Now is the time to face the wind

Why do we feel so alone in this?

A performer at the Super Bowl on Sunday did something worth mentioning. I don’t mean Kendrick–I’ll get to him later.

When Jon Batiste performed the National Anthem, he repeated “the land of the free” three times. As if to poke us all, to say “Yo, people? We’re allowed to speak up against this shit. Where are you?”

To be honest, I did not see this live. I found out about it a couple days later when someone made a handy little vignette on Instagram. Everything happens twice now. First, in real life (IRL), then splintered into 14,000 online takes offering meta analysis, warped half-truths, behind-the-scenes shots, Easter egg reveals, and on and on forever and ever in the nauseating trick mirror of Internet America.

But back to the ‘land of the free’ thing. We are free to say whatever we want. Just ask Mark Zuckerberg, poster boy for molesting the First Amendment. So why aren’t our leaders saying anything? Where is Kamala? Where are any of the nation’s Democratic leadership? Where is Obama? Bill Clinton? Pete Buttigieg? Or Oprah? Are the late night comics all we have?

Are our leaders discouraged? I get it. I know after the depressing shock of Trump’s win I sort of withered. Since then, I've been wading through a muck of “I suppose the country is much more conservative (and sexist) than I realized,” and “Ok, American majority. You voted for this. Let’s do a little fuck around and find out what happens when you elect the leopards eating faces party.”

According to the Cook Political Report, 75,017,626 of us voted for Kamala Harris. That’s a sizable number and not that much smaller than the 77,301,997 who voted for Trump. It sucks that she didn’t win the presidency. I know it’s the norm in America that the losing presidential candidate doesn’t start campaigning against the winner three weeks after the inauguration. But adhering to norms right now is like making the bed when your house is on fire. The leopards are eating the faces. It’s time to break the glass and do something.

I’m angry that I haven’t seen anything from any of them. What ElonMusk is doing is a violation of the Constitution. All of these people with their pitch-perfect speeches at the Convention. Where are they now? Are they too in love with their polished media images to be “IRL” and authentic? Do they fear the 14,000 hot takes that will inevitably ensue? These people need to only open their door, and mics and cameras will swoop in like trick-or-treaters on Halloween. These people can write Op Eds that will be published practically sight unseen. It’s a free country. The First Amendment is actually for this. For the opposition to speak out. So why won’t they speak out?

We need what the brilliant Timothy Snyder¹ wrote about: a shadow cabinet. It’s a collection of counter spokespeople for every cabinet post in the government and its leadership. It’s done in the UK and we need it here; we need an experienced defense expert to offer the media counter commentary every time dipshit Hegseth says something. Likewise for health, education, etc. And we need someone—not just late night hosts—to clap back on every dumb thing that Trump and Musk say.

We need leaders to start grabbing some of that media attention. To speak for the 75 million of us who did not vote for this.

J.D. Vance, a Yale-educated lawyer, said the president can defy a court order. Is anyone from the American Bar Association or Yale Law School going to correct him? Can one of the living former presidents please speak up and say “No actually, the president does not get to defy a court order”?

What is happening? Are they all too curious to see what will happen next? Did they forget that not too long ago they were some of the most powerful people in the world? Trump sure didn’t forget. He didn’t shut his fat mouth once in the four years since 2020. Where are these people? On vacation?

Are they scared? America’s corporations and institutions sure act like they are. Google, it’s not the Gulf of America just because Trump signed an Executive Order saying it was.

Is this really what the majority wanted? I believe that millions of the Americans who voted for Trump did so for more economic opportunity and cheaper eggs. I don’t think they voted for all the petty score settling, the name calling, the radical overreach, the leopards eating faces. And nobody voted for Musk.

I’m grateful for the people in Washington who have spoken up–senators like Patty Murray and Elizabeth Warren and representatives like Jamie Raskin and AOC. But c’mon. Where’s Kamala? She has nothing to lose. It’s a free country. Speak up.

Wrath Time Show

Back to the Super Bowl. I love Kendrick Lamar, and I love “Not Like Us” as much as everyone else. But according to the relentless meta-analysis online, that halftime show was a nonstop dunk on Drake. Enough with this endless grudge match bullshit.

Sure, Drake is cheesy and isn’t going to win father of the year anytime soon. But jeesh. It seems the half-time show was mostly just a choreographed tribute to the hatred of one man for another man. Serena Williams’s crip walk wasn’t just a Compton gal celebrating her Compton pal Kendrick. Nope. According to the Interwebs, that was about Drake. The whole video game production design (which I didn’t notice at all) was a big Drake burn apparently. I loved the choreography during “Humble” but Kendrick, can you be humble and just let it go? You have millions of fans, you won all the Grammys, you have a Pulitzer for pete’s sake. Drake has a bizarre house in Toronto and a pervy reputation. Let it go.

Kendrick relentlessly rubbing Drake’s nose in isn’t that different than Trump pulling the security details for the guys that hurt his feelings. Or Musk tweeting snide insults to anyone and everyone. Or both of them and their stooges targeting the weakest among us. The whole country seems to be in the thrall of petty male bullies. Macho aggressive strongman bullshit. I’m tired of it. It’s small and chickenshit. The most masculine men I know are manly because their confidence is titanium. You can’t rattle them. They don’t hold a grudge. And they want to protect and take care of people, especially the people who need protection most.

Let’s pivot and consider the Grammys. I marveled at how many of the biggest stars in those posh little blue velvet front row seats were female. The vibes were warm and welcoming. All those women, who could easily consider one another competitors, were supporting one another. Cheering for one another. They understand life isn’t a zero sum game. When she won country album of the year, Beyoncé didn’t call out the country music community. When they finally gave her album of the year, she smiled her inscrutable beauty pageant smile and gave a gracious acceptance speech. She might have choice words in private, sure. But she keeps that to herself. She is focused on what’s important, what’s bigger than her. I think it’s time for all of us–especially our leaders–to focus on something bigger than ourselves. Our nation. And get loud.

Thank you for reading my screed. And for a much more entertaining version of all this, I recommend “Hot Tip.” (Look at me modeling the gracious generous mode of the Grammy gals while inside I’m seething with jealousy at what a funny writer this woman is.)

I don’t know if you’ve listened to Cowboy Carter, but the lyrics are often pointedly political. I’m going to finish my rant with one verse in particular, from Cowboy Carter’s opening song, Ameriican Requiem.

Can we stand for something?

Now is the time to face the wind

Now ain't the time to pretend

Now is the time to let love in

Together, can we stand?

1. Snyder also wrote On Tyranny, a book about how to fight authoritarianism that now reads like the inside-out playbook for Trump 2.0.