Flush it Friday: Night Letters
It’s Friday afternoon here in America. Let’s raise a damn ruckus.
This week has been painful around the world. I’ve felt a knot of tension in my belly since last Friday. It’s not fear, or sadness, or paranoia. It’s anger.
News of threatening night letters,
Stones tossed over the fence.
Your loved ones taunted by murderers.
Tell them it’s three years that they’ll have to wait.
As their whole world implodes.
From 2009’s Supporting Caste, “Night Letters” might be the most powerful song Propagandhi ever released. The music shows off a punk band completely eclipsing their genre and shredding away with metallic precision. The lyrics tell the story of an Afghan refugee in constant worry about his loved ones that are trapped in a hellish war zone, years away from the vetting process that might allow them a safer place to live. It’s a sobering tale delivered with righteous fury.
For years, terrible tragedies have occurred across the globe as ISIL has gone about their business of conducting bloody terrorism in the name of setting up the end of days. This group of back-woods fringe extremists is doing a hell of a job of wreaking havoc in the world, especially considering their incredibly limited numbers and resources. These assholes exist to inflict violence on innocent people, and the people they’re hurting the most are Muslims.
As you’re well aware, Syria might be one of the worst places on Earth to be right now. Millions of frightened men, women, and children are attempting to escape the very real threat of death at the hands of ISIL, Assad and/or any number of countries actively engaged in indiscriminate bombing campaigns. European countries are taking in these displaced people by the hundreds of thousands. The U.S., in a display of solidarity, agreed to accept a paltry 10,000 refugees. Last week, an act of terrible violence was committed in Paris. One of the perpetrators may or may not have been an agent of ISIL posing as a Syrian refugee. This is where the worst in people is revealed.
Right Wing politicians are tripping over their dicks to see who can most quickly turn up their rhetoric to Ethnic Cleansing-levels of Fascism. The loudest and least-informed American is the quickest to decry the boogeyman of “immigrants”, forever ruining a country founded and populated by exclusively immigrants. Morons are eager to utterly misuse Christianity as their defense for hatred of “the other”. We’ve done this song and dance before. The Native Americans are the enemy. The Irish are the enemy. The Italians are the enemy. The Blacks are the enemy. The Mexicans are the enemy. It’s endless. Within our grandparents’ lifetime, the United States shamefully turned away a ship full of Jewish refugees for fear that a Nazi spy may be included in their huddled ranks. They were returned to Germany where they met their death. The governors of a majority of states in the Union are chomping at the bit to emulate that exercise in base cowardice by making unconstitutional proclamations that they will refuse to accept Syrian refugees. They’re using a tragedy that happened across the world as an excuse to appear very, very #tuff and #hard on an extremely vague threat of terrorism.
So let’s go ahead and call those governors what they are: Cowards. There is nothing heroic about denying aid to people in need. There is nothing brave about demonizing millions of people based on their faith or skin color. There is no valor in using a tragedy to scare and energize the lowest common denominator with fear-mongering statements. These are the yellow-bellied actions of a coward, and these cowards have names, faces, and addresses.
Greg Abbott, governor of my state, is the IRL equivalent of It’s a Wonderful Life‘s Mister Potter. Abbott is dead-set on taking Texas back to the glory days of the 1950s by closing abortion clinics, removing the rights of protected citizens, and slashing any government assistance for those that need it the most. Hilariously, he’s managed to win the support of every tin-foil-hat-wearing Alex Jones jerkoff in the United States by pretending that he somehow foiled President Obama’s insidious plans to… do something or other to Texas with a series of military training exercises ominously named “Jade Helm” (Ooooooooh spooky). Less hilariously, he’s working overtime to engender a xenophobic and hateful atmosphere in the state. Already, he’s inspired petty, racist vandalism at a Mosque just a few miles down the road from his tax-payer funded mansion.
Look at this coward pretend to stand up for anything other than cruelty to frightened Muslims.
At the moment, the nation looks poised to re-enter post-9/11 anti-Muslim mania. But we don’t have to stand for it and we don’t have to let our voices be drowned out by shrill idiots that claim to love America and the Bible, but have yet to learn a lesson from either. If you’re a Texan, or just plain unhappy with Abbott’s actions, I’d recommend emailing, calling, or writing a letter to him.
Office of the Governor
P.O. Box 12428
Austin, Texas 78711-2428
(512) 463-1782
If you’re a resident of one of the many other states currently governed by a dildo, simply Google “Governor Phone Number” and your representative’s information will appear. Their staff is required to log every point of contact. This is one of the easiest methods of making your voice heard by those in power.
It’s easy to blame a large group of people for the actions of few nutjobs. It’s even easier to sulk and complain about the state of the world. It’s much, much harder to do the right thing. We must show compassion for our fellow man, but stand up to cowardice when it threatens the weakest among us. You have a voice. You have agency. Use it. If you would like to offer additional aid to the folks affected by this crisis, please consider donating to a worthy charity.
