Resistance Is Necessary

I was reading Jeff Tiedrich’s Substack this morning. He was talking about the surprises that people are getting once they realize what That Guy is “really” like.

A friend posted a list of the good things that That Guy promised to make happen yesterday to hold him accountable later.

I’m going to take a sort of middle ground and remind people of the potential consequences of their vote.

Let’s start with mass deportation. When your neighbors are being taken away and their families are broken intentionally, will you be okay with yourself?

That’s what you voted for.

When farm workers are removed and sent back, are you going to pick your own lettuce? It’s not going to pick itself. Good luck with that.

That’s what you voted for.

When your gay friend is told their marriage isn’t real, are you going to take the kids they’ve been raising?

That’s what you voted for.

When your trans mail person can’t get health care, are you going to deliver your own mail?

That’s what you voted for.

When your wife dies because she couldn’t get an abortion-adjacent operation, will you still think the baby’s life was more important than hers? Are you going to raise the rest of the children you thought she’d take care of? Are you going to quit your job?

That’s what you voted for.

When they shut down the government to “save money” that billionaires then keep instead of giving it to you.

That’s what you voted for.

When the economy tanks (and it will) because tariffs really do cost more,

That’s what you voted for.

When your personal economy crashes (and it will) because lettuce costs more, and your gay neighbor can’t keep their kids who are now in the system, and your trans mail person won’t deliver your mail, and the government can’t send you unemployment checks because the deficit is too big to hire anybody

That’s what you voted for.

When all the people you have made miserable need mental health treatment and can’t get it because That Guy cut Obamacare (aka the Affordable Care Act) without a plan to fix it…and now they’re mad at you, or addicted to pills they can’t afford and are crazy mad, or they can’t sleep and are crying outside your door,

That’s what you voted for.

When you can’t get news to tell you what’s going on, or weather because they’ve cancelled NOAA, when all the intelligent artists and writers and actors have left the country or been forced to stop writing,

That’s what you voted for.

Because, you see, MAGA person, you really did have a wonderful life. All those people are connected and did things for you that you couldn’t see. With them gone, you can work as hard and as often you want, and still be miserable because — though they aren’t perfect and do make mistakes — they actually make your life better.

Despite what the right wing news tells you, you also aren’t perfect. You, too, make mistakes. If you wanted people to have pity on you, and you showed them none in the past, they’re out of pity now, because that’s what you voted for.

You had the choice to be kind, or at least accepting, of your neighbor and see their gifts. You had the choice to respect your wife or girlfriend’s body and see the gifts that they bring to your life. You had the chance to have an economy that almost works for you now, and a modicum of decency in the future.

But because Biden is too old, and Harris is too complicated, too smart, too Black, too Asian, or

too young to vote for, that’s what you voted against.

We already know what you voted for.

If you decide that that’s not what you meant, or that’s not what you want, or somebody lied to you about what it meant to vote as you did, you need to stop the train wreck from rolling any further. I’m too tired and frankly overwhelmed by what you voted for. You get started on it and I’ll join you when I’m better.

Resisting With Peace,

John