Sunday Morning: Why I'm So Loud Right Now

I've had a great life and I want that same shot for my family and friends. That's exactly why I refuse to stay quiet, and why November matters more than any election in my lifetime.

These are my Sunday morning thoughts, and I want to start with the belief that sits underneath everything else I write. We live in the greatest country in the world and in the history of this planet. I mean that.

The noise is real. The hateful talk from some corners is real. So is the misguided corporate influence that puts profits ahead of people and rewards rage and hatred and starves empathy and kindness. I see all of it, and I still believe that most Americans are good people who want the same things for their families and their friends that you want for yours, which is a safe home, honest work, a fair shot, and a future worth handing down.

Freedom takes work.

Power and money create serious problems when they drive decisions that serve a few at the expense of the many. That is not an accident and it is not a conspiracy theory. It is a business model. Flood the zone with enough outrage, enough fear, enough half-truths repeated by people who never checked, and eventually you stop trusting your own eyes, you stop talking to your neighbor, you stop showing up, and the small group of people who profit from your exhaustion gets to make every decision that shapes your life while you scroll. The daily noise wears you down. I get that. I feel it too.

Here is what they miscalculated. You are harder to fool than they think. You know when a paycheck stops covering the groceries. You know when a family in your town gets taken in the middle of the night. You know when someone in power tells you the sky is green and dares you to say otherwise. The people I talk with every week, my clients, my friends, folks I meet in line at the hardware store, see this clearly, and clear sight is the beginning of power. Every time you say the quiet thing out loud at the dinner table, every time you send an article to someone who needed it, every time you refuse to let a lie stand unchallenged in your own living room, you take a piece of that power back. That is why I feel hopeful about November.

Why November Matters

Based on the people I talk with, my clients and the friends whose judgment I trust, I believe the November midterms are one of the most important elections of my lifetime, and if you press me I will tell you they are the most important, period. Here is why.

Think of Congress as the referee in a game. Right now the referee has walked off the field, and one team calls its own fouls, which means it calls none at all. A new Democratic majority, and I hope that includes both the House and the Senate, puts the referee back on the field with a whistle that works.

Start with subpoena power and oversight power. Those tools let elected representatives force answers and hold wrongdoers accountable. The credible threat of future oversight keeps bad actors in line going forward. When decisions carry consequences, people pause and usually make better choices. Decisions, right now, carry no consequences at all.

Next comes control of the purse strings, which lets Congress do its job on how your tax dollars get spent. That includes the money flowing to ICE, the wider immigration crackdown, the masked men and women operating in our cities, and the funding of wars like the war in Iran that Congress never authorized or approved.

A new majority also puts the separation of powers back into operation. Three equal branches, each one checking the others. That is the whole design, and the current majority in Congress does not know what it means.

Some of You Asked Why I’m So Loud

Fair question, and here is the honest answer. I’ve had a great life. There is nothing this administration or anyone in it will do that harms me personally. I’m set. I have little to worry about.

I became a lawyer to help people and to protect people. That is the whole reason. This fight belongs to all Americans. It belongs to my family and my friends, to my kids, and someday to my grandkids. The country I want for them is a better one than the one handed to me. Trump and his administration have turned back, or tried to turn back, the hands of the clock to a time when anger, fear, hate, and yes, racism ran the show, and my mission right now is to do everything in my power to keep that from happening. If you’ve read this far, I’m guessing you feel the same way.

Your First Step

Make sure every person you know is registered to vote, then make sure every one of them shows up and votes in the midterms, because the loudest voice in a democracy belongs to the people who bother to use it, and silence hands the microphone to someone else. That is step one. After that, we work together to do the right thing in the right way, and by necessity that includes every American.

I said it at the top and I will say it again. This is the best country and the best place in the world to live, and we keep it that way by taking back majority control of Congress in November, so share this with someone who needs to hear it and go check your voter registration today.

Mitch Jackson, Esq. | kind words from others

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