BRATTLEBORO-I'm lucky. Like many readers, I live in Brattleboro, one of the most open-minded towns in one of the most open-minded counties in one of the most open-minded states in the country.
A couple of weeks ago, my wife and I heard Becca Balint - our sole Vermont U.S. representative and a kick-ass, take-no-prisoners, LGBTQ former schoolteacher - talk about what's actually going on in Washington.
She made it clear that it's as through-the-looking-glass batshit-crazy as we feared. But remarkably, she is undaunted and inspiring.
So, for one of the few times since writing passionate essays against the Vietnam War way back when I was in high school in the '60s, I feel compelled to use at least a few of my words to speak truth to power.
I'm lucky. I'm a cis-white male who writes about street life, spirituality, and writing itself.
I'm not writing about controversial so-called "woke" issues (a term worthy of the red-baiting 1950s) like critical race theory; diversity, equity, and inclusion policies; LGBTQIA rights; personal pronouns; environmental action; progressive messaging; and, God forbid, the idea that kids born in this country could somehow not be citizens.
Writing about things like that can get you on the wrong kind of list. It appears some writers already are.
Just a few weeks ago, I would have dismissed my concerns about the attempted rape and pillage of our Constitution as overreaction. But after seeing what's been happening lately and listening to Becca, I don't think so.
One example that, for me, is particularly close to home is Republican U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency's recent hearing, "Anti-American Airwaves: Holding the heads of NPR and PBS Accountable."
I thought congressional hearings had at least something to do with gathering facts. I hadn't realized they were ways to establish that people were "guilty regardless how innocent."
Are they implying Bert and Ernie are Communists...or have some "other" kind of relationship?
Has Ken Burns been secretly making anti-American documentaries for 50 years? (Wait until Ms. Greene sees his new one on the American Revolution.)
Is the "American Experience" actually the "Anti-American Experience"?
I'm joking, but I'm not joking.
The hearing itself appears to have been just theater, and not very good theater at that: Republicans holding up a picture of a transgender person who happened to have appeared in some PBS show; Democrats holding up pictures of Elmo and Big Bird in response.
By the way, it's important to know that of the all the money the government gives to public broadcasting, just over 15% goes to the national programming Greene was railing against. The majority of the rest is distributed among more than 1,200 public radio stations and 150 public TV stations that reach 99% of the population with programming from local news, weather, and call-in shows to daily updates on farming conditions and commodity prices.
So this is not about politics. It's about freedom of speech without intimidation. It's about the government not legislating or the administration dictating what words can and can't be used.
We writers in particular need to stand up for this basic principle of the First Amendment at every turn and do what we can to help the many people who are already in the line of fire.
Because soon, they'll come for us. If you write for shows on NPR or PBS (as I do), they already have.
David Blistein
Brattleboro
This letter to the editor was submitted to The Commons.
This piece, published in print in the Voices section or as a column in the news sections, represents the opinion of the writer. In the newspaper and on this website, we strive to ensure that opinions are based on fair expression of established fact. In the spirit of transparency and accountability, The Commons is reviewing and developing more precise policies about editing of opinions and our role and our responsibility and standards in fact-checking our own work and the contributions to the newspaper. In the meantime, we heartily encourage civil and productive responses at [email protected].