Post 199 - September 26, 2020

Day 199…

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is lying in state at the US Capitol building.

It seems shocking that in 2020, this makes her the first woman to have ever been given that honor as well as the first Jewish person.

Rabbi Lauren Holtzblatt of Adas Israel Congregation in Washington talked about how Justice Ginsburg’s life was devoted to social change and justice and her determination was unwavering. As the only person who made remarks in the Rotunda, she said of her, “Real change, she said, enduring change, happens one step at a time.”

How fitting that the very fact of her lying in state was, in itself, one of those much-delayed steps.

Utterly disregarding her final wishes, the President is meant to confirm his choice for her successor later today. A Reuter’s poll shows that 62% of Americans think that the Senate vote to confirm the nominee should wait until after the election. Eight of every ten Democrats and five out every ten Republicans feel that way.

Regardless, the President is determined to press ahead.

It also seems almost certain, now, that the President is not going to willingly relinquish his office should he lose the election. "Well, we're going to have to see what happens. You know that I've been complaining very strongly about the ballots, and the ballots are a disaster. Get rid of the ballots, you'll have a very transfer -- you'll have a very peaceful -- there won't be a transfer, frankly. There'll be a continuation."

The military has already jumped in and said that they will not intervene if that happens. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley said yesterday, "The Constitution and laws of the US and the states establish procedures for carrying out elections, and for resolving disputes over the outcome of elections. I do not see the US military as part of this process. In the event of a dispute over some aspect of the elections, by law U.S. courts and the U.S. Congress are required to resolve any disputes, not the U.S. Military."

In Kentucky a grand jury failed to indict the police officers responsible for the death of Breonna Taylor. One of the officers was indicted for wanton endangerment but only because during the raid one of the bullets that he fired into Ms. Taylor’s apartment went through the wall into the neighboring apartment.

There is a department policy that officers have a line of sight when they are shooting, and this officer didn’t. He was just firing away blindly through covered doors. He fired ten shots.

The Democratic Mayor of Louisville declared a state of emergency and ordered a curfew this past Wednesday in anticipation of reaction to the case. A sergeant who was shot in the raid sent an email to his fellow officers that said, “I know we did the legal, moral and ethical thing that night.”

The night in question, an ambulance attended to the officer immediately but did not give Ms. Taylor any medical attention for 20 minutes despite the fact that she had been hit by bullets five times. She died. She was herself an EMT.

The police claim that they announced themselves before they entered the apartment. Ms. Taylor’s boyfriend who shot at the sergeant in self-defense as the officers broke through their door with a battering ram, says that they didn’t.

None of the officers were found guilty of her death and yet on Tuesday the city of Louisville announced that it would pay Ms. Taylor’s family $12 million in damages and institute changes to prevent further such incidents.

And so, it all continues.

As I write this, I am at my sister’s house hanging out with her and her family. There’s a lot of life happening at the moment, all at the same time. The pandemic, the election and the fact that they are growing up.

For my niece and nephew, this is the first election that they are experiencing as almost adults. There is usually little to no news on in the house, but it’s getting through regardless. Everyone is well aware of what is happening. Nobody’s trying to hide from it but nor are they willing to drown in it.

The first election that I could vote in was the Presidential election of 1980. It was between the Democratic incumbent, Jimmy Carter and the Republican nominee Ronald Reagan. A third-party candidate, John Anderson who lost the Republican primary, ran as an Independent.

Jimmy Carter was an unpopular President. During his time in office there was a rise in unemployment and inflation. What really did him in, however, was his handling of the Iranian Hostage Crisis.

In 1979, the Iranian Revolution overthrew its longtime leader and US ally Shah Mohammed Reza Palahvi. The Shah, who was sick with cancer, was then given asylum in the US to receive treatment. That was seen by the revolutionaries as being support for the Shah’s many human right’s abuses. In retaliation and to demand the Shah’s extradition, they stormed the US Embassy in Tehran and took 52 US diplomats and citizens hostage and then held them for 444 days.

The US tried attempted a rescue in April of 1980 that failed and resulted in the deaths of eight American servicemen and one Iranian citizen. Cyrus Vance, the US Secretary of State then resigned.

During the election, Carter kept trying to hammer home the fact that Regan was a right-wing fanatic who would do everything he could to eliminate programs such as Social Security and Medicare. It didn’t matter. Regan won by a landslide. Ultimately the worsening economy and the hostage crisis did President Carter in.

I voted for Anderson. I was 18 and I knew everything. I don’t remember a blessed thing he stood for, all I knew is that he wasn’t Carter and he wasn’t Regan. Anderson was going against the status quo. My father tried to tell me that I was wasting my vote. The big fear at the time was that Anderson would siphon votes off of Jimmy Carter and, therefore, allow Reagan to win. While he did siphon off votes from Carter, their votes combined still would not have beaten Reagan.

Jimmy Carter then went on from that loss to become the best ex-President this country has ever had. The man is 95 years old and is still building houses for Habitats for Humanity.

Even in retrospect, I don’t know that anyone would really consider Jimmy Carter a very good President. He is, however, somebody that I think exemplifies the ideals of a great US Statesman. His relentless devotion to public service stands in marked contrast to our current President whose actions help only himself.

Much as I thought, this election is getting uglier by the minute. I really can’t imagine what these debates are going to look like. I almost wish that they be called off. Neither man is likely to do all that well. I don’t think that will change anybody’s mind, but the nastiness of it all may stop some people from voting at all.

So last night, while the country roiled and raged, we all lounged around on the couch and watched TV - me, my sister, my brother-in-law, my nephew, my niece, the golden retriever and the three cats.

Life finds a way.

This trip could not have come at a better time for me. As the political vitriol grows, sitting on my sister’s couch, I am reminded of the simplicity of what we are all fighting for - life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

I mourn the passing of Justice Ginsburg and of Brenna Taylor, but I am not yet ready to mourn the passing of our great Democracy. It isn’t gone yet.

And we can still get it back.

We must.