Tim Stevenson ([email protected]) is a community organizer with Post Oil Solutions. He is the author of two books and is working on a third.
ATHENS-I have recently encountered some polite, yet transparently concealed, expressions of discomfort with the inclusion of the Defend Our Vote (DOV) project of Greater Falls Indivisible in the Saxtons River Fourth of July parade this year.
While I take exception, I nevertheless appreciate the concern.
In the context of our supercharged polarized context, calling attention to the very real possibility that one side of this toxic duality — President Trump and his MAGA minions — could very likely reprise their shameful Jan. 6 insurrection attempt in this November’s midterm election is contrary to the holiday’s typical celebratory character.
In the latter’s scenario, we are a nation of freedom, equality, justice, and democracy for all — incontrovertible norms enjoyed by every citizen — rather than the challenged, often contradictory works-in-progress they have always been. They are never more so than they are at present.
Not only do I get it, but there is part of me that is not unsympathetic to their concern.
I remember the mixed feelings I experienced a few years ago when, during one of the annual Strolling of the Heifers events in Brattleboro, a group of courageous Brattleboro Union High School student activists lay down in the middle of the street, bringing the parade to a sudden halt.
They provided dramatic attention to the gathering about their legitimate concerns around the climate crisis. As the founder of and activist with Post Oil Solutions, I couldn’t help but resonate with feelings of solidarity for my younger comrades.
At the same time, however, I was not able to dismiss the anger voiced by those — especially parents whose children were visibly upset — by the day of fun and joy that had been unexpectedly and alarmingly interrupted. Though not my primary concern at that moment, this did not make theirs any less valid and worthy of being recognized as such by me.
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As it is with most things in life, the question of the DOV contingent’s legitimacy in a Fourth of July parade does not have a simplistic, black-and-white answer. There are credible positions by all concerned; however, they may be judged by one side about the other. All I can do is make my decision based upon my values, and lay them out for others to consider.
As I was discussing this issue recently with a friend, I spontaneously blurted out with the notion that DOV enjoyed a modest kinship with Paul Revere. Minus the fact that our attempt to awaken people isn’t occurring in the middle of the night and certainly doesn’t involve riding a horse, it seemed to me that the project was attempting to alert the citizenry that the fascists were coming to shanghai the heart of a functioning democracy: free and honest elections.
Trump and his minions are engaging in the very corruption they accuse their opponents of: devising ways to suppress our votes and steal the election. This is precisely why DOV is encouraging our fellow citizens to “be aware and be prepared,” as our slogan suggests.
This especially includes what happens on Nov. 3 and the days thereafter. If the blue wave materializes — as polls increasingly indicate is possible — and if the House and Senate acquire Democrat majorities, Trump would be facing the very real prospect of impeachment, conviction, and loss of the presidency.
Do any of us believe that our malignant narcissistic, Christ-impersonating president, when confronted with such a fate, would just fold his tent and quietly walk away?
To entertain such belief would necessitate either being an incurable true believer of the MAGA faith or one suffering acute amnesia about Jan. 6. It would require being blind to the serial efforts he has been engaged in during the last of 18 months to suppress, obstruct, and otherwise fix November’s midterm election.
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To consign the Fourth to a celebration of democracy’s virtues without including expressions of opposition and resistance to authoritarian efforts to undermine those same blessings — especially its foundation, the right of every citizen to freely exercise their franchise — directly contradicts the democracy we’re otherwise exalting and trying to restore to some semblance of reality.
As it is in so many other instances in life, democracy is real and alive only when we the people go beyond the platitudinous rhetoric of the Fourth: to act and be truth to power, standing up for our virtues when they’re under assault.
As they are today.
Yes, the Defend Our Vote project will be a modest, yet necessary presence on the streets of Saxtons River this July 4, joining with and providing a living instance of the other celebratory expressions of democracy.
This Voices Viewpoint was submitted to The Commons.
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