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Hola, Cicely. This is Chris in the Morning, now in the afternoon, on KBHR, 57 AM. It's the day before the biggest election this country may have seen in a long, long time. #northernexposure #Election2020 
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Fanfare for the Common Man via @YouTube
(thread)Fanfare for the Common Man via @YouTube
My friends, today when I look out over Cicely, I see not a town, but a nation's history written in miniature. Inscribed in the cracked pavement, reverberating from every passing flatbed.
Today, every runny nose I see says "America" to me. We were outcasts, scum, the wretched debris of a hostile, aging world.
But we came here, we paved roads, we built industries, powerful institutions. Of course, along the
way, we exterminated untold indigenous cultures...
But we came here, we paved roads, we built industries, powerful institutions. Of course, along the
way, we exterminated untold indigenous cultures...
...and enslaved generations of Africans. We basically stained our star-spangled banner with a host of sins that can never be washed clean and for which we've yet to pay the bill.
But tomorrow, we celebrate the better angels of our past as we contemplate what future we will make; a tribute to a nation of free people, the country that Whitman exalted.
"The genius of the United States is not best or most in its executives or legislators....
"The genius of the United States is not best or most in its executives or legislators....
"....nor in its ambassadors or authors
or colleges or churches or parlors,
nor even in its newspapers
or inventors, but always most in the
common people."
or colleges or churches or parlors,
nor even in its newspapers
or inventors, but always most in the
common people."
And on this eve of the election, with tensions running high, I long to fill my lungs with the deep clean air of democracy. The aroma is strangely reminiscent, but I'm not sure our nation truly has a collective memory of its scent. Stick with me for a moment...
"Democracy." She feels a bit elusive right now, doesn't she? Are we a democracy? Have we ever been? Now the Declaration of Independence says "The government shall derive its just powers from the consent of the governed." Basic concept, right? "Majority rules." And yet...
...that famous 'Frog' & favorite American observer, de Tocqueville observed that "the greatest danger to the American republic comes from the omnipotence of the majority." So are we a Republic then, in which power rests with our representatives, & NOT with we, the people?
Well, it seems to me that the minority have been making a lot of decisions for the majority here lately. But tomorrow...tomorrow we have the power - the power that many died fighting for - to start to change that. A true majority can rise. To do what, you may ask?
To "Make America Great Again?" I hope not. I'd rather, as Langston Hughes wrote,
"...let America be America again-
The land that never has been yet-
And yet must be - the land where every man is free.
The land that's mine - the poor man's, Indians, Negro's, ME!"
"...let America be America again-
The land that never has been yet-
And yet must be - the land where every man is free.
The land that's mine - the poor man's, Indians, Negro's, ME!"
"Who made America,
Whose sweat and blood, whose faith and pain,
Whose hand at the foundry, whose plow in the rain,
Must bring back our mighty dream again."
"O, yes,
I say it plain,
America never was America to me,
And yet I swear this oath—
America will be!"
Whose sweat and blood, whose faith and pain,
Whose hand at the foundry, whose plow in the rain,
Must bring back our mighty dream again."
"O, yes,
I say it plain,
America never was America to me,
And yet I swear this oath—
America will be!"
So get out there and #VOTE 
, Cicely. Vote for 'the Land that has never yet been.' Vote for the hope of what 'America will be'. A big shout out to @SceneOnRadio from whom I've been edified on this most important topic. Those are some fine people over there - check out Season 4.
, Cicely. Vote for 'the Land that has never yet been.' Vote for the hope of what 'America will be'. A big shout out to @SceneOnRadio from whom I've been edified on this most important topic. Those are some fine people over there - check out Season 4.
And tune in tomorrow night here on KBHR 57AM for your full election coverage. I'm not sure we'll have any answers for you, but we can keep each other company.
Peace, Cicely.
Peace, Cicely.
