You know things are serious when the Introverts arrive
Today
is known as the Ides of March, which refers to March 15th, famously
associated with the assassination of Julius Caesar in 44 BC, a date that
has become synonymous with foreboding and misfortune, popularized by a
line in Shakespeare's play "Julius Caesar, “Beware the Ides of March.”
The
background story is this: In ancient Rome, the Senate had the real
power, and any titles they gave Caesar were intended to be honorary.
They had conferred upon Caesar the title of "dictator in perpetuity,"
but when they went to where he sat in the Temple of Venus Genetrix to
give him the news, he remained seated, which was considered a mark of
disrespect. Thus offended, the Senate became sensitive to any hints that
Julius Caesar viewed himself as a king or — worse — a god.
Many
had tried to warn Caesar of a plot to assassinate him, including his
wife, Calpurnia, who had begged him not to go to the Theatre of Pompey
that morning. According to Plutarch, he passed a seer on his way. The
seer had recently told Julius that great harm would come to him on the
ides of March.
Julius recognized the seer, and
quipped, "The ides of March have come." The seer remarked, "Aye, Caesar;
but not gone." When Julius arrived at the Senate, he was set upon by
Brutus, Cassius, and the others, who stabbed him dozens of times. He
slowly bled to death, and for several hours afterward, his body was left
where he fell.
Today, many in this country are
noting #TheIdesof Trump in several ways to protest the man who, when he
was sworn in as POTUS, did not place his hand on the bible. Many
consider this as disrespectful as Caesar sitting when he received his
title. But, that’s the least of the long litany of disrespectful acts
perpetrated by this one man.
What Franklin’s statement highlights is that a successful representative democracy relies on the active involvement and participation of its citizens. The Constitution is not self-correcting, so it requires the constant attention and devotion of all citizens.
My
local Indivisible Group is joining with my local ACLU group in a
demonstration on Route One/Coastal Highway. From 9-11 every Saturday,
they will be carrying signs and singing songs. Last week a few Very Rude
MAGA folks (are there any other type?) tried to “counter-protest,” but
they didn’t just line up on the other side of the highway with their
signs and songs.
I know, right? Go figure.
The
police were called and, I am told, the MAGA folks dispersed, but
reports are that it got a little tense for a little while. Because, you
know, MAGA is so dedicated to Free speech - unless you’re saying
something they don’t want to hear.
There is also a Postcard Campaign in
effect, #IdesOfTrump, which is an effort to break Hank Aron’s record of
having received over 900,000 postcards by sending a million (at least)
postcards to the White House on Pennsylvania Ave in Washington, DE,
addressed to, as Garrison Keillor calls him, The Occupant.
The
idea is that while no one thinks he will read any of them (he
notoriously doesn’t even read his daily security briefings), he will
know if a record has been broken, and that millions of people detest him
and his policies so much that they are willing to use their First
Amendment Right and tell him so, by whatever means they can.
Yesterday,
I sat in my church Parish Hall from 10 AM-12 noon with as many as 15
other people who came and stayed for as long as they could and wrote out
postcards. I bought a package of 200 blank postcards from Staples. We
all pitched in and bought stamps (they are now $.56 a piece) and sat at
round tables, commiserating with each other as we each wrote out our
postcards.
Some of us decided to make the return
address “SCOTUS Building, One First Street NE, Washington, DC 20543.”
That way, if the White House wanted to “return to sender” our message
might fall on deaf ears but our postcards wouldn’t be lost.
Some
of the folks poured their hearts out into their message, filling the
whole back side of the postcard with what they saw happening in their
lives and the lives of others, and what they feared would happen to them
if Medicare and Medicaid were cut or eliminated or privatized.
I
wasn’t going to tell them that their message would never be read. Not
by the POTUS or, in fact, anyone in his Cabinet. That didn’t seem to be
the point. Their intention was the point. Their energy was the point.
Their being in their church building, at table with their fellow church
members - people with whom they pray and sing every week - now sharing
stories of what they had seen and heard and what made them anxious, and
being heard and validated was the point.
Others of
us just wrote short, angry sentences, punctuated with exclamation points
and marked by certain words being underlined several times for
emphasis. Some of my personal favorites were: “You’re FIRED!” “Elon is
not my POTUS (but neither are you.)”. “History has its eye on you.” “God
is watching, and She’s not pleased.” “You make Jesus do a face-palm six
times before breakfast.”
Here’s
the thing: We did this quietly. No letters went out. No invitation
appeared in the church e-newsletter or Sunday bulletin. There was no
announcement posted on the web page. We wanted to be respectful of the
members of our congregation who - for some reason that completely
escapes our comprehension - voted for and continue to support this
administration.
Our efforts were very last minute -
less than 72-hour notice. And yet, fifteen (15!!) people came to the
parish hall on a Friday morning within a two-hour period of time. We got
200 postcards written and stamped. A few people came by and dropped off
their postcards which they had written at home.
One
of us elected herself to take the postcards to the local town Post
Office this morning to mail them from there. I would LOVE to see the
look on the face of that postal worker when that happens in that sleepy
little town, wouldn’t you?
Better get used to it.
We decided that next time - and there will be a next time, and we’re not
going to wait until next year, but we’ll join whatever movement is
happening at the time - we will be ready. We will have postcards made up
ourselves or we will purchase some that have been professionally made.
We will print the addresses - both to the sender and the return address -
ahead of time on the computer.
Personally, I think there is a real power to subtly. I loved the fact that the US Army Chorus sang, “Do you hear the people sing” from Les Misérables at the White House Governor’s Ball. Donald
and Melania Trump were in attendance. The song, in case you don’t
know, is about protesting an oppressive King. This left many wondering
if the song was chosen because The Occupant likes show tunes or because
it was an intentional troll.
Over three million people have viewed the video on Tik-Tok, which,
given the controversy over that social platform, seems totally
delicious - not to mention the DEI policies which are still in obvious
effect in the military.
What’s
that old expression? If you want to make someone listen, whisper. In
the musical Hamilton, Aaron Burr advises Alexander Hamilton to "Talk
less. Smile more. Don't let them know what you're against or what you're
for".
Well, I’m not for that last part, but in my
experience smiling while protesting and resisting confuses the heck out
of those who would wish to silence you. This makes the protest even more
effective. We learned all of that from Martin, didn’t we?
My
favorite story happened with equal subtlety during one of the protest
demonstrations of the 1999 killing of an unarmed 23-year-old Guinean
student named Amadou Diallo who was shot with 41 rounds by four of NYC’s
plainclothes police officers. The civil disobedience protest was at
City Hall, led by then Bishop Suffragan Catherine Roskam. Many Episcopal
priests were in attendance.
Everyone was standing
quietly and calmly but did not move when the police told them that they
were breaking the law and needed to disperse. A policeman moved forward
to face one of the male Episcopal clergy, wearing a fine black suit and
white clerical collar, who standing next to Bishop Roskam, wearing the
purple shirt of her office.
The police officer
said, “Father, I have to inform you that you are breaking the law.” The
priest said, “I understand, officer.” The policeman said, “I’m sorry,
but I have to arrest you.” The priest said, “I understand, officer.”
As
the police officer was placing plastic handcuffs on the priest, he was
heard to say, “Well, you Episcopalians sure do put the ‘civil’ in civil
disobedience.”
As the White Rabbit said to Alice, “Don’t just do something, stand there.”
I
am convinced that’s how we’re going to win in two years at the midterms
and again, the White House in four years - not by losing our civility
or compromising our integrity and values but, rather by protesting and
resisting while keeping intact everything that makes us citizens and
patriots.
I know. I know. I’m sometimes angry
enough to spit. Some people are angry enough to return to the original,
root meaning of The Ides of March.
Don’t. Let. Them.
The
assassination in Rome in 44 BCE that was meant to save the Republic
actually resulted, ultimately, in its downfall. It sparked a series of
civil wars and led to Julius' heir, Octavian, becoming Caesar Augustus,
the first Roman emperor.
In 1787, after the
Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, Elizabeth Willing Powel, the
wife of Philadelphia's mayor, asked Benjamin Franklin what kind of
government the delegates had created. Franklin famously said, “A
republic, if you can keep it.”
What Franklin’s
statement highlights is that a successful representative democracy
relies on the active involvement and participation of its citizens. The
Constitution is not self-correcting, so it requires the constant
attention and devotion of all citizens.
Let’s keep
this republic. Let’s keep our democracy. Participate to the extent that
you can, in the way that makes the most sense to you. Don’t compromise
your values or integrity or what you love about being an American
citizen.
As the White Rabbit said to Alice, “Don’t just do something, stand there.”
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