by Diane Proctor
In a recent essay in The New Yorker, Jill Lepore explores the history and ubiquitous nature of “burn-out.” Citing sources as varied as The Iliad, where Achilles taunts Agamemnon “as a worthless, burnt-out coward,” to Arianna Huffington’s lament that “burned-out people are going to continue to burn up the planet,” Lepore notes that the demands of surviving the pandemic, Zoom meetings, and Trump may have depleted us.
Admittedly, during the previous four years the alarming actions of the federal government were simultaneously inciting and enervating; the relative quiet of these last few months has seemed a welcome reprieve.
When political activists, therefore, took a break and turned our trust over to President Biden and his team, there was a tendency to say, “Job well done!” Indeed, since mid-January, much that we fought for has been addressed. From financial relief for families with pressing needs—rent, food, childcare—to efforts to vaccinate the country, the president’s myriad commitments have seemed monumental. To his credit, Biden and his advisors are tackling each challenge with focused courage.
The new administration needs, however, more than determined pluck…they need four more uninterrupted years to overcome the Republican determination not to legislate and to reverse voting suppression laws, which are now spreading across our country.
To achieve these goals, the Senate must pass the Voting Rights Act: For the People—also known as H.R.1 in the House and S.1 in the Senate. The Act includes measures to improve equity in elections, create fair voting districts, and reform campaign finance laws.
Passing S.1 will be extremely challenging, thanks to a Republican party that values power over democracy, the Senate filibuster, and the inscrutable Joe Manchin. But the stakes couldn’t be much higher. The success of the Biden administration, our progressive priorities, and even the future of American democracy are on the line.
Complacency is not an option. Many of us have rested, but now is the time to re-mobilize. The midterm elections are critical: we cannot afford to let our Democratic majorities dissolve. The Republican determination to thwart open voting, to manipulate voting districts and, thereby, to mute the enthusiasm that brought Biden to victory, is unrelentingly vigorous. We must change the filibuster rules, pass S.1, and get out the vote for 2022. Silence is compliance.
Follow the work of Concord Indivisible, the Universal-Unitarian’s Reclaim Our Democracy, and Common Cause. Let’s get moving!
I have this feeling—part of it is this horrible year and the past four years we just went through—there’s this feeling of tenuousness—all around us: our democracy hanging by a thread, these states passing laws that will allow their legislatures to overturn [election] results…. And I get that people…want politics to be “boring.” But this feels like the eye of a storm. We have a chance—this moment of calm—to protect ourselves, to put sandbags where we need to put sandbags, to be ready for what’s about to come, and I really worry that we’re not using it. We’re just not using it! And there’s just way too much complacency; and I don’t know how we shake ourselves out of it.
Jon Lovett echoing Diane’s point on Pod Save America, 06/14/21
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