THIS IS US
A Tribute, on Anger
On death and loss, a personal and political reflection
Life is perilous. I write this on the morning of my father’s death, what would have been his 80th birthday. Is his birthday? Was his birthday? I’m not sure what tense to use here.
I’d had plans to write about the overwhelm of being an American these past few weeks: the rollback of Roe, the Supreme Court decisions expanding concealed carry rights, further eroding the separation of church and state, binding the EPA’s powers to restrict carbon pollution, allowing congressional maps that likely violate the federal Voting Rights Act, the January 6 congressional hearings, and their building case articulating an attempted political coup. Democracy is fragile.
Life is fragile.
My father spent the past decade-plus with a constant stream of cable news (MSNBC, his flavor of panic) feeding anxiety over the ruin of our country. He was always frustrated, disgusted even before turning on the TV. He felt both informed and powerless.
A few weeks ago, I sat alone with him, waiting for my mom’s discharge from the hospital. He would not turn off the news. Perfectly coiffed talking heads rued the death of children and teachers in Uvalde, B-roll repeating as they voiced how children died while…
