The Democrats' Collective Bark and Bite Has To Meet the Urgency of the Time

Photo Credit: Bloomberg photo by Stefani Reynolds.

2020 has served us days of repeated gut punches to the point where we are bruised and beaten down. September 23rd, 2020 was another one of those days. On top of the verdict handled down in the death of Breonna Taylor which held no one accountable, our current President made it be known that he would not commit to a peaceful transition of power if he loses come November. Our nation is failing so many people - the people who have been out night after night taking to the streets protesting under being under the threat of jail and tear gas. We just crossed 200,000 deaths in the coronavirus outbreak and there’s no strategy to curtail that going into fall. Climate change is wreaking havoc on the West Coast with major wildfires.

The news of Ruth Bader Ginsburg had not even passed away for an hour and Senate Republicans had announced their intentions to fill her seat before the election happens. This is as a coronavirus relief bill that would help so many lies is currently collecting dust. Confirmation of a new Supreme Court Judge would not only have implications for decades to come, but immediate impacts on things such as abortion rights and this very election.

Six weeks away - as we know, time has been going at warped speed during the pandemic. Ballots are being cast as I type this and soon, we will all make a collective decision on the direction of this country. To that effect, I appeal to the leadership of the Democratic Party. It’s time to show some fight, get dirty, and start veraciously fighting to turn this country into something that is beneficial for everyone. The Republicans have already shown that they have thrown caution to the wind in order to implement their agenda. They denied you a Supreme Court Judge for a year, stripped away key pieces of legislation such as the Voting Rights Act, and are trying to implement laws in Florida such as criminalizing protest.

Unfortunately, there is a consensus is that you won’t do the things necessary to win back the country. “Oh, they're the Democrats. They’ll yell, but they won’t have any power behind it.” You can’t pillow fight with people who are punching you with bare fists. The Republicans are daring you to take decisive action - frankly because they aren’t afraid of the party. The majority of the people of this nation want change. Democratic leadership also has to understand that its supporters are not fighting to keep the status quo. Business as usual is failing. We have an administration gleeful to either discard every safeguard or exploit every weakness in the very nation they are sworn to serve. Stop looking at things from the point of powered wigs and pens that you have to dip in ink. The founders didn’t foresee this coming, but you’re here and elected to work on behalf to serve the people. Fight with the same gusto on the floors of Congress as we are on the ground.

The time for saying, “I never thought this would happen to this country” has long been over. Authoritarianism is here - live and in color. What are our elected officials going to do about it past tweets and appearances? It’s something to call on the people for action - the people of this nation are signing petitions, marching to doorsteps, and organizing on levels that we haven’t seen since the Civil Rights era. Most of us have moved beyond empty corporate statements and temporary showings of solidarity. Where are you?

It’s more than just going on shows like Morning Joe and The Maddow Report and constantly reiterating the urgency of the time in general ways. Call things for what they are. The President goes in daily briefings constantly saying false statements such as “the virus will go away” to the point where it’s just an echo. These briefings don’t even tell us anything - more to serve his ego. You don’t just earn votes because the other guy is the villain. What is your messaging?  It took over a hundred days for the state of Kentucky to even come to a “decision” in the Breonna Taylor case. A 26-year-old Black woman with so much ahead of her and will get no justice for her death. How many Breonna Taylors’ or George Floyds’ will it take for our democratic nominee Joe Biden to see that the system needs an overhaul in order for people to live comfortably?

Now, to her credit, Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez has used her platforms to speak with vigor on the problems that we are currently facing. Democratic leaders like Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer need to embrace young leaders with bold initiatives in order to remake a country that chooses to protect white supremacist militias and acts of terror over its minority citizens. Are things such as adding more Supreme Court Judges, including Puerto Rico as a state, and term limits that radical? C’mon now. A nation is supposed to mold itself with the current times - and let me tell you, it seems like the hierarchy wants to keep things the way they are with a cherry on top. We won’t win that way.

It’s not that we won’t vote - we will. We get the ads on our social media and text messages every day and understand what is at stake. Even under the threat of our President trying to invalidate mail-in-voting and the threat of a possible second wave of COVID-19 in the fall. In the twilight of life and liberty, the people always put their lives on the line to defend it understanding they may not be here to see the benefits. The first Presidential debate is on Tuesday at 9 PM. Undoubtedly, our Democratic electorates will be all over our programs for the next six weeks saying the same things and asking us to donate to their campaigns. The people will show up and fight with moxie because that’s our only choice as the final embers of our democracy get snuffed out. The question remains - will they?