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| Senator Elizabeth Warren (Edward Kimmel, Flickr) |
I lean
left. I make no secret of that, even
online. At times I am more reticent
about my political leanings, either because the setting isn’t suited for it or
because I prefer to keep the conversation pleasant. But I think I might rethink that. In these troubled days, where so much of my
liberal leanings are losing ground, I might have to change some of my methods.
In
observing Senator Mitch McConnell’s disrespect of Senator Elizabeth Warren, I
begin to see the true significance of events like the Democrats’ holding court
on the Senate floor during Cabinet confirmation hearings and the January Women’s
Marches and the calling and the protests at international airports. The true significance of these events is not
merely to register disgust and contempt for the current occupier of the White
House. It is not to protest the people
or the policies attached to the President.
It is not even a “power to the people” thing or a call for impeachment. No, it’s much greater than that.
“Nevertheless,
she persisted.” That’s the true
significance. Part of it includes
Michelle Obama’s, “When they go low, we go high.” But if we who are dismayed by the effluvium
of executive orders and the torrent of tweets and the sycophants who support
such silliness do not resist and persist in their resistance, we can’t go high.
We must resist and persist—not to win,
not even to effect immediate change, but to preserve that which is kind and decent
and just plain right. It’s not right to
allow outright racism and misogyny and persecution and marginalization. These things must be resisted because they
are not right. Politicians and policies
will come and go, but right is right forever.
We can’t get lost or lose sight of what’s right. If we do, we lose ourselves. Then no one will be left to resist or persist. So persist in your resistance. Because it’s the right thing to do.
