In the 1790s, a farmer in South Carolina would have been oblivious to the heinous executions during the French Revolution. The famines in India during the 1890s that led to the deaths of over nineteen million people were not table conversations in Enid, Oklahoma.
Breaking news today, however, reaches us with a sound alert on our phones or computers.
Current events often keep me up at night, whether they be exciting or excruciating. The past few days have been the latter. How does a writer and self-professed news junkie/historian even begin to gather thoughts that beg for words on paper?
DoIstartwithbarbarism? Is it possible to say that the war crimes Putin has committed in Ukraine pale in comparison to what the terrorists did to Israeli civilians two weeks ago? How does mass indiscriminate killing reflect “strength” as some have said? Do we recognize that acknowledging Holocaust atrocities did not end antisemitism but only pushed it into the shadows to emerge once again in groups such as Hamas? Are people in the United States even aware that antisemites exist among our population, working to influence our elections? Google a guy named Nick Fuentes for a wake-up call.
What about dysfunction?
Entering a third week of no leadership in the House of Representatives, Congressional Republicans with the majority are finally on the verge of ending this historic blunder. But the man up for the position, a role which puts him second in line to the presidency, was a key figure in the madness that took place on 1-6-2021. He voted not to certify results that had been state-certified and upheld in the courts. Nominating him, according to Liz Cheney, amounts to “abandoning the Constitution.” ( Axios, 10-13-2023). How is it possible that Jim Jordan, ranked 202nd out of 208 Republican lawmakers in 2021 when it comes to being an effective legislator ( Center for Effective Lawmaking, Vanderbilt University/University of Virginia), should be viewed as the best option for such an important position?
Should I even mention Texas politics with regard to Ken Paxton or the special session on vouchers? Not this column, I just can’t.
Lots of questions because I have run out of answers. Just when I thought I had some things figured out, I get slapped upside the head by those who demonstrate that evil and hate as well as performative politics have no limits.
Turn off the news? Take a break? Silly me, I buy into the premise that knowledge is what will save us. It is impossible to celebrate the good (such as two Texas teams playing for a chance to go the World Series) and just ignore what keeps me up at night.
But sometimes I sure wish I could.
Snyder, Texas, native Sue Jane Sullivan is a retired schoolteacher whose thought-provoking commentary appears occasionally in several West Texas newspapers, including The Texas Spur and The Caprock Courier.
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