Now Is Our Moment of "Amazing Hope"

C'mon!

Let's battle Trump! This is your chance to do the most meaningful thing you will ever do in your life. And you will do it with the help of these heroes. Three wise guys like these! How can we lose?



President Obama,


Yogi Berra,  cntr                              


Anand Giridharadas, rt







American author Anand Giridharadas sets the stage for the best time you will ever have in your life, identifying this time as "A moment of amazing hope for a generation that gets to live in a time that matters. It's not usually pleasant times that matter."

This era can be Trump's era or it can be your era. It can be your 1960s, your Civil Rights era, your chance to be as good as the "greatest generation" that fought and won WWII. Each of those times was a fight for the survival of what was the best in America, to extend America to all her people, or for America's very survival. Now we shall be fighting for America's existence as a democracy. And perhaps the survival of the world.

President Obama tells us that his daughters aren't "moping" about Trump's election. Nor should we. He also says that "Only the end of the world is actually the end of the world."

He's rented an office in Washington D.C. and says he will be joining with Eric Holder to rescue and repair the parts of our election system that are so broken as to have made an unfit Donald Trump president even though he did not win the popular vote. Obama and Holder will also work to stop the voter suppression which may have caused Trump's supposed win in Wisconsin, Michgan and Pennsylvania. They will also work to fix the redistricting scheme by which the GOP holds control of the House of Representatives even though the Democrats polled a million more votes nationally for their Democratic House candidates. We are going to help President Obama and former US Attorney General Holder. Obama has not abandoned us and we shall not abandon him.

I'll let you know when the action begins and what we can do.  I was a community organizer, so was Obama, and you can be too. Or a sign painter, a host for a coffee fund-raiser, a letter writer, a driver to a rally. Or a candidate for public office or for a position in the party. We can do this thing.

Yes, we can. Si, se puedes!

Some Democratic big shots are also thinking about what they can do. Inauguration Becomes a Time to Protest and Plan  Yes, there are indeed some big names in this bunch. But don't figure you'll just let them do the job. They are the ones who dropped the ball until now! As did the Democratic National Committee and Nancy Pelosi. Please notice there's no mention of Howard Dean in this article! He's the one who guided the Democratic party to winning the House and the Senate in 2006 when he was chair of the Democratic National Committee. He's the one who knows how to do the work and does it! Maybe we can lure him in at some point.

Meantime we can remember Anand's comforting and challenging words. And we can support the efforts of Obama and Holder.

But what, you ask, is Yogi Berra doing here?

He's the excellent ball player who knew that we shouldn't give up easily and would—to the astonishment of all—rescue his team by hitting impossible pitches in the clutches  He said all those wonderful zany things that obscured what a good player he was and was credited with some he didn't say. "I never said a lot of those things I said." But one of his best sayings wasn't zanny at all. It was profound. Asked his opinion about a game the Yankees were trailing in, he replied: "It ain't over till it's over."

Our America is not over. Our democracy is not over. Not unless we give up now and "mope". Your team is up to bat now.

C'mon! We can do this. Yes, we can. Si, se puedes!

Batter up!

P.S. An ex-president retains the title"President".  In labeling Obama as President I am therefore not being unrealistic. In fact, I am the most realistic person you will ever encounter and that is what has made me an idealist. Because only ideals, high hopes, faith and perserverance are real. Because they get results that endure. Evil never lasts.

P.P.S. Yes, I know there are no women among the "three wise guys". I was a liberated woman before there was Women's Lib. I was one of those who broke down the brick walls for you younger ones. I chose these three guys because they suited my purpose in this essay.  My purpose here and for a while into the future is to be sure that the next time a woman runs she gets a fair shot from election machinery that isn't broken. My other purpose is to preserve all the civil rights, ethnic rights, women's rights, environmental protections, and other good things that I helped win for you!  I am 80. You are the ones I did it for originally (back then you were "the future") and you are all I care about now. I am sidelined now except for writing, so I'll be "Coach" or cheering section, okay?