Gardens have been used as metaphor for ages and even has a starring role in many religions. Many early modern political commentators invoked gardens, for instance, that democracy was a garden that needed tending to thrive. And we know some gardens harbor snakes.
Tending my garden is a year’s long endeavor, but spring is my favorite time. It’s a time of renewal and growth, bumblebee queens seek the brilliant yellow dandelion flowers — a critical food source – while perennials begin to poke their heads up. Weeds start to reappear as well, like the dreaded bindweed. You must get them early, ripping them out root and all, before the flowers turn to seeds. However, as any gardener who has dealt with bindweed knows, it is a war of attrition.
A noxious bindweed has invaded our government, and Congress is an untended garden, overrun with weeds and invasive species of autocracy, blocking out America’s native species of the rule of law, equal rights, and the doctrine of coequal branches of government. It is time to weed Congress and relocate some of the slithering critters lurking in dark crevices. Voting YES to redistrict Virginia’s congressional districts is one way. Time is essential as the last day to vote is Tuesday, April 21.
I am imagining by now most registered voters in Virginian have voted in the referendum to draw new congressional district maps. Tuesday is your last day to vote, so, if you have not yet voted, do so. A YES vote is one for sanity and restoring our national social contract. Ensuring that Congress stands up to and reins in a corrupt and malevolent president. The current House of Representatives is a disaster. For those in Central Virginia’s 5thCongressional District, this November we will have the opportunity to vote out Rep. John McGuire, a Trump vassal.
If the disastrous war of choice against the Iranian people is not convincing enough, Trump’s self-appointment and deification as God’s prophet and latter-day Jesus, should get you across the finish line and vote YES.
Redistricting Virginia is not my preferred course of action, but if I am to ever have a voice in Congress again, I feel strongly, redistricting is my only option at this time. I acknowledge the paradox of gerrymandering Virginia to elect more Democrats while arguing that democracy is in trouble. I get it. Trump’s direct order to Republican governed states to redistrict crossed a line, however. Many states obeyed Trump. An eye for an eye, right? Virginia Republicans have only themselves and Trump to blame. You thought you “owned the libs.” But when you whack a hornets’ nest often enough…… You get my point. If you are angry at what the Democrats are doing in Virginia, write Trump at the White House and tell him he screwed you.
You can tell this referendum has got the MAGA folks up in arms, almost literally. Vote NO signs are more plentiful than dandelions in Louisa County. When I was up in Northern Virginia a few weeks ago, there was a small rally at the intersection of Routes 29 and 50 in Fairfax at 9 AM on a weekday. They were animated. We need to respond with similar commitment and get the YES vote out.
In addition, the Republicans on-line and streaming ad campaign is desperate. The latest version is a video that portrays Governor Spanberger as an arsonist burning down a barn; replete with sinister narration claiming the redistricting is a ruse to take away guns, impose higher taxes, and give welfare to illegal immigrants. That last claim about welfare is usually made by a “Virginia Farmer” in a dead pan pitch. That is rich, given the billions of tax dollars flowing into farmers’ pockets to offset rising costs to operate farms due to Trump’s tariffs and his war against Iran. They sense they are losing, I think.
Let’s work together and start tending the garden of democracy once again. If you have not voted yet, please do so, and vote YES.
