The Most We Can Do: Vote

Voting is our only hope in a turbulent political climate.

I received a call from my cousin last night. She was distraught. After a lengthy time away from social media and the news, she had popped online last night only to find out that the United States (well, Trump and Hegseth, specifically) had bombed Iran.

She was confused and upset and wanted to know why. What had happened? Had Iran attacked or threatened the United States? Were we under some kind of threat? Or, more likely, had the president acted impulsively once again and put all Americans in danger. She was genuinely bewildered and wanted to know.

After I attempted to explain the so-called "logic" of our demented, power-hungry, spoiled little toddler of a president, a leader whom we are unfortunate enough to be dealing with these days, she realized why she'd bowed out of news and social media for so long. She was preserving her sanity. I can't blame her, and yet, burying your head in the sand isn't the answer either. So, what can reasonable, concerned, civic minded people like you, my cousin and me do in such an insane political climate to stay engaged while maintaining our wits?

Before I answer that, I want to address another puzzling question that challenges me daily. How/why people are still supporting Trump, and how are they still believing the "spin" that Fox News, News Max, and other sycophantic news outlets are force-feeding them. For all the times I'm called a "libtard" and a "radical left lunatic" on my social media posts whenever I criticize the current regime, I see the MAGA base do almost no thinking for themselves. They continue to repeat the same, tired insults and believe the same unbelievable lies, "chanting" them in zombie-like unison.

For example, after we watched the bombs drop on Iran this past weekend, Pete Hegseth actually held a press conference stating: "We didn't start this war..." when one of our first strikes killed everyone in an all girls' school, and another particular deadly one killed Iran's supreme leader and over 75 high-ranking government officials. We most certainly DID start this war.

Believe your eyes, not their lies.

In classic Orwellian fashion, though, the Trump administration tried to convince us to disbelieve what we can all clearly see with our eyes and hear with our ears. Then, true to form, someone on social media informed me that the U.S. didn't actually bomb a girls's school. She couldn't believe it, so she didn't. With such blatant disregard for facts, these folks are so deep in their delusion that there is not much a sane person can do or say.

I have to decide when to just walk away, shake my head, and hope the next MAGA I talk to might be more reasonable. I'm not holding my breath, though. After all, the cult of Trump is powerful, stubborn, and unwaveringly stupid, which is what made providing some kind of explanation to my bewildered cousin such a challenge.

I can't explain the behavior of Trump's base any more than I can explain why Christian Nationalism is still using the term "Christian" in its name. There's nothing Christian about it, but, I digress.

Instead, I focus on that part of the population that is still reachable. I attempted to offer my cousin the only advice I could halfway believe myself: good people like us need to vote. We need to vote...hard -- in the primaries, in the midterms, in every election we can. She knows this, of course, and is an active voter and lover of America as am I, which doesn't diminish the power of the sentiment.

We can all do with a little reminding now and then. After all, voting is our superpower in a democracy, our voice, our force, our only hope. Apathy is the enemy. We have to believe that the 70% or more of Americans who currently disapprove of Trump and this administration can overturn the Republican stronghold over Congress in the midterm elections and stop the damage to our country. But we have to show up, and we have to make sure we CAN vote. Find your voting location and register. And, if the SAVE Act passes, find out if you need to register again with the new paperwork, and in-person requirements.

Voting is our superpower.

We have an obligation to ourselves, to each other, to our country do everything we can to safeguard our

democracy. Ultimately, I told my cousin what I desperately need to remember myself: the least and the

most powerful act we can perform is to VOTE like our country depends on it, because it literally does.