drilling down on the why

Hi Mike, I have been saying ever since Scott's friend (and, to be honest he was kinda my friend too at one point) Chris L went down the MAGA rabbit hole that one of the things that really pissed me off about all of them post-2016, and then after Jan 6 (post-2020 where I got a 3 month master-class in canvassing and actually talking to people about the election and bvoiting) is the lack of experience IN REAL LIFE any of them actually had in protesting anything. They were all people who bitched and moaned, but never voted. They never went to rallies, they never boycotted, they rarely had ever even been part of a strike or other sort of organized action. Meanwhile, our little GenX cadre, especially the DIY punk rock folk, have been doing it in some form since we were kids. I remember being fully awake to vote for Mike Lowery in the early 80's. Knowing I disagreed with my dad (though, it seems, he was a Democrat and mom was the REpublican, but still) and wanted to speak my mind. I wrote all the time, consumed zines, listened to music. Once I met you, I epanded my wings into organizing benefits, participating in demonstrations, in speaking to issues. Remember when I won that dinner at the Arcata Hotel in Losee's speech class for my presentation on Big Mountain Mining? Once I wet my beak, I kept going, with you and without. I argued with people at events on the Mall, on the subway, outside shows at the 9:30, at Tower Records. I knew how to articulate an arguement in person. I took plenty of abuse, live and in person. It was expected that my opinion would be in the minority in most situations (except for obvious events organized by groups we supported). I have always assumed most people wouldn't see things exactly like me, but that on balance, I learned that if you chill with the strident bullshit, you will find common ground with folks. I found it true in 2019 canvassing for city council against a cop in this Anarchist Jurisdiction, and in 2020 trying to keep the hordes from the gates in Reno. Now, as this batshit crazy timeline that you and all the other smart people have exited reaches it's apex, I feel like I want to write it so I remember: This is because people who are the biggest redneck MAGA crybabies have been empowered by social media to think their voices matter in some special way, and that no one is allowed to disagree with them. Further: because they have no acutal experience in engageing in debate, and no critical thinking skills, they are behaving like Nazis. Seig-ehiling there way to shantytowns and they cannot see it. Watching this culture tilt sideways and embrace such a terribly obnoxious grifter is the saddest thing I've ever witnessed, and I've never been a cheerleader for the American Way. That said, I have always understood my privilige as an American, and as I get older I am far more protective over it than I ever anticipated. This shit is killing my will to live like cancer. It's just removing all the joy from life, and I'm furious, and exhausted. I want these idiots to understand that their inactivity and lack of engagement in politics, in voiting is what got them here. That them feeling "forced" to participate, and being resentful of it is a priviliged attitude. They are so entitled to think that just because their candidate lost, somehow it was "stolen". No, that' what LOSING feels like. And usually it's incentive to do better. But not these savages. Oh no, they're gonna bitch some more. They are going to call foul before the play. It's infuriating as someone who waited 42 years to vote for a president who won. I'm just so pissed that people who have only ever voted in two major elections (not to mention their lack of participation in local races) have the audacity to bitch about the system being rigged. Fucking assholes, so spoiled and so stupid. Anyway, nothing new here to tell, just wanted to get it down. Maybe someday I'll actually follow up and write more. Maybe when my heart stops hurting.