MY BROTHER URGES: DON'T BE TIRED

My brother Robert is an exceptional writer. I’ve always admired his vocabulary, his humor and his ability to throw gut punches with no blood spilled. He calls it like he sees it. I hope you also enjoy his words from his Colorado newspaper column, “From the Mountains.”

FROM THE MOUNTAINS: Don’t be Tired.

 by Robert Burkhardt

Sixty years ago as a Peace Corps Volunteer teaching English to village boys near the Caspian Sea in northern Iran, I was greeted daily by students with a hearty “Xhasteh nabashid agha!” Translation: “Mister, don’t be tired!”

 You may have heard The Most Important Election In Our Lifetime will be held on November 8. Are you registered? Are you informed on the issues? Will you vote? Will you help candidates of your choice with money, postcards or walking precincts? Will you encourage family and friends to vote? What kind of America do you seek? What are the responsibilities of citizenship? How will you look back at these midterm elections five years hence? Did your vote advance a 2024 Presidential election whose results you sought? What might you have done differently? Don’t be tired.

 Despite what social media blowhards and decibel-theory TV partisans proclaim, not all Democrats are baby-eating Communists, not all Republicans are goose-stepping Fascists, and not all Independents wave the black flag of anarchy. To the contrary, the overwhelming majority of Americans focus on three squares, useful work, decent pay, someone to love, good health, a safe place to sleep, and a happy family. Most of us also want fair, safe and transparent elections. It’s a long struggle. Don’t be tired.

 Ten years ago Colorado instituted vote-by-mail, sparking impressive turnout. The nation was at 66.8% in 2020, but 3.2 million Colorado voters achieved 76.4%, second only to Minnesota’s 80%. Gotta love those dropboxes. Don’t be tired.

 Thomas Jefferson wrote in 1820: “I know no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves; and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion by education. This is the true corrective of abuses of constitutional power.” His words wear well. Don’t be tired.

 Teachers make statements and ask questions. One statement I frequently asserted in the classroom was “You have no right to no opinion.” This challenged students to express themselves often, in the belief that engaged minds build better citizens and communities. “What is the best obtainable version of the truth?” was a go-to question that helped us sift through differing accounts of an event as we sought factual consensus. Convincing others that “passion is not proof” is not easy. Don’t be tired.

 The struggle for control of American ideology is a noisy business, and in the next six weeks the rhetoric you see, hear and read will approach apocalyptic fulmination. Voting is a completely normal test of ideas in our centuries-old conversation about the meaning and purpose of America. Remember that virtue is not hereditary; it must be earned daily. Don’t be tired.

 We’ve endured more than our share recently: the traitorous paroxysm of January 6; Covid catastrophe; senseless war in Ukraine; disingenuous arguments about who really is our President; climate-changed weather, fires and floods. And now we will vote. It’s a welcome return to normalcy. Don’t be tired.

 “Vote, you lucky American!” In 1956 PARADE magazine sifted through 500,000 entries to pick the winning slogan encouraging voting. A grandmother from Tennessee won first prize and my Sainted Irish Mother took second with “Remember in November, Tuesday is choose day.” Don’t be tired.

 Are you a single-issue or multiple-cause voter? Political leanings to the left or right are less important than actually voting. The more Americans who exercise the franchise on November 8, the better we will know who we are as a people and where we are headed as a country. I may not agree with the results of the election but I will accept them, and America will be better for the volume of voices. Don’t be tired.

GOING TO THE DOGS

My grandad, viewing earth’s worn clogs,

Said “Things are going to the dogs.”

His grandad in his house of logs,

Said “Things are going to the dogs.”

His grandad in the Flemish bogs

Said things were going to the dogs.

His grandad in his old skin togs

Said things were going to the dogs.

There’s one thing that I have to state:

The dogs have had a good long wait.

Keep the dogs at bay. Vote!