“We did not win every battle (in the house) but we won the war.“

-Nancy Pelosi

An Open Letter to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi from Americans Who Voted For Joe Biden:

No, Speaker Pelosi: we did not win the war. Our greatest battles lie ahead. People cast a record number of votes for Joe Biden out of the human drive to survive; not because we believe the Democrats will “save us.” If there is anything we learned from 2020, at the expense of great loss of life and suffering, it is that the good among the American people will band together to save ourselves and even undeserving others from utter ruin. We paid -and for the next ten weeks, will continue to pay- a horrible price to learn of our power and responsibility as the “We The People.’ Do not mistake the incredible courage of the American people in the face of tremendous adversity for agreement with-or forgiveness for-your moderation and inaction.

While Dems Gloat; We Fight For Our Lives

Out here in the trenches, in stores, factories and schools, rather than the distanced and masked chambers of congress, we live in a state of swallowed tension you can’t imagine. We’re worried about perpetually housebound elder parents, and our kids’ education and social development. We worry about how much money we will lose from missed days of work if we get sick or have to quarantine, and how much money treatment, if needed will cost us, Do you know the fear that you may have to quarantine may mean you can’t pay your rent, let alone get the disease. Do you know that’s why a lot of people put themselves and others in danger, not because they don’t want to know their status: but because they can’t afford to know it? Your words don’t communicate an understanding of the gravity of the situation at all.

Whose War Was It, Then?

If you think you won the war; we were clearly not fighting in the same war. What an insult to 240,000 deceased Americans, and the at least two hundred thousand Americans who are alive right now who will be dead of COVID-19! by the day Joe Biden takes office. Madam Speaker,: those are the CONSERVATIVE projections form IHME. We are entering dangerous uncharted territory, and we cannot project the numbers of people that may be harmed by a few unstable actors in the wake of Trump’s loss. He is stoking the fires of conspiracy to people who are brandishing automatic weapons., and there’s bound to be some lone wolves who heed the call. We know that we have hell to pay over the next ten weeks, yet we dance today because for the first time in eight months, that feeling that of tension in our chests that keeps us awake at night; is temporarily gone; and we forgot how that feels. If you feel you won a war, it was clearly not for us.

Business As Usual is a Slap in the Face

Speaking of insomnia, while you’re drinking down your champagne, why don’t you just slap the 20 million Americans who, in this time of pandemic and distress, get their mental and physical health care during from the Affordable Care Act.. How can you say to these Americans that you won any war? On Tuesday, November 10th, after you have a good night’s sleep, you’ll embark on a day of photo ops, pressers and victory struts. However, November 10th will be a dark day indeed for those twenty million Americans, who probably got little sleep, and will go to work at two, sometimes three jobs that don’t give health insurance “benefits.” Guess that doesn’t bother you at all because your excellent taxpayer-funded healthcare will continue.  And on Nov 16^th, I’m sure you will leave for your Thanksgiving recess and enjoy that while millions of Americans have to go to WORK IN RETAIL STORES , WAREHOUSES and FACTORIES in red zones.  What war did you win?

He Ran “Because of You”

You see, some things that dictator said resonated with half of America for a reason; Such is the way of populism. They say even a broken clock is right twice a day. At the last debate, he spoke the truth when he said: “I ran for office because of you” to Joe Biden. He was able to gain enough traction with enough of the people to win the electoral college in 2016 because of the things Democrats did and didn’t do that failed working class people on your side. You abandoned us; and those who could be easily converted were converted to the right wing extremist version of the GOP; who was happy to use them to engineer a complete takeover of the judicial branch of government. For the next ten weeks, we are not just watching Trump’s actions; we’re watching your inaction.

Dance Today; Get To Work Tomorrow

We are painfully aware that 200,000 of us will not get the chance to celebrate Joe Biden’s inauguration, and there is no guarantee that any one of us will not be among them. We dance in the streets today not because we won the war, or even won a battle, but because we have earned an opportunity to fight the war. We have little to celebrate, and even less time to celebrate. We must get to work immediately. These next ten weeks will be the biggest challenge for this country since the Civil War. Half of the country has been brainwashed to hate the other half; there’s an uncontrolled raging virus, and a president that is as willing to fan the flames of the hatred he so engineered and nurtured, as he is to allow the virus to rage unchecked. This is dangerous. Over the last eight months, we learned the terrible cost of not being vigilant over our democracy. America is entering a period of extreme danger. We need, and demand, action, not celebration. We now know our tremendous power comes with great responsibility, and we will hold you accountable.

Sincerely:

Americans Who Voted For Biden