LET’S STOP PRETENDING THIS IS NORMAL

A More Perfect Union / 2019 / Mixed media painting on paper / Russell C. Smith

We're living in a moment in history when we are either going to do the work it takes to save the United States of America, or let those who are intent on destroying America keep going until they've accomplished their aim. None of what's been happening for the past two months is normal. None of it has anything to do with helping the American people, in any way. This is what dictatorships do, what fascists and authoritarians do. We're living in a time when mainstream media has bowed down, paid millions upon millions to this two-month-old administration that's destroying every part of our government and democracy. The Free Press has forgotten how to report the truth of what's happening in our country, you know, the primary thing it's supposed to do. This new administration has proven it doesn't care about seniors, veterans, students, healthcare, farmers, national parks, diversity, and the arts and culture. It's doing away with the Department of Education, Meals on Wheels, and Habitat for Humanity. What kind of zero empathy humans can have anything against any of these organizations? For no reason whatsoever, this early days administration has chosen to trash the long-standing relationship with Canada, our closest ally. Across the board, the worst impulses in our culture have been uplifted and normalized. From top-down to the bottom of the barrel. How about what they've done to the economy in record time? Unhinged economic policies likely leading us into yet another Republican Recession/Depression. Trickle-down economic freefall awfulness. On the propaganda channels, they talk only in lies, phony belief systems, and power grabbing. What’s become normalized isn’t normal. Let’s all stop pretending any of it is normal. No one has to accept the unacceptable. There’s no excuse for the inexcusable. Real issues, like paying bills and buying groceries and keeping the electricity turned on, are shrugged off. We weren't able to prevent fundamental women’s healthcare rights being stolen under the dark of night by an extremist Supreme Court, which led to countless women dying across the country. Preventing the death of democracy in America is something we have to do. We the People are now the ones who must stop the ones who are destroying the inner workings of our government, and doing so in plain sight. We each have a voice, and we use it to speak out about issues we care about. We can lift up our voices and do our best to protect and save the United States of America.