I bought a supply of blank postcards today. And postcard stamps.
I will be sending three post cards each day.
One will always go to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. The other two will vary.
The ones for Pennsylvania Avenue will always have some variety of this message: "HAVE YOU RETURNED THE CHILDREN YET?"
The others will depend. Ones going to my Democratic Congresscritters, and Dem leadership, will have variations on "WHAT DID YOU DO TO REUNITE IMMIGRANT FAMILIES TODAY?" Or "PLEASE ASK WHEN THE CHILDREN WILL BE RETURNED."
Ones going to GOP Congressional leadership and Federal bureaucrats will be along the lines of the ones going to Pennsylvania Avenue, and maybe "STILL TORTURING CHILDREN?"
You can get 200 printable postcards for about twelve bucks at Amazon. They're a bit more at the office supply store, but it works out to about ten to fifteen cents a postcard.
Postcard stamps are thirty-five cents apiece.
I figured I could afford about a buck-fifty a day to remind those who putatively "lead" us of basic priorities.
For as long as it takes.
When I was about three, we were at summer vacation at the lake cabin. My Mom took me into town with her to do the shopping. She was wearing light blue pedal pushers and white sneakers. When we got to the store, at one point I got distracted by something. I turned and looked for her.
Seeing light blue pedal pushers and white sneakers, I ran after them.
And then looked up.
IT WASN'T MY MOM!
More than fifty years later, I remember the horror and sense of terrified abandonment that overwhelmed me.
Fortunately, my Mom was at the meat counter at the end of the aisle, not being marched off to a bus to take her to her concentration camp.
To anyone who claims that what is being done to thousands of children is not "torture", I can only say that if more than fifty years later I have vivid memories of that incident, I would not want to live with the memories these children-- and their parents-- are going to have.
NOT IN MY AMERICA, DAMMIT!
Yes, I have other priorities, too. I'm upset about the Supreme Court, I'm doing what I can to encourage young voters to register, I will do my best to combat vote suppression, prevent Americans from losing their health insurance, and plenty of other issues.
Those are all important.
But right now, what matters MOST-- the number one priority for me and (I hope!) for every American who has beein either a parent or a child (that would be all of us, wouldn't it?) is to stop the torture of these children and their families, and reunite them as soon as possible.
It's a PRESENT evil, an IMMEDIATE evil, and an evil we have a clear moral mandate and personal power as citizens with voices to fight, for everything we are worth.
determinedly,
Bright
