By Judith Gayle | Political Waves
There’s no denying that we are in for quite a ride in the coming year with a newly configured Republican House of Representatives doing all it can to impede actual governance and political progress. This looks to be an awkward political shift, and it will take our attention and devotion to clear-thinking and activism in order to keep some bit of balance in the coming months. Still, I’m happier living the Chinese curse of interesting times than something akin to medieval humdrum, aren’t you? And this escalating energy seems necessary, as well.
It wasn’t long after the Supreme Court broke legal, not to mention ethical, precedent to hand the Bush family a win that my political antennae went into full-tilt-boogie mode; up until that point, I was spiritual wonking, my political instincts on cruise control, not high alert. I mark a full decade of renewed political activism this year, and this post will celebrate the change that has us so discomforted. After decades of entropy, this nation is awakening, cranky as predicted but hopefully not so lethargic it can’t count its many blessings.
Important to remember that change itself is not a political talking point. It’s cyclic, dependable and necessary, and any ‘refudiation’ of change is a contradiction in terms. Change can be either productive or defeating, but life does not occur in a vacuum. Change always comes along to renew forward motion. After Obama campaigned on change, the Republicans used it for their own 2010 ambitions, attempting to harness the pseudo-populism touched off by anxious Libertarians, mistrustful right-wingers and greedy corporate types into a makeshift Tea Party. Change is an equal opportunity energizer, and it’s here to stay.
Next we must keep in mind that Republicans do not govern, they decimate governance; we have yet to learn that. Perhaps that’s something, similar to feminism, that must be personally relearned generation after generation, but we do ourselves harm with each iteration. We can’t jump this intellectual hurdle until we are able to adequately assess the damage done to us by predatory capitalism and ruthless corporatism in tandem with theocracy, while connecting the dots to the party that has, again and again, chosen to champion this particularly virulent form of commerce over the wellbeing of the American people.