… ’cause if she rises up, you’re lunch!

(3 min)

“Bad officials are elected by good citizens who don’t vote.” – George Jean Nathan

In this winter of discontent American citizens might want to turn their attention to America’s great sleeping bear, hibernating in plain sight, ignored by all.

Not only should little Donny Trump beware the bear, the rest of America, especially the Democrats, need to turn their attention to the biggest, angriest, strongest, most powerful force in the country – the hibernating bear.

Ignored, forgotten, dismissed, disappointed, disillusioned, disgusted, desperate (called “deplorables”), and pissed off,  America’s sleeping bear could be the nation’s rescue bear and pull it back from its free-fall into the fascist abyss.

The American bear is 88 million grizzlies strong. And if poked, prodded – or simply cared for – she will rise up and eat Donald Trump and his bevvy of weasels for lunch. There is strength in numbers and the numbers are there if – it’s a big if – good leadership learns how to be good bear whispers. So far they’ve failed, miserably.

For a long time America’s problem has been the inability to convince voters to vote – for anybody. It’s abysmal and inexcusable. And it sure as hell isn’t a democracy when tens-of-millions of citizens don’t show up to vote. These are good people who don’t have much hope. Don’t care. Don’t act.

Presidential election, 2024

A few quick numbers make the point:

  • 244.6 million eligible voters
  • 156.3 million turnout (63.9%)
  • 77.3 million voted for Trump (31.5% of eligible voters)
  • 75.0 million voted for Harris (30.6% of eligible voters)
  • 88 million Americans did NOT vote (36%) Read that again

First, Trump’s declaration of some sort of “mandate” is bullshit. If you add the non-voters to those who voted for Harris (88M+75M), 163 million Americans did not vote for him. That’s 2/3 (66%) of America. His claim that his share (49% of those who did vote) is a “mandate” is a lie within a sham within the democratic con that Americans have lethargically submitted to for decades.

To call this a democracy is a fairy tale and the clarions to “restore democracy” and “make America great again” are fables from the rabbit hole in which Alice in Wonderland resides – unfortunately, it’s a real-life rabbit hole. The political spin implies majority rule but it’s a lie going back a hundred years and yet is as accepted as apple pie, Mother Goose and “originalism.” The politicians keep singing the same nursery rhyme to their subjects because the lower the voter turnout the fewer votes they need to win (GOP are continually suppressing turnout). As long as the bear sleeps the con-game run by wolves in sheep’s clothing will flourish.

Notice how few in the media or election analysis business ever mention the 88 million. It’s as if they don’t matter in the determination of winners and losers, when in fact, they matter the most (by the way, countries with mandatory elections register turnouts in the 90%+ range). Think how different America would be if turnout increased just 10% (9 million), let alone 30% (26 million). These forgotten citizens can change the country, permanently – ironically, that is why they’re forgotten, ignored and deplored! (for more enlightening details see two excellent books: Strangers In Their Own Land by Ariel Russell Hochschild and White Poverty by Reverend Dr. William Barber III and Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove).

Poke the bear

Poke the bear and what do you get? Democracy.

And the bear will have a Trumpian delight, a bountiful feast of the sustenance, services and protections it needs and deserves, from better healthcare and healthier economies to less division and safer communities.  Reaching out to the bear and regaining trust will not be easy but it sure as hell is the obvious thing to do. If only we’d admit the problem – 88 million fellow citizens MIA – and get the media to talk about it, and start working on it.

Fixing it is straightforward. If – another big if – we can find a handful of leaders who are true bear whisperers, people who care more about others than themselves and can override their Darwinian “stamp of lowly origin” and do what is right, and best, for others. Darwin would say, “They’re a rare breed in the Homo sapiens species.” He might add, “It’s like looking for a needle in a haystack. And if the past is prologue, y’all are more intent on burning down the haystack than finding competent “philosopher-kings” who could increase your chances of survival. Good luck with that.”

“Life is solitary, poor, nasty, brutal, and short.” – Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679)

In the 17 century Thomas Hobbes wrote this pithy observation about life and despite four hundred years of so-called advancement, 1/3 of American adults (88 million) living in the most economically prosperous nation in the world would read his declaration of reality and say … “Amen to that.”

Rise up America …