Mirsky: NH Fourth of July Reminder---Keeping Our Freedom Takes Work

You may have been hearing a lot of nasty political discussions on Twitter, on Cable Television News, or in the Letters to the Editor section of whatever newspaper you read.

This is not a normal time in United States history.

It’s the Fourth of July season, 2017, and you may want to just have a barbecue or a picnic and enjoy your family. You should do that if you can.

But you need to pay attention to what is going on. Here in New Hampshire we have a special responsibility to pay attention to what is going on. We are custodians of the New Hampshire Presidential Primary. Keeping politicians honest nationwide is part of our job.

New Hampshire citizens are more politically active and more politically aware than people in other states.

So we need to look carefully at what is going on. And we can't remain silent about what we are seeing.

Look carefully at everything this State Legislature does. Look carefully at every suggestion that comes out of any New Hampshire politician’s mouth that now is somehow the time to “clamp down” on voting. What they are talking about is taking away your voting rights.

There is more to do. The political parties and organizations that support human rights and health care for all need your help. They need people who will knock on doors, write letters to the editor, and show their support for what is good and what is loving and kind about America.

We had some very productive and very effective marches the day after the presidential inauguration this year. I was in Portsmouth where the showing was incredible: incredibly diverse and positive and uplifting.

We need more of that.

Do not give in to the threats and that ever-present nastiness that has been spewing out of President Donald Trump’s outrageous Twitter feed. The nastier and the crazier he gets, the more people in his party seem to be pleased to support him. We need to ask these people, the Republican Party people, in New Hampshire and elsewhere: Do you support the subjugation and bullying of women and minorities? Is that what you are all about?

This is a time for people of good will to fight back, peacefully and through lawful means in every case, but a time to fight back nevertheless.

So to my fellow patriots, enjoy your Fourth of July, but if you want to keep your freedom, you have to do the work that a truly functioning Democracy requires. You must stand up and be counted, and you must speak.