Least Independent 4th of July in My Life

As America celebrates 246 years of independence, I am feeling the least independent I have ever felt in my life since I left my young childhood. While I do feel the best I have felt in the past few years and I look healthy, my body quickly reminds me all the time I am its prisoner of this cancer war. It is worth the fight but it is frustrating, especially when I remember I am 46-year-old woman and cannot do what I want when I want. I am not able to help people like I have in the past. When I get a craving for something or see an ad on TV for something, I am not able to just go and get it. I either need to create a minimum order to have it delivered or wait for someone. I am not able to do everything at the house I want or need to do. It takes effort to go to the mailbox, do laundry, cook, or wash dishes. There are times when I can barely keep my eyes open. Stress impacts me more now than ever. These are small things in the grand scheme of life right now and I try not to lose sight of that. What I may be the most frustrating right now is my inability to participate in our protecting our democracy.

Warning this is about to get political (and lengthy)…

Forty-one days ago this country witnessed another horrific tragedy and yet in the past month SCOTUS has decided to threaten the safety and freedom we once celebrated in our county. The Declaration of Independence says, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” For years, we understood “men” to be inclusive of all men, women, and children of all race, color, religion, sex, or national origin but under the current political climate it is evident we are wrong. The decisions coming out of state and federal legislatures and courts are showing the protection of a small minority of privileged individuals. The unintended consequences of protecting this minority at the safety of the majority are yet to be seen but they are coming if something is not done.

Furthermore, for the groups who think these decisions do not impact them, while it may be true for specific decisions do not be naïve to think they are not coming for you next. We need to be careful ignoring when rights are taken away from groups outside of our lives because we think it doesn’t impact us. When the last president was running, I warned how Hitler-like he was. The actions during his presidency showed I was correct and we are in the middle of it playing out right now. Niemöller said, “First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out— because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.” As Americans, we need to wake up and realize when SCOTUS begins to make decisions on party lines and take away our rights, we could end up with the America of 1776, where very few of us had rights and the free America was only free if you were an elite white person who owned property.

Most of the acts of the extreme right in the past dozen years is done out of fear…fear of what will be taken from them or what they may miss out on. This thinking is dangerous and is the base of every bully action beginning in the school yard. Just because someone is given a right, assistance, or justice, does not mean you will be losing something. In the past week, I was watching Ken Burn’s Benjamin Franklin documentary and was reminded of the following quote: “The hardest thing for a man to do is to change long-standing prejudices of belief, but to succeed in doing it is a test of one’s humanity.”

So I ask on this Independence day, does America have the ability to move forward instead of retreating to the past? I am ever hopeful the answer is YES! I know this country is made up of a majority who does care and does not want to see human suffering, who wants to have the freedom to make personal choices for ourselves, who think about their community members enough to not want to kill them with disease or weapons, who want to be part of the freest country in the world. A free country protects the health and safety of its citizens. As a first world country, we should not be struggling with maternal health, infant mortality, developmental appropriate education, food insecurity, and access to quality health care, child care, and elder care. It boggles my brain. To be elected or appointed to public office means putting your individual beliefs aside for the good of the collective.

It is important to remember Roe v. Wade did not require people to have abortion but the reversible of this decision does require women to give birth when they are not physically, mentally, or financially able to do so. It means victimizing the victim in some cases. It means telling women we are less than and are not able to make our own decisions. Obergefell v. Hodges does not require you to participate in same-sex marriage but the reversible of this decision would mean many people who love and care for each other could not do so as the marriages of opposite-sex couples, with all the accompanying rights and responsibilities. Griswold v. Connecticut does not require you to use contraception but the reversible of this decision could mean many unwanted pregnancies to families who many not be prepared mentally, financially, or physically. There are countless other decisions I could cite. In all of these SCOTUS decisions, none made anyone do anything they did not want to do but allowed for a right to privacy and independent decision making for things impacting them privately and personally. When we begin to force decisions in people’s private lives, we stop governing by democracy and enter into a dictatorship where a small majority of people wield power without any limitations to constitutional authority. This is what our last president wanted and as country we must decide if this what we want our future America to be. On this 246^th Independence Day, remember what this day off is really about. It is not about cookouts and fireworks. It is a celebration of America declaring our independence from the British monarchy and the unpopular rules and taxes they were imposing on the colonies. It was about separating so a single religious belief did not guide the rules of our country.

Since the beginning of the United States, women have always been treated as less than. While we have made progress, it is not enough. It is important to remember the country failed to ratify Equal Rights into a constitution amendment. We currently are being paid about 80% what a man makes. One could argue being forced to give birth is seizing a women’s body against her will. The decisions of SCOTUS showed the United States women are still less than because apparently we are not capable of making decisions that are best for ourselves, our families, and our communities. It is easy to sit outside these arguments and say you are protecting cells but it is being done with no regard to woman who is growing the cells, basically saying she is a petri dish with no rights. So where does this stop…is my cancer treatment in jeopardy because I am actively killing living cells. I know many will say this is an absurd argument but once Pandora’s box is open, it is hard to close. This week Elizabeth Warren and Sherri Chessen urged us to channel your anger into action. I beg you to do the same. Campaign, help people get registered to vote, support candidates who value human rights, give your time, talents, and/or treasures to nonprofits who are protecting human rights, and most importantly vote!

I encourage people to watch the new Ken Burn’s documentary on Benjamin Franklin, especially the last thirty minutes, which talks about the compromises made to form the government of our country. It would be nice to see our current government practice compromise and civil discourse.  Within the past forty-one days, I have thought of several compromises between the two sides on many of these issues because we cannot have extremes on either side. There are a number of human rights at risk right now between bias behaviors (gender, race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability, etc.) and basic rights unavailable to everyone (health care, food, housing, health insurance, etc.). Unfortunately, because of my disease, I am not able to run for office to help fight for these compromises so I rely on those I elect to fight this fight. I know we can collectively send people to public office to protect the health and safety of this country for all of our citizens, not just the privilege ones. The funny thing about privilege is those who have it often do not realize it. They do not think about the difficulties that may exist to participate in all aspects of our society. To those in public office trying to move forward an agenda of inclusiveness and protection, stay strong and keep fighting because we need you. We need those with integrity to stand up against those who are only protecting their own personal interests. We must use our votes in all the upcoming elections to send a message of type of America we want for today and years to come. Let’s test the call for humanity!

As long as there is breath in my body, I will keep doing what I can from my recliner with my support staff….

When not in the chair with me, they are typically close by.

For tonight . . . I'm just sayin' XOXO