This is Our War

By David Mark Greaves

The Supreme Court draft Opinion overturning Roe v. Wade, shows clearly what Republicans have in mind for the country.  A fascist state where they will tell us what we can and cannot do.  And once they take the power to rule, they will not give it back. 

They will lie their way to the Supreme Court, conduct an armed insurrection with a written coup plan, and threaten county clerks to achieve their ends. 

Based solely on what they’ve already shown us across the country, we will read only what they approve of, have to meet their singular requirements to vote, have a baby no matter the circumstances of rape, incest or maternal health, we’ll be free to marry who they approve of, and we will learn that freedom of the press is not unfettered.  

This our Ukraine.  Fighting to save democracy from powerful enemies who have no use for people unlike themselves and whose sole intent is to make us bow to their will.  It is as an unbelievable situation for the country, but so are the images from Ukraine of cities turned to rubble, the dead in mass graves and left lying in the streets.

This is who we’re fighting here at home.  The dead in our country will be measured in maternal mortality on hospital gurneys and with botched abortions in makeshift rooms.  There will be babies born, who will be loved but unwanted and society will pay for that.

We have to fight like the Ukrainians, but we have no help coming from outside.  We, the People of the United States, must fend for ourselves if we are to save democracy.  And if we fail, the world is headed for more death and destruction from ruthless men and the inexorable changing climate that they deny.

As Putin must be stopped in Ukraine, the fascist right wing of the Republican party, led by our own wannabe-dictator Donald Trump, must be stopped as well, and for the same reason—to protect the masses, of which we are a part.

Taking down Donald Trump must begin with holding him accountable for his actions.  At the moment, that hope rests with two Black women, Fulton County District Attorney Fani T. Willis in Georgia and New York Attorney General Letitia James. 

DA Willis has convened a special grand jury with subpoena powers to investigate Trump’s election interference by pressuring of Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, to “find” enough votes for him to win.  AG James in New York, who is investigating Trump’s business dealings, is already costing him $10,000 a day in court approved fines.  Until Attorney General Merrick Garland’s Justice Department shows its hand, it is these two women who are leading the fight for his accountability.

There will be plenty of time to get back to arguing about fairness, justice and how we divide up this American pie, but right now we have a common political enemy that must be defeated, or it will be the worst of the nation that rules us.