing that I had no conflicts of interest and that I was clean and that I didn’t have anything that made me vulnerable to black mail! I had to go through my own confirmation hearing and say that I knew what the Nolan Principles of public office were. Here’s a link to the Nolan Principles. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-7-principles-of-public-life
Can you imagine that these people haven’t even been properly vetted yet and they’re supposed to be considered by the Senate this week?! Many are potentially subject to blackmail by organized crime and by foreign powers. We need to know if they are upstanding public servants or not.
I digress. Back to Van Jones and the Love Army. Here’s the link. http://www.thedreamcorps.org/lovearmy I hope you have better luck with your messy conversations than I am having with mine! I am coming to the States in March for a week or so, so maybe I’ll be able to have some heart-to-hearts with this dear one rather than arguing over Face Time separated by 3000 miles of ocean. I have signed up. Their core principles are fantastic. They include:
- Our Revolution, Bernie Sanders
- Martin Luther King, by Godfrey Hodgson
- Bearing the Cross, Martin Luther King and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference by David J. Garrow
This list isn’t exhaustive by any means. I will post other books in future blogs that might help you get started.
Also, you can call your Congressperson and Senator this week to ask them to delay confirmation of Cabinet appointees until they’ve been vetted. It’s better to call them at their office in their district or in the State rather than their DC office. You can find their phone number and email addresses here http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/ and http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm?OrderBy=state Flood them with calls! It works! Squeaky wheels get the grease. They really do.
These are a few suggestions for now. I will post others. Political activism isn’t the only way to resist. The thing is to think creatively, imaginatively, morally and with love and compassion. How can you make a difference where you are; given who you are, what you love to do and what you’re good at?
Please post your thoughts and ideas in response.