Nauseously Optimistic
Why are the polls so close and also why are we still fighting Nazis?
It’s been a busy few weeks and I’ve been HOT and sweaty and it’s not just the aching weather… it’s ELECTION FEVER!
In some ways I’m not worried about it because, truthfully, we only have one viable grownup candidate (who shows up on 60 Minutes, who’s not pushing 80, who’s coherent and is not going to be sentenced for crimes.). But I still have PTSD from the first time I voted for a woman. And right now there’s the big worrisome question: why are the polls so close?
Robert Reich thinks it's because America is not ready for a black woman president. He’s probably right, though I’d like to think better of America. America would like to think better of America. No one wants to admit or believe we’re a sexist, racist country! But there were some things that appeared on my radar since the Veep debate that felt kind of loud. (Did you notice the way Vance stole Kamala’s signature line about the future to non-answer whether he believed the Big Lie?)
As we were decompressing after Oktoberfest’s polka battles and fashion show, our visiting friend admitted he had never seen JoJo Rabbit. Of course we had to forcehim at pretzelpoint to sit down and not leave the room until he had peed his pants laughing and his heart had been broke wide open by the confused Hitler youth who befriends a Jew (gesundheit).
We also watched a bit of El Dorado: Everything The Nazis Hate on Netflix. Wow, did you know Germany was the first country to make it legal to be transgender? Right before it stopped tolerating anything (officially and murderously) but Hetero Patriarchal Aryanism?
Then, over sauerkraut, our friend raved about Rachel Maddow’s show, Ultra. I had to binge this podcast.
Ultra is the long-buried story of how 20+ members of congress (both parties) were indicted during WWII for spreading Nazi propaganda through official US communication channels! I was shocked to recognize the parallels…and the danger. There’s a Santayana quote painted on Dachau, which I visited in 1987: “Those who do not study the past are condemned to repeat it.” So check this out: this congressional committee was called America First. Sound familiar?
This was a group that literally worked with Hitler to demoralize American unity by drawing sharp lines around race, class, and religion. They unapologetically tried to overthrow the government and install a new regime that erased our constitutional rights. Sound familiar? I’m an incorrigible optimist so it's really hard to imagine a whole political party that is openly about racist supremacy. And likewise, it’s bizarre to see Republicans insisting they want opportunity for all. Because with or without Trump, the Putinized Republicans are dead serious about their blueprint for Project 2025. The forces behind it have been working since… well, it seems, since that first terrible idea to expeditiously codify slavery by race? Here’s the kicker: they all felt like/feel like they’re the heros.
The last loud thing I feel compelled to share is this fabulous story read by Levar Burton (by the guy who wrote James, have you read it?), about a creative way of ending the tension over the confederate flag. Burton says, “people just don't like having things taken away from them.”
We all worry we’ll have something taken away in this election. Kamala would say it's okay to have your feelings. But our feelings are being manipulated.
Trump knows exactly what he’s doing when he says things like, “she’s genetically incapable of not murdering.” He’s triggering our hard-wired synapses around those unconscious core mythologies that make us believe that black people and women are inferior and need to stay in their “place.” As a one man propaganda hurricane, it's a little scary that the media he criticizes so vituperously does not do the same for him. He is a “very special boy” and his bad behavior has become normalized.
Anyway.
Sorry. I hadn’t meant to write about politics—we’re swimming in them. I wanted to write about my play!
But it is actually pretty political—I mean, when you have a whole play by and about and starring women who are talking about their choices, well—sigh, it sadly has to be.
In my play, there are characters whose ancestors were on the right and the wrong sides of history. Even though in the animated version they’re played by paper dolls, these multidimensional beings are all grappling with their Germanity (German humanity). Writing their story, I became conscious of how rarely people realize when they are being pulled or pushed down a slippery slope. How many of our relatives and ancestors got caught up bad ideas that seemed like clear positives at the time? It feels like German history and culture is important right now, especially as the rest of the story continues to unfold so unbelievably in the Middle East.
Check out this little scene with the protagonist Savannah, a bi-racial entrepreneur with German grandparents, her childhood friend Mackenzie, who’s German/Scottish, and Anna, a visiting reporter from a German fashion magazine:
SAVANNAH:
My Buppa used to say, “Arbeit macht das Leben süss.” Work makes life sweet.
MACKENZIE:
I love that saying. Although have you ever noticed when you say it, though, anyone who reads the internet will say, “Arbeit macht frei?”
Oh, I’m sorry, Anna.
ANNA:
Macht nichts. I’m used to it. It’s sad how the world equates Germany with Nazis, even still, even though everything Nazi is illegal now, and we have made exemplary reparations. I have made my own little saying, “When there is a German in the room, there is an elephant in the room.” Eventually everyone must talk about Nazis. And we should of course. We must. I can’t believe white nationalism has a voice again, isn’t it terrible?
Anna is writing about how the world wants to wake up – “Wachet Auf”–from the nightmares of those bad times in Germany…and the cruelty that inspired it from America's dark beginnings. “Wake Up” is White for “Get Woke.” Like Neo and the actual red pill. Sort of! 😉
Later in the show a heavy metal rocker appears. When she starts talking about kicking khaki-wearing Nazis out of her shows, things get really nuts.
Have you seen The Dirndl Diaspora? I’d love your feedback! Dirndl Day was just wonderful and, even though Facebook DELETED the event (grrr), you can start seeing photos on the Facebook page. As I decompressed this week, I pulled together the fan EXTRAs for new subscribers to the Friends of the Dirndl Diaspora mailing list. You can get it here!
BREAKING NEWS:
My ballot just arrived in the mail! I’m gonna go vote right away! If MAGA prevails, proving once again that America really is hopelessly racist and sexist (it’s not the economy, we’re stupid), this could be the last time! But even Robert Reich says he’s “nauseously optimistic.” So until the election, I’ll be keeping my bright little eyes on Randy Rainbow and having faith that all will be well. Because when we fight we win. And we’re fighting.
Do you have a voting plan? Get one now, and make sure everyone you know has one!
Thanks for reading!
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