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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsDan Rather: "So Collins misses her moment to be a hero, and the old bulls win again."
For most women and many men its a bitter, devastating loss. Which makes it all the sweeter for the old bulls, and for the forces of power, privilege and money everywhere. A sense that the nations climate of justice has taken another turn toward dark clouds rises. The age-old question for the country of whether we prioritize power, privilege and money over justice takes on renewed importance.
So I talk to the wifethe good, gentle wifewho is furious and deeply disappointed. Talk to my daughterthe lion-hearted eldest childwhose first words are, Can we, will we survive this? I answer, Of course we can, and if we have the will and the spirit, we will not only, survive we will thrive. Eventually. But if, and only if, we are get-up fighters. Strong as she usually is, she doesnt seem convinced.
So, I take a walk, to be alone with my thoughts and reminders to stay steady. Among the thoughts that emerge are these:
Cut through the clouds of the present, consider the long river of history, and one can see this as a breakthrough moment for women. To paraphrase the daughter who recently said in another context, "women have never had a better moment to be heard in politics, to make a difference. That is, if theyand those of us men who support themseize the moment (if they dont miss the moment as Senator Collins has.)
What that requires is that women and the men who love them and hate what has happen adopt an attitude of we can be beaten but never defeated. Adopt it, cling to it and live it as a credo.
Be relentless. When things are bad, when the going is tough, just keep putting one foot in front of the other and carry forward. Also, maybe take as a goal what an old man once said to me: "keep trying, keep fighting, keep smiling every minute youre alive; youre going to be dead a long time.
And recognize that you are not alone. Far from it. Look to your left and right, before you and behind you, at the millions who will support you on this journey for justice. Fill your lungs with the determined air of action. I find myself humming that old but powerful anthem of the Civil Rights Era. "We'll walk hand in hand!" "We are not afraid!" "We shall overcome!"
https://www.facebook.com/theDanRather/posts/10160965518015716
spanone
(135,846 posts)The Velveteen Ocelot
(115,740 posts)-Martin Luther King.
But we have to fight for it, too.
chillfactor
(7,576 posts)I would not set foot in her state again... .she will be hit with rotten, smelly tomatoes. What a disgrace to women she has become. I wonder what the females in her family think of her now.
Snake Plissken
(4,103 posts)stonecutter357
(12,697 posts)MontanaMama
(23,322 posts)In the mean time, Senator Collins......
ZeroSomeBrains
(638 posts)We must channel our anger to make the Republicans pay for this. As a sexual abuse victim this moment will not be lost on me. I will be even more determined to change this world after this. Be stronger than you think you can be.
Zambero
(8,964 posts)Nobody does it better than Susan Collins. Kavanaugh is now a distinguished independent jurist who is open-minded and impartial and would never dream of undoing reproductive rights and marriage equality. And his over-the-top outburst of just over a week ago? Just IGNORE it and by golly it never happened!
brush
(53,792 posts)the repugs and the attempted rapist that he won't vote to overturn Roe or marriage equality.
Even she's not that stupid but she plays the role to the hilt. Wonder what she was promised?
SkipG
(70 posts)Zambero
(8,964 posts)When Collins first ran for the U.S. Senate in '96 she pledged to limit her time there to no more than two 6-year terms. By the end of this one come 2020 she will have completed four terms. So she's already on record as being a liar. There's no giant step involved in selling her soul by way of Kavanaugh at this point, given all the goodies (rewards for falling in line) on the horizon ahead.
SkipG
(70 posts)can you imagine being a congresscritter (or staffer) and having to listen to her doing a spiel on whatever she'd be hawking? Shoot me now!
Boomerproud
(7,955 posts)As terrible as I feel today, I will steel myself with his wise words. At the moment it's all I have.
Hortensis
(58,785 posts)who elected Obama twice and our first woman president once.
paleotn
(17,931 posts)No one wins until they actually vote on confirmation.
gademocrat7
(10,660 posts)byronius
(7,395 posts)We beat the Nazis once, we'll beat them again.
Va Lefty
(6,252 posts)This country is FUBAR
Pinkflamingo
(177 posts)demtenjeep
(31,997 posts)it is
stopwastingmymoney
(2,042 posts)llmart
(15,540 posts)My favorite quote:
"Just because you won doesn't mean you are right."
They can all slap each other on the back and guffaw and make misogynistic and sexist remarks (you know they will), but in the long run the rest of us will move forward. As I've said on here before, our country really never has moved backward nor will it ever.
apkhgp
(1,068 posts)We keep rising up. Why? Because this is democracy. This is still OUR country. Land of the free, home of the brave are not just words in a song. They are a description of what we find in every last American citizen. The war is not over..the battles have just begun and we aim to win.
defacto7
(13,485 posts)and lit a fire in my soul.
Response to Miles Archer (Original post)
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