The Great Lie

The term "Silent Majority" was coined by Richard Nixon in a speech, Nov 3, 1969, to justify the break of his campaign promise to end the Vietnam War, as he called on his silent majority to support his decision to continue the war. 500,00 protesters gathered at the Washington Memorial Nov 15. Nixon, confident in his support, informed the press he was watching a football game. It was a myth then just as it is now. The President Elect never had a silent majority, he had an immensely vocal minority. We are the silent majority, the silenced majority, made silent Nov 8, 2016, made more silent and invisible daily. We must be silent no longer.

Originally published on singlemarriedgirl.com 1/10/17

Time to Face Reality

In 2011, our entire country experienced a national tragedy unlike anything before. But a lesser known and yet still very real tragedy occurred in my DC metro community. For 30 days in October of 2012, just a year past the 9/11 anniversary, our entire community was held captive by fear of an unknown gunman who was randomly killing people in the tristate area, even as the paint was drying on the Pentagon repairs. For 30 days, we rallied together, we zig zagged at gas stations, we ducked down in our vehicles when we saw a vehicle fitting the description of the assailant, we called the police, we called each other, we met at gas stations, malls, vigils and when at last the crisis was over, many of us cried for one straight week as the stress and terror at last took hold.

This is a tough love post and I’m so sorry to do this to you so soon. I know so many of you are just starting to process the very real attack on our democracy, you are wracked with fear or outrage or sense of hopelessness in the midst of your grieving process; perhaps you didn’t even begin to grieve until the inauguration, and you are in the midst of denial, I know many have spent the last two weeks locked in anger, many are already into bargaining, some of you may be sliding into depression. And you have a right to your grief. But not today, not now. I’m afraid that you are going to have to accelerate your grief straight into acceptance, effective immediately! It is essential because for the next two to four years, we need your laser focus and you can’t be distracted by your outraged grief.

Now I want to make something immensely clear. Acceptance of reality is not acceptance that it is normal or acceptable, it is acceptance that it is happening and more importantly, that it is intentional. Because without this acceptance, you will react to every distraction, exhaust yourself with outrage and eventually give in to despair.

Acceptance of a death is not accepting it as acceptable, and it is not moving on as if it doesn’t matter. It is giving yourself an opportunity to figure out how your life will be going forward without this person in your life.  It affords you the opportunity to disseminate information critically, not emotionally and deal with the reality of the new landscape absent your friend.

I realize it’s incredibly unfair to ask this of you. However, we don’t have time to wait. And our emotions in this moment make us weak and messy, they cloud our judgement and make us question our own conclusions. The sooner you can get to acceptance so that you can pay close attention, not to what is being said, that’s just propaganda, but to what is being done, the sooner you can be an effective member of the resistance. You need to rise above the noise. When at last we are through this crisis, which with each passing day grows ever more dire, we can take a collective sigh and a have a good long cry.

But I want to leave you not with a sense of dread but with a renewed hope. Because with acceptance, you can see the whole picture which allows you not only to see things for what they are, but to evaluate the progress which is being made. The monster we conjure in the dark is far more frightening than the monster we face in the light of day. And when you turn and face the monster head on, you will see clearly that you do not face it alone.