Hoo boy, here we go. We hope you’re taking really good care of yourselves and your loved ones and are ready to rejoin the fight. We’re rolling up our sleeves and jumping back in.
You can imagine the kind of hate mail, mockery and even death threats we get from the “Christian” right. The gist of the post-election missives has been: “Cry more, losers.” Our response is that we’re heartbroken for our nation, for our citizenry, for the rest of the world, but of all the votes we’ve cast in our lives, we’re proudest of voting for Harris/Walz and against the coming abomination.
There’s so much to talk about and digest, but in this blog we want to focus on what we all can do right now. Elizabeth Warren tweeted this yesterday: “The far right wants us to feel powerless. Extremists are counting on apathy, cynicism, & heartbreak to be their rocket fuel. They are counting on us to point fingers at each other & lose trust in our ability to make change. I absolutely refuse to give them the satisfaction.”
We say, “Amen!”
Here are three things you can do right now …
If you live in a state with Democratic senators, lobby them to confirm as many judges as possible and to push through as many safeguards as possible before inauguration. Tell them: STAY IN WASHINGTON AND FIGHT!
If you live in a state with Republican senators, lobby them to insist on public Senate confirmation hearings for Trump’s cabinet picks. Tell them: NO RECESS APPOINTMENTS!
And the big message everyone needs to be pushing in the real world and on social media is that the election was NOT a landslide; the election was a SQUEAKER that Trump barely won. Roughly half the country voted for him and half voted against him. Shout it on the mountain top: HIS ONLY MANDATE IS TO GOVERN FROM THE MIDDLE!
When elections are too close to call (as this one was), the swing states often shift as one. So, yes, Trump had an impressive win in the Electoral College. But as the votes continue to be counted, his share of the popular vote is shrinking by the minute.
Right now, Trump’s vote share is only 50.1%. It’s very possible that when all the votes are in – including votes for 3rd party candidates and write-ins – Trump’s share of the vote will be about 49.8%. That would mean more people voted against him than voted for him. As soon as we get those final numbers, we’ll start writing a song about it and we’ll crank up the merch machine …
The song that young fellow is singing at the top of this blog is called “America.” Going forward, Roy will be singing “America” quite a bit (and in a lower key 🙂).
Roy wrote “America” 20 years ago after the 2004 election when Kerry was swiftboated and lost to an idiot, and it was clear that the US under Bush was going to extend the cataclysmic Iraq War for many more years. Now the Republican president-elect agrees the Iraq War was a senseless bloodbath. But at the time, the Republican party designated anti-war protestors as “the enemy within.” Sound familiar?
We first released “America” on the album Faulty Intelligence, and it’s also featured on the Best of Roy Zimmerman double CD compilation This Machine.
We are happy to offer you a free audio download of “America” – Just CLICK HERE.
We invite you to keep fighting and to sing along …
America
Is a ‘57 Chevy
That veers to the left
And lurches to the right
America
Is a pawn shop window
With decals of Old Glory
Made by children in China
America
Is a dog playing poker
Saying, “War is a last resort”
And wagging his tail
America
Is a Compassionate Conservative
And a gay Republican
And vegetarian vampire
America
Is that Norman Rockwell
Of the family on Thanksgiving
Hung on the wall of an Indian casino
America
Is a big group therapy session
With one guy in the corner
Who will not shut up
God bless the firefighter
And God bless the video clerk
And God bless America
It just might work
Yes, it just might work
America
Is a Japanese fiddler
In Branson, Missouri
Doing Louis Armstrong
God bless the superhero
And God bless the no-account jerk
And God bless America
It just might work
What if a guy came up to you and said, “I’m going to bring forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal”? You’d probably say, “Right on. Good luck with that.” And what if he said, “I’m going to form a more perfect union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare and secure the blessings of liberty for ourselves and our posterity.” You’d probably say, “Wow, knock yourself out.” And what if he said, “Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country”? You’d probably say, “I’ve got a meeting.”
America
Is a conspiracy of genius
In sweat-stained waistcoats
And powdered wigs
America
Is a homeless Jesus
Being held at gunpoint
By King James
America
Is an apple pie
With a few bad apples
Right toward the top
America
Is a dream of freedom
Dreamed by everyone
All over the world
God bless the normal people
And the ones with every known quirk
And God bless America…
It just might work
America
It just might work
Keep working
And it just might work
As Governor Walz says, “Get back in this fight when you’re ready.” We are so proud to be in this good fight with you,
Roy and Melanie
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