(#4736) The betrayal in the United States of Inequality

      My immediate reaction when it was brutus manchin's turn to vote for keeping the senate rules as they are with his yes vote was to slam down my arm on my armchair and let out a curse. I knew then that our democracy is now in peril. It was anti climatic when it was mata hari sinema's turn to stand up and bellow out her yes vote. Yet her ill defined bellow was indicative of her ignorance for all to see. I resolved to myself in that moment that despite those two and the other 50 republican senators who just played dumb to the effect they had caused, that I would be like Dr. King and fight on no matter the obstacle. Thus becoming more like my brothers and sisters of color who have had to deal with these moments for centuries here in the United States of inequality.
     The emotional range I experienced the last two days in the run up to the vote last night was full of hope but also expecting the worst. Yet when the worst actually happened it hit me like the night Bobby Kennedy was assassinated or when the vote count in Florida went against Al Gore or even recently when on election night it became apparent that trump would win the electoral count in 2016. A gut punch that nearly took my breath away. I am a fighter so I know what punches feel like. Some punches are nothing. No matter where they land the impact is barely noticed yet others like a cold cock, kick in the nuts, or a gut punch feel intensely debilitating. Such was last night when republicans, with help from brutus manchin and mata hari sinema voted to deny millions of eligible Americans, specifically folks of color, the aged and infirmed, students, and the poor their right to cast a ballot.
     I finally fell asleep after tossing and turning for a few hours and for the most part I slept through the night with little mental anguish. I suppose because despite my earlier hopefulness I anticipated the worst to such a degree that my mind and heart were reasonably prepared. This is now the next day and although I don't know what the immediate future will be to marching forward with resolve, I do know that I am ready to do so. For all of us who felt the same kind of betrayal last night we are hopefully even more determined to make republicans pay for their theft of one person one vote. As to the two democratic senators who voted with republicans last night I won't say anything about them but do know this every action has an inverse equal reaction. That will never be forgotten when it comes to betrayal!