A Liberal Dose, November 14, 2024 “When in doubt, tell the truth”

 

 A Liberal Dose

November 14, 2024

Troy D. Smith

“When in Doubt, Tell the Truth”

I want to start off by thanking everyone who helped make our second trip to the Cherokee food pantry a success. I believe there are several churches that will be taking over from here. Just a word about the Living Waters Lutheran Church and food pantry -it is not the official tribal food pantry. Official tribal resources only go to enrolled members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians -but there are many non-EBCI Natives there, including quite a few Oklahoma Cherokees and members of a lot of tribes who have moved there to work. The church pantry is open for the needs of everyone living in the Quallah Boundary (or reservation).  A lot of people in need have been helped by your generous donations, and they asked me to convey their thanks. 

That said, let’s jump in- to my first column written after the election. 

A lot of my fellow liberals have been pretty disheartened, even despondent, this past week. Others are angry. I have stepped up on social media to emphasize to people that this is not the time to lie down and give up on our ideals, and give in to defeat. It is time to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and start getting ready for the next election -which also means time to organize, to strategize, and to analyze what we can do differently. I’ve had some conservative friends criticize me for this, saying that instead I should be calling for people to unite together and all get along -to which I reply, I love getting along, but if by getting along you mean keep quiet and stop fighting for what we believe in, the correct word there is “submit.” And that seems very Orwellian, when you consider what would have happened -and what DID happen, last time -if the election had gone the other way. You will see no insurrections from us, or efforts to illegally overturn the results of the election… because our primary loyalty is to principle, and the Constitution, not to making sure our person wins no matter what.  

But be that as it may. There are some facts that cannot be denied. This time around, the vote was not super-close. This time around, Trump won not only the electoral college   -handily -but the popular vote (which a Republican presidential candidate hasn’t managed to do in 20 years). While there were some hijinks, the Russians did not tip the election, or even come close. The fact is, the majority of American voters chose Donald Trump (and, in so doing, the vision of America he offers). I might not like that, but it happened, and -like the Democratic Party in general -I acknowledge it and have no intention of doing anything other than acquiesce to the peaceful, orderly, transfer of power, as sincere Americans have done for almost 250 years (with one notable exception). 

But, while that might be the truth, there are other truths -on which I rest my own principles -and I will not stop speaking those truths (hence the Mark Twain quote I used as the title of this column). By the way, as I predicted in my last column, in the past week I have seen various incarnations of the liberal-leaning media (on screens and in print) scrambling madly to the right, no doubt in fear of consequences that may arise from the new administration. You won’t see me doing that. 

But I will be talking, probably in my next column, about what I perceive to be the weaknesses of the left and changes I think need to be made in order to succeed. That is, or should be, the normal response of someone whose party and movement fell short in an election.  

There are still people in this county and this state who feel like I do -we may be a minority, but we remain a sizeable one. To those people I say: don’t despair. The game is not lost. The other side just scored, and they are on the sidelines celebrating (boy are they), but all this means is that the ball is back in our hands and now they are on defense, and we are on offense. It’s time to huddle up, then start marching that ball up the field a few yards at a time.  

Stiyu- have courage. 

--Troy D. Smith, a White County native, is a novelist and a history professor at Tennessee Tech and serves on the executive committee of the Tennessee Democratic Party. His words do not necessarily represent TTU.