Feisty liberty on an Aliso Viejo street corner

Some 150 proud Americans remind us what Independence Day is truly about. And Cathy expresses it perfectly.

Cathy: One bad-ass motherfucker.

So there was a rally earlier today on the corner of Aliso Creek Road and Enterprise in Aliso Viejo. And, because I’ve attended many of these, I sorta knew what to expert: A blissful, passionate congregating of frustrated and anxious and uppity and sad Americans fed up with the authoritarian behaviors of the Trump Administration and the flaccid GOP.

I’d arrive, speak to a bunch o’ folks, take some pictures and videos—then write up a report.

Bam. Bam. Bam.

Well … um … today, something happened.

Or, really, someone happened.

A lightning bolt. A thunder clap. A bad-ass motherfucker.

This is Cathy, my new hero and the queen of the universe …

In a way, I think I’ve spent the past year looking for Cathy, or someone like Cathy: A person who fully understands the bullshit of Trump, the con of Trump, the deception of Trump. To be from New Jersey (as Cathy is) or New York (as I am) means you possess a greater understanding of the president’s soulless desire to take and take and take and take and take and take. It’s not merely a lack of empathy (he has none, obviously), and it’s not merely the corruption (bruh is plenty corrupt). No, it’s the obsessive, never-ending quest for more. More power, more possessions, more fame, more adulation, more women to fondle, more golf to play, more fake trophies to accept, more gold paint to apply. It’s a rare Jabba the Hutt-esque gluttony. I’m not a therapist, so I can’t fully diagnose. But somewhere early in his life, the lack of love and compassion offered to Donald Trump resulted in this succubus of a non-human. Most of us, I like to believe, aspire to be givers. The president is a 100-percent taker.

So hearing Cathy so eloquently express what I’ve been feeling made my year, and cemented her as my all-time Independence Day hero.

•••

Wait, there’s more to say.

The rally had about 150 attendees (aka: seven times the amount of folks at the Great American State Fair), and was organized by the OC Indivisible Coalition. Music played, a couple of local office seekers shook hands, cars drove past and honked. And what I loved—like, loved-loved-loved-loved—was it felt like the perfect Independence Day activity.

Yeah, it’d be easy (and understandable) to stay home, kick back, have some burgers and some beers and pretend everything is kosher in the United States. But, the truth is, we are an ill nation. We are torn between a leader who cares only about self, two political parties that, oftentimes, seem mostly greedy/ineffective/tone-deaf/terrified, and a population that (as poll after poll reveals) exists in frozen states of frustration and isolation. Have we been here before? Sorta. Has it been this bad in my 54 years? No.

Not even close.

So … it’d be preferable to do nothing but grille and watch season three of “America’s Sweethearts” (Reece, please reconsider). These people, however, did not. They still believe in the United States, and decided it was worth the schlep to Aliso Town Center to make their voices heard. They marched, the clapped, they chanted, they fought, they embraced, they believed.

They still believe.

They are what July 4 is about.

They, as much as anyone, embody Independence Day.

fight

PS: I’ve probably attended, oh, 30 events over the past 1 1/2 years, and Amy Stevens is at most of them—organizing, encouraging, speaking out, speaking up.

As I write this, Amy is running to be a member representative of the Orange County Working Families Party, and I could not endorse her efforts with any greater affection and clarity. She gives her life to this stuff, and is never afraid to roll up her sleeves, battle for what’s right. One can donate to her efforts here.

I chatted with Amy at the rally. She knows whereof she speaks …

So … hey.

Happy 4th, everyone.

Keep the faith!