"Nevertheless, she persisted"
...Mitch McConnell
The term "silent majority" has been around for many years, at one time referring to the dead, but Richard Nixon used it famously in November of 1969. When our country was embroiled in a war we could not win, and young men were dying for political gain, a vocal minority began demonstrating. Believing that the war dissenters were indeed a minority, Nixon asked that the majority of Americans let their voices be heard. Because most people do prefer to remain silent during political battles, it is difficult to really determine whether ideas are favored by majorities or minorities, but in the case of the Vietnam War, the vocal minority persisted until the last American soldier returned.
In 2017, Elizabeth Warren felt that Senator Jeffrey Sessions was the antithesis of what we needed as Attorney General. His record against civil rights alarmed her, and during the confirmation hearings for Senator Sessions, she began reading a letter that Coretta Scott King had written to the Senate Judiciary Committee in 1986. The letter told of her fears of him becoming a Federal Court Judge at the time, because of his "indifference towards federal regulations of civil rights laws."
Several republicans, including Presiding Senate Chair Steve Daines tried to force Warren to stop "impugning" Sessions, "nevertheless she persisted." Mitch McConnell finally used Senate Rule XIX, which "prohibits ascribing to another senator or to other senators any conduct or motive unworthy or unbecoming a senator." Personally I believe this rule defeats the purpose of a free and fair confirmation hearing, but in this case it worked for Warren's opponents. She was made to sit down.
She lost in that moment, but Senator Warren is a fighter. She will never give up, and no matter where your political leanings fall, that makes her an excellent role model for all of our daughters and granddaughters. Standing up for what we personally believe in and not giving in to another person's contrary beliefs is the reason we all have (or should have) the right to vote. It is the reason that "freedom of speech" is perhaps our most important right, and it is the reason that even the most hateful of groups should be allowed to state their most hateful of opinions.
We shouldn't spend time trying to take away their right to assemble peacefully, because our time is better spent following Senator Warren's lead. We must drown out hate with words of reason and acceptance. We must show America's better side to the people of other countries who believe they are watching us crumble. If you are a marcher, march with pride, if you are a tweeter, tweet with love...no matter how you show your pride in America, do it peacefully and do it with persistence. Hopefully, if everyone does his/her part, we will find that the "silent majority" represents complete acceptance for everyone in a country that has spent years working towards that lofty goal.
I am almost finished reading A Fighting Chance, by Elizabeth Warren, and I will review it next week, but this week I read Two Nights: A Novel by Kathy Reichs. In this book she introduces a new protagonist, Sunday (Sunnie) Night. An injured former police officer, Sunnie, is an strong character with an interesting back story.
As always, a complete review of this book follows my blog.
Happy reading,
- Beverly
...Mitch McConnell
The term "silent majority" has been around for many years, at one time referring to the dead, but Richard Nixon used it famously in November of 1969. When our country was embroiled in a war we could not win, and young men were dying for political gain, a vocal minority began demonstrating. Believing that the war dissenters were indeed a minority, Nixon asked that the majority of Americans let their voices be heard. Because most people do prefer to remain silent during political battles, it is difficult to really determine whether ideas are favored by majorities or minorities, but in the case of the Vietnam War, the vocal minority persisted until the last American soldier returned.
In 2017, Elizabeth Warren felt that Senator Jeffrey Sessions was the antithesis of what we needed as Attorney General. His record against civil rights alarmed her, and during the confirmation hearings for Senator Sessions, she began reading a letter that Coretta Scott King had written to the Senate Judiciary Committee in 1986. The letter told of her fears of him becoming a Federal Court Judge at the time, because of his "indifference towards federal regulations of civil rights laws."
Several republicans, including Presiding Senate Chair Steve Daines tried to force Warren to stop "impugning" Sessions, "nevertheless she persisted." Mitch McConnell finally used Senate Rule XIX, which "prohibits ascribing to another senator or to other senators any conduct or motive unworthy or unbecoming a senator." Personally I believe this rule defeats the purpose of a free and fair confirmation hearing, but in this case it worked for Warren's opponents. She was made to sit down.
She lost in that moment, but Senator Warren is a fighter. She will never give up, and no matter where your political leanings fall, that makes her an excellent role model for all of our daughters and granddaughters. Standing up for what we personally believe in and not giving in to another person's contrary beliefs is the reason we all have (or should have) the right to vote. It is the reason that "freedom of speech" is perhaps our most important right, and it is the reason that even the most hateful of groups should be allowed to state their most hateful of opinions.
We shouldn't spend time trying to take away their right to assemble peacefully, because our time is better spent following Senator Warren's lead. We must drown out hate with words of reason and acceptance. We must show America's better side to the people of other countries who believe they are watching us crumble. If you are a marcher, march with pride, if you are a tweeter, tweet with love...no matter how you show your pride in America, do it peacefully and do it with persistence. Hopefully, if everyone does his/her part, we will find that the "silent majority" represents complete acceptance for everyone in a country that has spent years working towards that lofty goal.
I am almost finished reading A Fighting Chance, by Elizabeth Warren, and I will review it next week, but this week I read Two Nights: A Novel by Kathy Reichs. In this book she introduces a new protagonist, Sunday (Sunnie) Night. An injured former police officer, Sunnie, is an strong character with an interesting back story.
As always, a complete review of this book follows my blog.
Happy reading,
- Beverly
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