By Alliance President Terry Gips
I had a dream this morning. I was drowning in the global events I watched unfold yesterday and all I could do was join Network’s cinematic anchorman Howard Beale in shouting, “I’m mad as hell and not going to take it anymore!”
I was flooded with the images of Big Tech Billionaire Bros, the powerful and political leaders with their sycophants not standing up for common decency and basic ethics. It was an ongoing nightmare from the right and left that went beyond Epstein’s Island buddies, like Prince Andrew and Bill Gates, to include what I thought were visionary heroes like Deepak Chopra and Noam Chomsky.
And I saw the real floods and record heat and deaths from our business as usual approach to climate change, while hunger and wars also ravage our sacred home.
I was in disbelief at Trump’s unhinged comments yesterday from the NATO Summit. He did everything from attacking allies and gloating over war with Iran to calling for the US to take over Greenland and stopping trade with Spain.
He mistakenly said the “Islamic Republic of Japan” and referred to Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as “President Putin”. I was astounded as his party leaders continued to make excuses for why he should still be allowed to be our President with his finger on the nuclear launch button.
I also had to endure Maine’s progressive Democratic Senatorial nominee Graham Platner’s flat out denials of rape and abuse while finally suspending his campaign. Why did it have to take two brave women who survived his assaults to come forth?
Why did wonderful progressives like Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren stand by their man just to win in the face of Platner’s barrage of disgusting actions? It wasn’t enough for him to cover up a Nazi tattoo, sext and make homophobic, abelist and white rural voter slurs?
I was being pulled under by the loss of our moral compass and sociopathic narcissists who are running and ruining our world. I witnessed the heads of 31 NATO countries bowing down and groveling to win affection from Trump while this wannabe king seeks to model Orban, Putin and Xi, all of whom he publicly admires.
I was overwhelmed thinking how we’ve allowed both houses of Congress, his Supreme Court, Department of “War”, “Justice” Department and Environmental “Protection” Agency to do his bidding. Gone are basic voting, LGBTQ+ and other rights, along with environmental protections. Plus, he’s been given unfettered power to attack his opponents with no legal recrimination.
Meanwhile, the Big Tech Trillionaire Musk and his Billionaire Bros Bezos, Brin, Gates, Altman, Page and Ellison seek to force their AI world and hyperscale data centers down the throats of Americans across the country. But Trump and his family have also cashed in on an unregulated AI boom, plus more than $2 billion in profits from their new crypto, precious mineral and drone companies with insider deals.
I felt like I was drowning in a toxic swamp. This is not about left or right, Democrat or Republican. It’s about power and privilege. Almost always it’s about white males who feel entitled to dominate and control. They’ve been winning because the rules of the game they created allow the buying of political power and unlimited, self-enriching monopolistic and oligopolic capitalism.
Amidst the hopelessness of this nightmare, I saw a new vision, a rising. Not surprisingly, it was led by artists, who always seem to provide the heart-felt inspiration and call for change. At the front of the line was Bruce Springsteen, whose Land of Hope and Dreams American Tour was a Gospel prayer service calling on all of us to stand up.
Next to him was Taylor Swift, who singlehandedly confronted the music machine and won, revolutionizing artistic rights and contracts while mobilizing and growing her fans. And now that it’s TnT, I saw Travis Kelce boldly standing up and using his starpower to get other athletes to join him. The World Cup is a perfect time to begin.
Alongside them were Oprah Winfrey and Michelle Obama, with their legions and calls for basic human decency and kindness, to be the best versions of ourselves.
So what appeared to me was AA, Artists & Athletes and all of us together rising up against the addiction to power and privilege that has been allowed to spread like a virus throughout our society. It’s time for us to acknowledge we are part of a dysfunctional system that is harming people, animals and our beloved planet.
It’s time for an intervention. We need to come together to confront every instance of abuse, regardless of party, power or position.
Redressing our grievances and returning to our founding ideals would be a fitting way to celebrate our 250th Anniversary. Let’s fulfill the true American dream and become a light unto the nations. We can do this.