By Tom Burke / Herald Columnist
Quick; when it comes to whistles what do you think of?
“Coach” signaling the end of a hard practice or the start of another round of wind sprints? The signature sound of a 4-8-8-4 Union Pacific “Big Boy” steam engine (the largest and most powerful “iron horse” ever built) crossing the Continental Divide, or maybe the ahhh-inspiring relief of the now-obsolete factory whistle signaling the end of a workday? Yabba-dabba-do!
Or could it be the chippy, birdlike sound of a Celtic “tin whistle” (the Clancy Brothers anyone?); the bo’sun’s pipe as the crew mans the side to welcome a visiting dignitary; or a ref’s tool to start or stop a football play, call a basketball foul, or end a rugby scrum?
Alas, many of those whistles have become outdated – who can imagine a whole floor of Amazon programmers leaving their keyboards on the dot of 5 p.m. to the blast of a whistle echoing through the Spheres at its Seattle headquarters or hearing the reverberating echo of a Chesapeake & Ohio 2-6-6-6 Allegheny as it hauls a trainload of coal down out of the West Virginia mountains?
Today, however, when I think of whistles, I think of the defenders of freedom, the citizen-watchdogs, the moms and seniors and ICU nurses fighting for our democracy against Donald Trump’s army of cammo-clad bownshirts and bully boys.
I think of the whistles that follow ICE-agent assailants and Homeland Security goons as they do their best (worst?) to upend 250 years of individual rights and make a mockery of the words of Emma Lazarus cast on the base of “The Mother of Exiles” who presides over New York Harbor:
“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips.
“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
And I think of the descendants of those German, Scandinavian, and Irish “tempest-tosts” who cleared through Ellis Island years and years ago, bound for Minnesota and who, today in Minneapolis and St. Paul, now are fighting to defend the freedom their forefathers found.
And the sound of their whistles may be the sound of a new symbol of resolve such as the civil rights movement’s “We shall overcome”; Native American’s “We’re still here”; or Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel’s call to action against fascism and the horrors of the dictator’s concentration camps, “Never again!”
I like to read.
Always have. (My mother used to say I’d read the back of a cereal box if there were nothing else. She was right.)
One of my latest reads is Joyce Vance’s “Giving Up is Unforgivable.”
Now you might know Vance as a legal commentator on MS NOW (or not, if you watch Fox News).
But before she went all media, Substack and podcasts, she spent 25 years as a federal prosecutor and U.S. attorney for Northern Alabama and now teaches at the University of Alabama School of Law and she’s got a relatively quick read for how to defend against Trump’s assault on constitutional law and blunt his attack on 250 years of American democracy.
The book, released last year, begins with some history and an exposition on how democracy actually works at the individual and practical levels and not in theory or “in general.”
But the heart of her “Manual for Keeping Democracy” is focused on the vote, beginning with a reminder from the legendary activist, Bloody Sunday marcher and Congressman John Lewis: “The right to vote is precious, almost sacred. It is the most powerful nonviolent tool or instrument in a democratic society. We must use it.”
She then focuses on the Trumpian-Republican lie about voter fraud (used for voter suppression); the importance of registering (and staying registered); actually voting; insuring your vote is counted (in Washington that means fighting to keep mail-in voting); and encouraging others to vote.
Vance then segues into our learning (more) about democracy, media smarts, working with others, deciding what you can actually do (and doing it), knowing your rights, and remembering when Ronald Reagan said, “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.”
Gentle reader, Trump is viciously attacking our right to rule ourselves and deprive us of our right to be free.
His assault is multi-pronged and ranges from eliminating the ways we’ve made voting easier to gerrymandering to insure his MAGAs win the seats that count.
He and his minions are even threatening (more like promising) he will federalize our state’s ability to manage our own elections (a clear violation of the Constitution) and he’s talking about surrounding polling places with his armed private ICE army.
Folks, Trump ain’t screwing around.
He means it.
But so do we.
We mean it when we say, as Vance says, “Let’s go fight for the country we love, not on the battlefield but with understanding, ideas and commitment. It’s our time to serve.”
And, like Sleeping Beauty in the Disney movie about her and the Seven Dwarves, we can all “Whistle while we work” as we serve to maintain our democracy.
Slava Ukrani.
Tom Burke’s email address is t.burke.column@gmail.com.
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