Thankful

 Thankful

 

Once again, we come to a holiday where we are asked to give thanks for those things we value. 

 

Here’s my list.

 

I am thankful for the glimmer of bipartisanship in the House of Representatives caused by Democrats and sensible Republicans who came together to pass bills to avoid another government shutdown. The new Speaker, a MAGA extremist, saw that his only way forward was to work across the aisle to pass the needed appropriations. It may end up costing him his job as speaker with the Freedom Caucus expresses its anger over what they perceive as his betrayal.

 

I am thankful that Democrats in Congress and the White House are the adults in the room in the halls of power. The Biden administration has racked up a series of impressive victories improving the economy through infrastructure spending, negotiating lower drug prices for seniors on Medicare, supporting reproductive healthcare, standing with striking auto workers to help secure a fair contract, standing up to protect democracy in Ukraine and working to rein in Israel’s excesses in Gaza while supporting its right to exist, working to build lasting alliances in the Pacific and South America, and a host of others.

 

I am thankful for Democrats in Washington County. We are the fourth largest county party in Wisconsin, quite an accomplishment in one of the state’s reddest areas. We weathered Covid and the reconstruction of Main Street, keeping our office open year-round downtown and banking enough to meet expenses for each year by the end of the previous one. We are looking forward to a spirited campaign year supporting candidates up and down the ticket. We stand for reproductive healthcare without restrictions and continue to advocate for sensible gun law reform. 

 

One of our latest projects is a benefit concert to end gun violence at The Bend on December 6^th, featuring local and regional musical groups which are donating their time and talents to support the cause. All the proceeds from tickets will be donated to activist groups working to end gun violence. You can get tickets at https://secure.actblue.com/donate/benefitconcertdec6

I hope to see you all there. 

 

I am thankful for my family. We are all mostly healthy and secure and visit when we can. We support each other and love unconditionally. While we are spread across several countries and continents, we keep in touch and enjoy each other’s company. I am grateful to have been married to my best friend for over 50 years. Our children and grandchildren are thriving and productive. My family history has helped put my own life in a greater context understanding now that my paternal grandfather paved the way for my own progressive activism.

 

I am thankful to live in a small community. It is a joy to enter local small businesses where they greet me by name. Keeping up with local politics and events in our area are easy and fun to observe. We look out for our neighbors, and they look out for us. 

I am thankful for my careers as a lawyer and as a guardian for those who can no longer make decisions for themselves. While both careers are over, the life lessons learned and the memories of people I have helped during my working years provide much comfort and satisfaction. Both endeavors took me into worlds I had not experienced and helped me expand my horizons. 

 

I am thankful for the opportunity to write this column every other week. I’ve been keeping tabs on local, state, and national politics here for 12 years and have never run out of things to write about. I appreciate the constructive criticism some of my readers express in letters to the editor and chuckle some when those who cannot find a way to address the issues descend into personal attacks and name calling. I appreciate the tips and leads readers send my way. 

 

All in all, I am thankful to be alive right here and right now. I hope you and yours can be as thankful.

 

Be Careful What You Wish For

 Be Careful What You Wish For

 

Hard right GOP folks worked for years to get a Supreme Court that would overrule Roe v. Wade and interpret the Second Amendment differently than it had been for a century. They finally got what they wanted only to discover that most Americans did not want either result. What they ended up with is a whole lot of angry voters ready to turn them out of office whenever the opportunity arises. 

 

Democrats have hitched their wagon to reproductive health care unencumbered by governmental interference and common-sense gun law reforms and are finding success at the polls despite low approval ratings for President Biden.

 

The elections in key states on Tuesday showed that voters, especially women voters, have had enough from the hard right. 

 

Ohio voters approved an amendment to their state constitution protecting reproductive healthcare, including contraception and abortion, in the face of determined GOP obstruction and misinformation. First, the GOP controlled legislature tried to make amending their constitution more difficult. The voters said no. Next, the legislature and GOP leaders waged a mean-spirited misinformation campaign spreading lies about what the proposed amendment meant. Finally, GOP operatives dropped 26,000 voters from the rolls to try to defeat the measure. The voters saw through it all and voted to pass it anyway. Former Senator Rick Santorum took to the airways on Wednesday claiming that this exercise in “pure democracy” should be prohibited. Not surprisingly, he no longer holds public office and just comments on Fox News. 

 

Voters in Virginia rejected calls from their GOP Governor, Glenn Youngkin, to give him GOP majorities in both houses of the legislature so he could pass a 15-week abortion ban. Instead, voters returned Democratic pro-abortion and pro-gun control majorities to both houses to make sure Youngkin’s agenda never sees the light of day and causing him to drop his planned run for President.

 

Voters in Pennsylvania elected a liberal judge to their Supreme Court. He ran on an openly pro-reproductive healthcare platform and soundly defeated his MAGA endorsed opponent. 

 

Everytown For Gun Safety notes that 162 members of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America ran for office in this cycle and a majority won. 

 

Today’s GOP is sadly way out of step with American voters on these issues. Now that eight states have passed state constitutional amendments protecting reproductive healthcare, the handwriting is on the wall. Clinging to these issues will certainly hurt them next November.

 

To make matters worse for the GOP looking forward to the 2024 elections, voters are embracing other issues they don’t like and rejecting issues they put forward. 

 

Ohio voters also enacted marijuana legalization in Tuesday’s election despite GOP opposition and efforts to kill the measure. It is interesting to note that more people voted for marijuana legalization in Ohio on Tuesday than voted to support reproductive healthcare.  

 

The extreme hate group Moms for Liberty, often praised by the former president, saw school board election results reject banning books on LBGTQI and racism issues in Pennsylvania, Iowa, Virginia, and Minnesota. 

 

Voters in Virginia elected Danica Roem who is openly transgender to their state Senate. She is the first trans person elected to state office anywhere in the South. She was opposed by a former police detective supported by Gov. Youngkin who openly supports banning transgender athletes from competing on sports teams. 

 

Other states saw Democratic victories in local races as well. Democratic Socialists won several seats on city councils in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota. Voters in Philadelphia elected a Black woman as their next Mayor. 

 

All these electoral trends spell trouble for the GOP in the foreseeable future unless they find more popular issues and candidates who are willing and able to govern instead of just breaking things that work.

 

Getting what you wish for sometimes comes back to bite.