Make America Normal Again

Fascists appropriate national symbols & values. Kamala Harris & Tim Walz are taking them back.

The Democratic National Convention this week was the most energized I’ve felt as an American citizen since 2008, when a relatively young Black man, a freshman Senator from Illinois, inspired a nation and, incredibly, won the presidency. It felt like a transformative moment because it was. But it was one Obama line that everyone remembers from a speech at the previous DNC.

“There is not a red America and a blue America, there is the United States of America” —Barack Obama, 2004

I’m naturally cynical, I don’t like being manipulated, and I don’t like cheerleading. Regardless, I found myself standing up, clapping and yelling at my TV over this last week as speaker after speaker reclaimed “America” for Americans.

It wasn’t just the chants of “USA! USA!” or the waving of flags; it wasn’t just symbolism. The week was a reclamation of American values from a fascist insurgency that has had a long time to erode them. Family, freedom, empathy, love of country, respect for those who serve, and, importantly, tolerance, were major themes.

The Obamas, the Clintons, and numerous other speakers emphasized the point that we must have patience and tolerance for people who have different opinions. Barack Obama gave the example of a grandparent that has some opinions you disagree with because of the era they grew up in. You don’t reject them and throw them out. You try to understand where they’ve come from, and adjust your reactions accordingly. You don’t argue with everything they say.

This was a recognition that many of our citizens have been psychologically manipulated and influenced. We all know people who have developed opinions that we deeply disagree with. A third of our citizens are in an authoritarian cult created through psychological warfare.

Nevertheless, we must try to recognize what has happened to our neighbors, friends & family, avoid the topics that create conflict, and begin the process of rebuilding our families and communities around shared values.

As I recently wrote, the Harris-Walz campaign has found the formula to defeat the insurgency:

Empathy + Strength = Fascist Kryptonite

Speaker after speaker emphasized the point that empathy — the word was used over and over — is in no way inconsistent with American values, and in no way in conflict with a strong, well-defended nation operating under the rule of law. A stream of veterans, law enforcement officers, and Republicans, ashamed of the direction Donald Trump has taken them, reinforced this message.

We can both care about others and be a powerful nation. We can feel for others and still make the hard decisions. It was a rejection of the psychopathy undergirding the insurgency. This is a revolution of the normies.

After a decade of enduring Trump, Trumpism, and psychological torment, the patience of many Americans seems to have run out. The extraordinary, historic rise of Kamala Harris and Tim Walz in just six weeks since Joe Biden did the rarest thing in politics, voluntarily giving up political power, is both a testament to their talent — and a hard pendulum swing back to being normal again.

By “normal,” I don’t mean homogenized or generic. To the contrary, the picture of real America is of people with vast differences, as was reflected on the stage at the DNC, but with one common value: the desire to be free, to make our own choices, and to have everyone else, as Tim Walz said, “mind your own damn business.”

To be sure, the next 75 days are going to be intense, and the period after the election may be the most dangerous time since the Civil War. We have got to deal with the Supreme Cult, we still have Mike Flynn waiting in the wings to spark a national insurrection.

Nevertheless, the feeling I get, is that the vast majority of Americans are tired of the psyops, the propaganda, the hatred and the lies. I’m seeing people on the margins make a change, people who are tired of fascist performance art being all we talk about.

Make America Normal Again. 🇺🇸

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