An open letter to the politically exhausted

Hi friends.

It’s been a rough decade, right?

I’m talking to those of you who have been prioritizing your mental health by focusing on the immediate present in your tightest social circle. To those who have been frustrated by misinformation in the pursuit of capital, and disappointed by our fellow Americans who seem unfazed by blatant dishonesty, racism, homophobia, misogyny, ableism, transgender discrimination, and crime. You too, girl in undergrad who was annoyed by the college Dems club selling buttons to support local candidates because you ‘don’t do politics’.

I get it.

I understand the desire to retreat from the headlines and spend a little time trying to eke out whatever joy you can in this life; I understand how that news diet went from a couple of days to a week to a year. Honestly, after four (eight?) solid years of washed-up former reality star and current pathological liar Donald Trump dominating every news hour in the cycle broken up on occasion by updates on the Coronavirus, I don’t know that you could be blamed for craving a little peace and positivity.

As they say — the important stuff will find its way to you one way or another, right?

As your friend, I’m reaching out. You know I would never interrupt your self-care without good reason; some big changes are happening locally and nationally that you need to know about.

Remember last year when that conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation got their undies in a bunch because I wrote about their lopsided position on tax reform? As it turns out, they have been hard at work creating an 887-page manifesto to guide the GOP in dismantling our democracy and constructing a system of government rooted in Christian nationalist ideology and bigotry. It is at once grotesque and thorough; if you aren’t stripped of at least one right you presently enjoy, stay tuned because you’re definitely on the list.

The document has been described as a comprehensive strategy to leverage a second Trump presidency despite his ineptitude. If it sounds like trying to harness a loose cannon to use as a weapon against your own people, it absolutely is. They call it Project 2025 because, well, they plan to launch in January 2025 … This is why I’m reaching out. There’s an urgency around the result of this particular election that isn’t reflected by a corresponding excitement among the electorate.

Before you bring it up, I know you already heard about the debate. It was a rough night, and the resulting concern about President Biden’s ability to lead and his status as a viable bulwark between the populace and a second-round presidency for a thirty-four-count felon has been difficult to watch. Two months ago, I took a direct flight from CID to DCA with a 20-year-old who is studying neuroscience at the Maharishi school. Somewhere over Ohio we started chatting, and he told me he planned to support a third-party candidate. “I’m old enough to remember what happened with Jill Stein,” I told him. “Who is that?” he asked me.

Here’s the thing. Project 2025, while perhaps the most verbose, is not the only threat to the freedoms that our forebears fought and died for. The Supreme Court recently granted presidents partial immunity for official acts. In Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s dissent, she posed a hypothetical scenario in which a president could instruct Seal Team 6 to “assassinate a political rival” under the protection of immunity. Additionally, SCOTUS struck down the 40-year-old Chevron deference decision — relocating the interpretation of regulations from within government agencies that have the specific subject matter expertise to make regulatory decisions to the courts. The ruling lays the responsibility for regulatory law in the hands of the politically appointed body — potentially leading to politically motivated shifts in oversight and implementation in every industry.

On the local level, the great state of Iowa recently added reinstatement of the 6-week abortion ban to a laundry list of conservative measures designed to siphon public education dollars into private schools, exclude the realities of the BIPOC experience in this country from publicly taught history, and deny LGBTQ Iowans the right to exist. (And if you think there isn’t going to be another attack on food assistance programs swirling on the next funnel date, you’re not paying attention.)

What I’m saying, friend, is that we need you. This is not the time for apathy, or despair, or lethargy. This is the time to be present, and to actively uphold the progress that has been hard won by people who were relentless in their pursuit even though they knew they would never have the opportunity to enjoy it. Call your friends and ask if they’re registered to vote. Ask if your neighbor needs a ride or an absentee ballot. Knock a door. Put up a yard sign. Vote. Vote. Vote.

Sofia DeMartino is a Gazette editorial fellow. sofia.demartino@thegazette.com