January 21, 2021
In the weeks since PaPa Joe was elected President, I've spent hours trying to say something quite simple - while doing it in the most grandiloquent, needlessly convoluted, and opaque manner possible. You know, just for the fun of it.
We all have tales of what we did to stave off and defeat the
bloody knaves, save The Republic, and write the book on “How I Clobbered Trump
All by Myself.”
I chose my battlefield and spent much of the first two of
the last four years deep in Trump Territories, trying to figure out what the
fuss was all about and trying to move a vote or two. Came away with plenty of
psychic scratches, bumps and bruises brawling with the Right Kind of Folks for
my trouble.
Whether it was standard issue Trumpian insults, late night threatening
calls, or having my paper boat of a blog snagged by Russian Intelligence,
(proving they ain’t all geniuses), none of it was much fun.
I spent night and day consumed with finding the right words
to penetrate, wound, insult, revile, expose and reveal, the criminality of the
previous administration.
It may not be to my eternal credit, but it’s how I saw my
patriotic obligation and I would do it all again in a heartbeat.
After a spell, I drifted back to the “high country,” largely
stepping away from the mendacity and madness and meeting many more of you.
When we won the House, the tide began to turn and I settled
into a less pained, more optimistic posture.
Still, there were times I was so broken hearted and pained
that I didn’t know if I could answer the morning bell on behalf of a country
possibly unworthy of saving.
Then I would peek at Facebook over a groggy cuppa, see an
upraised thumb, an encouraging comment, the sharing of a new shard of
information, or a timely correction and I knew you were all out there too,
still pushing along the same rocky road.
And I picked up my cudgel and walked back to the mine.
When the clarion call to vote came, I was proud to stand
beside you in common cause with millions and BEAT TRUMP!
I’m elated beyond expression and grateful to all of you for
sharing, knowing that, when the clarion
sounds again, you will be there too. On the ramparts, patrolling for freedom.
Thanks a bunch, kids, It's been swell.
Harold Levine
