Yesterday, my shitty brain decided it would be great to consider the demise of the republic and the fact that it’s already done.

If you’re thinking, “Wait, it’s not over yet!” – it may very well not be, but that’s not where my mind went. Here’s the delightful conclusion my mind came to yesterday:

– Nothing is going to stop the Republicans from putting Aunt Lydia on the bench. There is nothing terrible enough to make any of them vote no. My lord, they’re salivating at the idea of a lady Scalia, and no amount of public opinion in opposition to that will change their minds.

– Even if we take the White House & Senate, the Democrats will do nothing. No court expansion, (SCOTUS or lower federal,) no SCOTUS term limits, no impeachment of Kavanaugh.

– The R’s continue minority rule via the courts and undo every piece of progress that has been made for the last 20+ years. (Hell, let’s be real, they’re shooting for 50+ years of social regression.)

– We’ll see massive voter apathy in 2022 because obviously voting didn’t matter, the R’s re-take the House and Senate, and that’s all she wrote.

And in short, if you’re not a white, straight, Christian male – it’s done.

And I am genuinely not sure what to do about it. I mean, I’m going to be calling my reps – YET FUCKING AGAIN – and ask what the hell their post-inaugural day plans are, and try to get across that NOW IS NOT THE TIME TO PLAY NICE.

As much as I love Michelle Obama and “When they go low, we go high” – we’re at the point where if they go low, we need to stand on their necks as long as they’re down there. (I don’t love it, but that’s our reality.)

What do I want to hear & see out of the Democrats?

– SCOTUS Court expansion.

– If not that, remove Kavanaugh, put someone better on the bench and get term limits on SCOTUS. (Removing Kavanaugh is not a “I don’t like him” idea, he lied about his financial disclosures and that should not be ignored. I also do not like him, but that is not the point here.)

– Lower federal court expansion – that’s not just a knee-jerk reaction, we do need more federal judges anyway.

– A close, second look at all federal judges appointed under 45. Not witch-hunt ruin lives type stuff, but I suspect there are a LOT of judges that have been appointed that have massive conflicts and shouldn’t be there. We have to take a look at that, given that these folks went through the confirmation process with no real scrutiny.

– Spend the next two years passing progressive, life changing, litigation-proof, positive legislation that will help so many people that no one will ever want to go back and we never see the Republican party as we know it back in power.

OK, writing all this out, maybe I do have a few ideas of what to do – at least what I want to say to my reps (I think in addition to calling, I’ll write this all out and fax it as well.)

Also, time to re-up my membership in the the ACLU/ALCU of Virginia. (Oh past me, why did you not go to law school?)

I already voted, so that’s one box checked.

I’ve been giving to Democratic candidates who are trying to flip their districts (mostly just Virginia & NC, as I am sadly not made of money, and these days, everyone needs it.)

I am doing what I can to amplify GOTV messaging, and to that end, I’ve just ordered a box of postcards to do my own local postcard project. This is a rogue, unsanctioned project – when the VA Democrats texted me thanking me for volunteering (I did not) – and I asked if they had any active postcard projects as that is something I could help with – I received no response. But, I can write, “Hey, you can vote now!” many, many times and slap on some stamps and send them out to my neighborhood.

Though I wish my brain had not gone full apocalypse yesterday, writing it all out and processing it is not the worst idea I’ve had this week.

Maybe all is not lost.