Another day of remembrance. Another day when Americans traditionally pause to reflect on the military history of the United States and the sacrifices made to keep us the “land of the free and home of the brave.” This Memorial Day, more than any other, Americans need to ask themselves, “What did they die for?”
Memorial Day demands honesty. Honesty demands truth. Truth demands courage. Does America still have what it takes to be honest on this special day or in the troubled days ahead?
At this moment, we are sleepwalking towards Civil War. Can honesty, truth, and courage save us from ourselves? I do not know.
What I do know is that according to recent polls, about 15% of Americans old enough to vote, believe completely in the Big Lie; Trump lost the election due to voter fraud. That is roughly, 38,000,000 people. History warns us that a successful rebellion only needs 15% of a population. That is because most people choose to keep their heads down and watch events unfold rather than get involved. This allows a small minority to prevail. Sometimes that is a good thing, like the American Revolution, but more often terrible, Nazis in Germany and Communists in Russia and China.
That is where we are now. Do we fight for our Constitution and Democracy or do we sit by and let the totalitarians transform the United States into another failed state with its citizens little more than 21st century peasants?
On this Memorial Day, we must reflect on Honesty, Truth and Courage. Do we have the courage to accept the truth that there is a dangerous segment of our population that poses an imminent threat to our Constitution, Democracy, and Homeland? Do we gaze out over the endless rows of tombstones and allow all the suffering and death to be relegated to meaningless sacrifice?
Do we have the courage to be honest with ourselves? We have been and remain complacent as our enemies, domestic and foreign, mount attack after attack against us. If we are honest with ourselves, we understand that we are already at war with Russia. All that is missing is a formal declaration.
Likewise, if we are honest, we must acknowledge that we are already engaged in a civil war and have been for decades. Under the guise of state’s rights, freedom of religion, and the Second Amendment our enemies have steadily undermined the institutions we depend on to maintain and promote our individual freedoms and well-being. Now, our legislatures are corrupted by traitors, our courts contaminated by authoritarians, our economy held thrall by a greedy handful of oligarchs, and our social fabric torn to shreds by people who have been carefully indoctrinated into a delusional world view where honesty and truth are considered enemies.
The power of these lies is immense. About 15% of Americans fully believe the QAnon conspiracy fantasies that our nation is run by a cabal of Satan worshiping pedophiles and that the former president was cheated in the 2020 election. There are as many QAnon followers as there are members of many smaller religious sects and faiths. And QAnon believers are as fierce in their beliefs as any religious follower.
That is what we face during this Memorial Day weekend and well into the future. We are engaged in an existential struggle both domestically and internationally. Do we have the honesty and courage to act on the truth facing us?
We are at a serious disadvantage. Most of us have honored the ideals of religious tolerance and freedom of expression. Over many years, we have allowed bigotry to spread when it is portrayed as faith. We have refrained from limiting the hateful lies and conspiracy theories that our enemies spread because we do not want to undermine freedom of speech upon which all our freedoms depend.
Instead, we have believed that people who threaten our society can be convinced, peacefully, by example and reason, to change their ways. We believed, wrongly, that given time these hateful behaviors would cease as the benefits of our democracy’s fairness and openness would allow people to see the error of their ways.
Instead, our enemies have used the key elements of our democracy to attack us. We mistakenly believed that Republicans approached governance with the same goodwill and faith in the rules as demonstrated by Democrats and Independents. At one time that may have been the case. However, in the last 50 years the Republican Party has patiently developed and implemented plans to turn the United States into a single-party system that represents the interests of a wealthy elite at the expense of everyone else. Also, in the past six years, the Republicans have aligned themselves with Russian interests, sabotaging our national security. They have become not just autocrats but traitors as well.
On this Memorial Day we have much to consider. We are already engaged in a second American Civil War, as well as an international war with Russia. We are being attacked and must mount a vigorous counterattack. There is no time for complacency or equivocation. There is no point in wishful thinking that our enemies will come to their senses on their own. They are fanatics enraged by conspiracy theories and lies.
What do we do? It begins with becoming more active in local, state, and federal politics. Our representatives need our moral, financial, and physical support. Next, to avoid being misled, we must exercise critical thinking when evaluating information and news. Then, we need to learn what psychological weapons are being used against us, how we can identify when they are employed, and how to counter them. In addition, we can make our voices and presence known through letters of the editor, social media, and peaceful picketing and demonstrating. Also act when you see injustice, do not allow bullying or threats to go unanswered. And remember that while our enemies are loud and aggressive there are far more of us than them. If we are determined and unflinching our enemies will fail.
In the future, on Memorial Day, should someone ask, “What did they die for?” I hope that we can honestly reply, “They died so that all Americans can live free, in peace, and able to follow our dreams.”