Ponder the Line...
“What are you prepared to do?!?!”
The character Jim Malone played expertly by actor Sean Connery who, by the way, won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar® nomination for his work, shouts this line with his dying breath after being gunned down in his own home. The movie is set during Prohibition when the government is struggling with how to hold the gangster Al Capone accountable during his reign of terror in Chicago. Talk about art imitating life! I have been thinking about this movie more and more lately, especially Malone’s line. Now that we are clearly no longer living in a democracy, what are we prepared to do?
Throughout the movie, you see agents and policemen fighting for justice (and each other). You see court officials being bribed to look the other way when criminals break the law. Rampant aiding and abetting, very similar to what is happening now. In fact, today the SCOTUS broke the hearts of millions by handing this administration a victory by effectively disregarding the 14th Amendment’s guarantee of birthright citizenship for those born on American soil. In an effort to increase their wealth, the billionaires of the country have bought and paid for a government hellbent on ridding the nation of the people who do the actual work around here. Full stop: immigrants are the engine of the United States. What’s happening now is the people who voted along with the billionaires are starting to realize that they aren’t actually in the same club and are immediately feeling the effects of their votes. It’s the commitment to failure that continues to blow my mind, and I have to constantly remind myself that while criminals will commit crimes, common sense ain’t common, and this American pie voters baked is about to blow up in their faces.
For me the mourning period is over; democracy is dead. But because I believe there is no timetable for grief, my suggestion is that you move forward when you can, with purpose, stealth, and in truth. When you have the truth on your side, no lie can stand against you. Don’t believe the rumors that you are alone in the fight for what’s right, and don’t let people divide you from like-minded groups. We may not be in the same boat, but we are all in one heck of the same nasty storm. We won’t look or function the same after this tide turns, but we do have to navigate these waters. So again, the question surfaces: what are you prepared to do?
As mentioned in a few of my previous posts, please consider putting our elected officials to work. Here’s the link to an app called 5 Calls. You enter your location, and the issues will pop up along with your local and state representatives and their phone numbers. Our job from there is to simply call them. If you get tongue-tied, the app provides scripts to follow. Also, please consider supporting a cause locally or globally. We need to help each other as much as we can. Everyone can’t put their bodies on the line, but if you have the means, donations are always welcomed. Check out these organizations and be sure to Google (or open and use your favorite search engine) to find others:
Peace.
