My Washington Whispers-The One Year Anniversary!

By Jessie Seigel / September 25, 2024

Happy birthday to My Washington Whispers

The inaugural issue of My Washington Whispers was published exactly one year ago today. In that article, "Fighting the Fascist Putsch," I declared that my beat was going to be democracy. I believe I've stayed true to that goal throughout this past year. Sadly, as the 2024 election approaches, the need to combat the anti-democratic forces at work in this country is becoming even more urgent.

That first article decried right-wing minister and former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee's threat that if former President Donald Trump doesn't get the presidency in 2024, “it is going to be the last American election that will be decided by ballots rather than bullets.” Since then, Trump and his authoritarian cohorts on the Supreme Court, in Congress, and at the state level, along with his white supremacist version of Brown Shirts, have been working non-stop to undermine every aspect of our democracy and the coming election.

Among their machinations: stalling off timely trials of Trump on the numerous federal felony charges against him; the Supreme Court bestowing upon Trump immunity broadly covering his felonious actions; right-wing Congressmen investigating his opponents; and Republican-controlled state election boards attempting last minute changes to voting rules. Those election boards intend to suppress the vote, discount the votes after the election takes place or--failing that--prevent the votes from being timely counted. This last would be done to cause chaos and throw the decision into the currently Republican-held House of Representatives.

After Vice-President Kamala Harris so quickly garnered broad support for her presidential run and wiped the floor with Trump in their September 10th debate, his cabal's fascistic tactics and threats have become more extreme by the day. There's the fostering of fear and hate by spreading absurd, hysterical lies that Haitian immigrants have been stealing and eating pet cats and dogs in Springfield, Ohio. There's Trump's persistent threats of camps and mass deportations, as well as the prosecution for treason of anyone who has criticized him. And then there is Republican vice-presidential candidate JD Vance's unapologetic admission that he is creating and will continue to "create" stories--that is, make up lies--to get media attention, no matter whom those lies harm.

Clearly, there is no bottom to the depths Trump and those backing him will sink in their determination to take power. Preventing them from regaining power should be a no-brainer.

However, as a practical matter, there is no point in pondering how reason might reach the minds of Trump's die-hard followers. Even if some of them can be persuaded to take their blinders off and see Trump for what he is--a Charlatan who is using them--it could only be done one by one, would take too long, and probably persuade too few.

But what of the so-called undecided? I understand the perceived need to try to reach them on their own terms rather than alienate them. But the reasons some gave for remaining undecided after the September 10 debate between Harris and Trump were so banal that I cannot bring myself to coddle or cajole them. These citizens need a harsh, direct wake-up call, and so I address them here directly:

Are you a low information voter who does not generally follow politics? Well, if you want to survive, you need to--and in a hurry. Because politics is not a sport. It affects how we live and whether we live. And for those of you who watched that September 10 debate and still claim to being weighing whether Harris’s presentation of policies satisfy you, I must ask: did you hear even one coherent statement of policy from Donald Trump? Have you heard him, throughout the last nine years contradict himself, very often within the same sentence?

You say your greatest concern is the economy? Then, do you want even greater tax cuts for huge corporations and billionaires than Trump gave them during his last term--and at your expense? Because that is what Trump promises to do if you vote for him or sit out the election without voting. Do you understand that if Trump puts his planned international tariffs in place, the affected countries will charge more for their goods and therefore you will pay more for those goods—making groceries and other products even more expensive? Not to mention his singling out individual companies like John Deere for such treatment if their business decisions dare to cross him.

Do you want to lose Medicare and Social Security? Because Trump and the Heritage Foundation will get rid of them pursuant to their Project 2025.

You say that you like some of Harris's ideas but hesitate to vote for her because you question whether, as president, she could get them through Congress? But whether she--or any other president who follows the Constitution--can do so, is up to YOU. You must give Harris a Democratic congress that will work with her. Vote the Republican obstructionists in the Senate and the House out. Play your part rather than sit on your hands and pretend that it is all up to a president alone to accomplish.

Despite the statements of Harris and Trump in their debate, you remain undecided on whether you know enough about Harris's policies to vote for her? How can you quibble over this when Trump's alternatives--or lack of them--let alone his racist, autocratic ramblings were displayed on that stage right in front of your face? The fact that Trump has no interest in your concerns should have been apparent to anyone earning less than a billion dollars long before Harris stated it in that debate.

But the real bottom line is: do you want to continue to live in a democracy or in a corrupt Putin-style dictatorship? Do you understand that when Trump talks of abrogating the United States Constitution and of making law by decree or jailing anyone who has opposed him, he means it. And if he regains power, between the immunity bestowed by his allies on the Supreme Court, and the lock-step backing of his lackeys in the congress, there will be no one to prevent him from doing it. Do you understand that such a dictatorship will not merely affect other people but your freedoms?

It is beyond time for you, the so-called undecided, to get off the fence and take a side. And if you choose dictatorship by voting for MAGA Republicans and their mainstream fellow travelers, or by withholding your vote altogether, the only question left will be: what is wrong with the American people?

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