Turning it UP, Not Tuning it Out
And I encourage you to follow suit
Most of us probably need to relearn to count to ten when we hear or read things we disagree with - especially on social media. We’re all on political overload, scrolling to the next hot mess, but leaving a piece of us behind in the form of a comment.
I was reading a friend’s post that begins with his mini-me son adopting a cat. Irresistible and poignant, I continued reading. His next sentence was:
“I've found the world can be as beautiful and positive as you want to make it.”
It was the next few lines where I was triggered.
There has always been strife, division, evil and self-serving politicians, war, and fearmongering. We have the power to tune it all out and focus on the GOOD. That is what I choose to do & I encourage you to follow suit. Life is an incredible gift.
Ummmm - fearmongering?
We’re well past that point. The minute Trump was elected, quaking in our Nikes was wholly justified.
I guess for starters, the writer must have only dipped his toe in Project 2025, the political initiative that threatens to erode American Democracy. He either didn’t believe it, read it or ‘tuned it out’ - just like the idiot podcaster, Joe Rogan.
It’s also pretty obvious, he doesn’t have brown skin. Our immigrant families are getting ripped apart, along with their American dream of a better life.
Instead, they’re too fearful to go to work to provide for their families. Parents have pulled their children out of school. Long-time residents in communities across the country can’t show up for court dates, because even going through the legal process makes them targets.
Many did what they needed to do to protect themselves. They learned the difference in judicial warrants versus police warrants. There were places among public buildings that were deemed ‘safe’.
What do we have in America now? ICE Goons not showing identification, taking people’s legal documents and not returning them, racial profiling and hiding their own faces behind masks. Oh, and they disappear people - from students to veterans.
“There has always been. . .” doesn’t apply here. This is a never has fucking been.
Those getting snatched are being denied due process, while families left behind can’t afford attorneys. Walk a few feet in their shoes and then tell them to their faces that you will ‘tune out’ and advise others to do the same.
Trump’s administration wants to go through the IRS to find tax-paying immigrants, so they can be arrested. He has ordered a quota for arrests that have agents hunting human beings down in agriculture fields.
That is true fear within the borders of the U.S, not fearmongering.
My friend also apparently isn’t:
A federal worker who lost their job or a researcher whose ground-breaking work was put to a sudden halt.
A pregnant woman who may suffer complications and can’t get medical assistance.
A member of the transgender community who are seeing themselves erased. This administration not only doesn’t allow transgenders citizens in the military but has now removed benefits from the brave patriots who have served the US Air Force. This directive comes from the same unqualified doofus who said women shouldn’t be allowed to vote. Hello, media. Where are you?
A parent of a child with special needs (or any child) that attends public school.
An Afghan ally losing protections who bravely stood with our troops & fled the Taliban
A SNAP recipient who works a minimum wage job that doesn’t put enough food on the table for their children.
We also should tune out: Voting Rights; Civil rights; the Clean water act; Clean air act; Title IX; Healthcare; Medicare; Medicaid; EPA (and) FEMA. All were voted into law by democrats. The Republicans are tearing it apart with the ease of a traffic citation.
While we’re at it, let’s tune out the Freedom of Information act and public broadcasting. Screw Ukraine, too.
“There has always been strife, division, evil and self-serving politicans.”
In my lifetime and my parents’ lifetime, they never saw U.S. military used against its own people.
Then we have Edward “Big Balls” Coristine and DOGE given as much sweeping access to federal systems and potentially sensitive information on millions of Americans as Pamela DesBarres had to rock stars.
No problem, says the person who calls possible data breaching fearmongering. The 19-year-old “Big Balls” had a company, DiamondCDN, that provided network services to a cybercrime group (EGodly) that boasted about stealing phone numbers, cryptocurrency, and hacking law enforcement emails. They also distributed the personal details of an FBI agent.
There has never been a red carpet rolled out for a dictator who kidnaps children and commits war crimes. As bad of a look as this was for the United States by foreign leaders, it was learned Friday that a pro-Trump PAC was using the president’s summit with Vladimir Putin to solicit donations. (By the way, Putin has fought unsuccessfully for the Donbas region since 2014. This is part of the land swap deal he wants from Ukraine.) I suppose it would be like turning Florida over to Cuba.
To present what is happening now in the United States as an “always has been” scenario, I ask: What other President had been found guilty of 34 felony counts?
What about the grift with Trump profiting off of cryptocurrency? Wasn’t there a peanut farmer who put his peanut farm into a blind trust so there wouldn’t be a conflict of interest? Trump’s business dealings hauled in a whopping $2.4 billion during his first presidential term.
Moving on
Trump fired the Library of Congress head, Carla Hayden who had been serving in that capacity since 2016. Hayden’s dismissal is seen as a continuation of the current administration’s efforts to ban books in cultural institutions and libraries.
In February, the Guardian reported that the American Accountability Foundation (AAF), a politically conservative organization backed by the Heritage Foundation, created a “DEI Watch List” of federal government employees. Along with Hayden, a black woman, the Director of U.S. Copyright Office Shira Perlmutter, was also fired.
Of course, there’s the Kennedy Center, where Trump basically titled himself the Chairman of the Board. He recently named honorees, but somehow forgot to include Hulk Hogan and Mel Gibson. Props to Tom Cruise who is unable to attend due to a “scheduling conflict”.
Perhaps what is most fear-provoking is the lack of mainstream media coverage that doesn’t report the illegalities of this administration. The eyes and ears for the American people are failing them. When CBS folds to a Trump lawsuit that has no teeth, we are seeing the dying of Democracy before our eyes. The number one rated nightime talk show host who calls out the Trump administration got fired. Let’s just tune that out.
My friend is not alone in tuning out. A neighbor said that things are the way they’re supposed to be and it will all end up for the greater good. When I asked her about the people suffering now, she asked: “Who’s suffering?”
The Epstein cover-up alone should put Trump in the 10% favorable range in polls, but it just shows how far out of reality some Americans choose to be.
What do we do? We Turn It Up
When I saw the people in the Washington DC streets fighting against the national guard coming and a takeover of the police department, I didn’t see members of Congress out in the streets with them. Where were they? I want them there.
“American soldiers and airmen policing American citizens on American soil is UnAmerican” - DC Mayor Muriel Bowser
This is endless, but let’s turn to Alligator Alcatraz. The Miccosuki Indian Tribe, along with environmentalists were able to put a halt to further construction simply because they turned out and fought back. Two lawsuits are pending against Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ crime against humanity. The years put in of Everglades restoration would effectively be destroyed. Showing up works.
Perhaps my friend’s comment riled me up because as he enjoys a restful sleep, he’s going to yawn, wake up one day and say: “See? We’re okay. Nothing bad happened. All that fearmongering was for nothing”
He’ll be oblivious to the very people he encouraged to tune out - the neighbor, the family member, the person driving in the car next to him - who saved America.
We need our distractions - whether it be television, music, the arts, nature or a good book - but we must always keep our eye on the ball.
When I need to count to ten, I will close my eyes and envision the people all over the United States, who are turning up - from Washington DC to Homer Alaska to my own hometown.
“I've found the world can be as beautiful and positive as you want to make it,” he posts. For many of us, we want this country - this United States of America - to be just as beautiful and positive for everyone, not just ourselves. That takes tuning in and turning it up.
In the next Dear Bubbie: How my hometown in Sarasota, Florida is turning out and making a difference. How you can participate.
Monday night, you’re invited to attend a Zoom meeting featuring Equality Florida’s Jules Rayne, sponsored by the Public Education Caucus of Manasota. Sign up is here. She will be discussing and doing a Q & A on the need to preserve protections against harassment and discrimination for specific minority groups.
Tying in with that, the Sarasota School Board will have a busy Tuesday, beginning with a work session in the morning and a public meeting beginning at 6:00pm. Public school advocates will have a lot to say as they fight for students, teachers and staff among devastating budget decisions made by legislators in Tallahassee. The meeting is located at 1980 Landings Blvd. There is easy parking and plenty of seating.
Every Tuesday morning in Sarasota a HANDS OFF OUR SOCIAL SECURITY Protest takes place in front of the Social Security Administration building on the corner of Siesta Drive and US 41. Bring a sign or simply show up with cool water. The event starts at 9:00and runs through 11:00am.
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This is a powerful and articulate expression of what many of us are feeling as we search for effective ways to respond. This is your hardest hitting and most poignant essay yet. I am proud to be among your readers. You are an inspiration for me.
Thank you for this response to a person (and, unfortunately, there are many) that does not realize the serious of what is going on in country.