Top 5 Reasons to Vote in the 2022 Midterm Elections

1.   Voting is not just a right and a responsibility but also an opportunity for thanksgiving. Think of Russia, China, Iran, most Middle Eastern countries and other repressive countries where voting is either non-existent or a cruel joke with pre-determined outcomes. Yes, we have our own problems - gerrymandering, arcane laws (popular vote versus electoral college), suffrage suppression for the marginalized, bankrolling of candidates by moneyed interests, unchecked corporate power - but these are insignificant compared to countries where the “will of the people” is an oxymoron and where citizens languish or die in prison for daring to dream of democracy. We vote not only to decide the kind of government we want at all levels but also to express our gratitude for living in a free and pluralistic country, however flawed.

2 2. Casting the ballot makes a difference. Some say our votes will not make a dent in the status quo, so why bother? Of all the reasons cited for not voting, this one is the most damaging. Unless we make our multitudinous voices heard through the ballot, how can we expect the changes we want? If this is not persuasive enough, consider this: The simple yet profound act of voting can change the voter. The first step to changing a country, or even the world, is to change ourselves.

33. Honor the 26th amendment. We get into passionate arguments about the 2^nd Amendment for its implications on gun control but we rarely talk about the 26^th Amendment, ratified in July 1971, that gives Americans 18 years or older the right to vote. So, if you fall in this category or call yourself Gen Z, Gen X, Millennial, baby boomer, octogenarian, or centenarian, vote! While we are at it, why not shoot for the stars? In the 2020 presidential election, 67% of eligible voters - about 160 million Americans - voted, the most in our history. But that also meant that 80 million Americans million did not vote. In this midterm let’s set a record: 80% or 200 million.

44. Transcend political affiliations by voting for values and principles. If your values and principles coincide with your affiliations, you are among the lucky ones. For most of us, however, putting principles over politics and pocketbooks can be gut-wrenching. Yet this is what we must do if it serves the common good of the country. Be an informed voter by studying where the candidates stand and the pros and cons of propositions. Don’t fall for the flashy flyer, social media sensationalism or pre-election polls. Voting is an obligation that requires us to be knowledgeable about who and what we vote for or against, and how it aligns with our deepest beliefs. Read voter information guides and unbiased reports on the Internet. Informed voters put acumen over anger and facts over fear.

5 5. A consequential election. It is in human nature to think that our times are the most pivotal in history. Still, it is no exaggeration to say that the results of the 2022 midterm election will define the direction of our country for the foreseeable future, in particular, whether democracy will flourish or be on life-support. With our ballots, we can decide whether we will have freedom of choice, whether everyone will be equal under the law, whether candidates will speak truth to power or are too beholden to demagogues and lobbies to be not just useless but dangerous.

By voting as informed citizens we can ensure a bright future for our nation. Vote, so that through the fog of deception, despair and denial, the sound of democracy comes through loud and clear.

From the Battlefield of Gettysburg to the Storming of U.S. Capitol: Will American Democracy Survive?

A year ago today, America faced an existential crisis similar to the Civil War that raged from 1861-1865. But in a sense, the insurrection of January 6, 2021, in which ex-president Donald Trump tried to orchestrate a violent takeover of the country, was a greater threat to America than the Civil War because of its intent and purpose. The Republican Party, in thrall to a morally bankrupt psychopathic demagogue, went along with Trump’s incitement to the rioters to “fight like hell” to overturn Joe Biden’s legitimate victory in the 2020 presidential election. The live-streamed attack on the U.S. Capitol, the bastion of our democracy, by the murderous mob known as Trump fanatics, aided and abetted by the conspirator-in-chief and by Republican sycophants, brought America to the brink. 

It may sound like a cliché, but Providence saved America from ruin on January 6, 2021, a day that, like December 7^th, 1941, when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, will also live in infamy.

So, what now? What can we ordinary Americans do to ensure that January 6, 2021, never repeats, that the rule of law will still prevail in a viciously polarized country, that the tradition of peaceful transfer of power will continue to endure as the hallmark of our democracy?

Not much, really, unless the midterm elections this year propels Democrats to significant majorities in both Congress and Senate. How likely is that to happen? Not very.

The immediate issue at hand is applying the rule of law to the Trumpers who scaled the walls and smashed the partitions in the Capitol on this day last year.

 

Over 725 people have been arrested but only 71 – about one-tenth - have been sentenced so far. They include a company CEO, an architect, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel, a gym owner, a former Houston police officer, a wealthy Texan realtor who flew her private jet with friends to join the insurrection, and a University of Kentucky student. One of the most notorious, Florida businessman Robert Palmer, was sentenced to 63 months in prison. Palmer’s tears of repentance did not sway the judge. “It has to be made clear that trying to stop the peaceful transition of power and assaulting law enforcement officers is going to be met with certain punishment,” said the judge.

 

The elephant in the room, of course, is the ringleader and his acolytes. Unless Donald Trump and Republicans like Josh Hawley, Ron Johnson, Paul Gosar, Matt Gaetz, Marjorie Taylor Greene and others pay the price for their mendacity, instigation and active support of the insurrection, merely sentencing the fanatics and the foot soldiers will make a mockery of the law.

 

So far, not only has nothing happened to Trump, his star seems to be rising even higher among Republicans since his defeat. That is the reason why America’s experiment with democracy and the rule of law continues to be under assault, with no assurance that democracy will hold the fort.

 

From Lincoln’s Gettysburg exhortations to Martin Luther King’s march from Selma to Montgomery and beyond, America has faced one crisis after another with courage, resilience and fierce loyalty to the foundational values of our nation. 

When historians peel away the layers leading up to the insurrection of January 6, 2021, they will find at its core one dominant idea: The fear of white supremacists, overwhelmingly Republican, that America is slipping away from their grasp. The original sin of America is not slavery but white supremacy. This supremacy monster has now bared its fangs in its possibly final attempt to put all non-whites in their places and reinstall white supremacy back to the throne.

 

Will this work? The tragic truth, given how hyperpolarized America is now, is that we don’t know. 

Yet, if Providence has been kind to America whenever it faced an existential crisis, perhaps Providence will be kind to America this time too. But, as the saying goes, God helps those who help themselves. It is up to us ordinary Americans who, despite our differences, still believe in our country as a shining city upon a hill, to make sure that government “of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

Protest Against Egypt's Dictator in San Francisco

(2/5/11) Greg Lyons converted to Buddhism several years ago. He is in downtown San Francisco on a spring-like day to take part in the demonstration against Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak. “Our intentions are important,” he says. “They are the seeds of reality.” He is optimistic that people power will prevail in Egypt after decades of dictatorship. “But change must come from within. If America tries to bring about the change that Egyptians are dying for, it will be a disaster. They must do it themselves.”

One reason why grassroots revolution is sweeping the Arab world is the enormous income gap between the rich and the poor. “Do you think that kind of class struggle can happen here in the U.S.?” I ask Greg.

“What do you mean can it happen here?” he asks back. “It’s already happening! Just look around you, a few blocks from here, and you can see how many Americans have become destitute. We have become one of the most unjust societies in the world.”

We chant slogans - 1,000 Americans strong - who have gathered at the United Nations Plaza. “Down, Down, Hosni Mubarak! Yasqut, Yasqut, Hosni Mubarak!”

Jack Kornfield also feels strongly that Egyptians must take control of their own destiny. The soft-spoken person becomes agitated when he talks about how the U.S. may undermine the aspirations of Egyptians. “U.S. has got to stay out. I am confident Egypt will find its own way. People on the streets of Cairo and other cities are smarter than the people in Washington.”

Hassan, an Egyptian, is a doctoral student in a California University. He is grateful to Tunisians for showing the way but believes that since Egypt is a bigger and more “critical country,” the revolution must succeed in his homeland for other Arab countries to emulate. He wants the new government to stop selling Egyptian land to foreign investors, as Mubarak’s government has been doing. “The king and his corrupt cronies fatten their pockets while the poor become poorer!”

“No justice, no peace,” exhorts an organizer from the makeshift dais, and we respond in unison.

Farida, a young Egyptian student, narrates how she tried to get her voter card in Cairo last November to vote in the parliamentary elections but was harassed and intimidated at every step of the way. An officer at the police station asked her, “Who are you going to vote for?” Emboldened by a friend who threatened to bring a lawyer, the officer quickly changed his tune and gave her the voting card. But many of her friends got the runaround for weeks until they gave up in frustration. (The election was, as usual, completely rigged by Mubarak and his minions.) These young people have never known anyone other than Mubarak as their ruler. They felt defeated, until they saw what happened in Tunisia. Everyone cheered when Farida said January 25 would be the most important day in the history of modern Egypt.

Muslims, Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, women, men, babies in strollers and veterans in wheelchairs, the young, the old, Imams, Rabbis and Priests filled the Plaza. Colorful signs sprouted everywhere: “Stop U.S. Military Aid to Egypt,” “Buddhist, Jews in solidarity with the Muslim and Christian People of Egypt,” “Mubarak in De-Nile, Get Out!,” “Ali Baba is Gone. What about the Forty Thieves?” “DeNile Ain’t Just a River in Egypt,” “Dying for Something is Better than Living for Nothing,” and many more.

Maryam Bin Salah, a doctoral student from Tunisia asks in wonder: “Just two months ago, could you have dared to dream that two dictators would fall? Why are we ruled by trash in Arab countries? All our thinkers and scholars and engineers are either in exile or in prison. Why? Why are we treated so badly? We must rid our countries of dictators so our inventors and our best minds can return and rebuild our nations.”

Imam Abdul Aziz of Sacramento, an Egyptian, asks us to put pressure on the White House to make the right decision. “Just think,” he said, “the revolution is raging for the 12^th straight day. There is uncertainty, sure, but what is certain is that the brave people of Tunisia and Egypt have already prevailed. All supporters of democracy have prevailed. Even after Mubarak is forced to resign, people will remain in the streets until true democracy rules. We have a chance to become a developed country rather than remain frozen as a third world country.”

The Imam chokes with emotion but recovers: “I have a cousin, a young fellow, in Tahrir Square right now. He has never had an aim in life, frittering away his time in frivolous pursuits. I just spoke to him. He told me, ‘I will die for my country until we have democracy and rule of law.’ The revolution is changing hearts. Some are already swayed by the crocodile tears of Mubarak. ‘Give him a chance,’ they say. ‘The economy will be destroyed. Old people are not getting their pension. The sick are not getting their medicine.’ All I can say to them is: Shut up! We have been in prison for 30 years. The thugs have stolen $70 billion of our money that are now in the banks in Switzerland and France and England. Egyptians will stay on the streets until their demands are met!”

Tim Paulson, a labor union representative tells the gathering that Americans must learn from Egyptians “so we know how to secure our own rights here in America. We must remain vigilant until Egyptians can live their dreams. Mubarak is only four hours from Saudi Arabia. Enough is enough. Get out!”

A new slogan reverberates around the Plaza:
Ben Ali Yesterday, Mubarak Today, Qaddafi Tomorrow!

Mo, an activist with the Jewish Voice for Peace (http://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/ - Israelis and Palestinians. Two people. One Future), told me: “It is not for presidents and kings to give people their freedom. Freedom is God’s gift to people. We must be united together.”

“Israel has expressed anxiety about democracy coming to Egypt. Why is that?” I ask. Mo sighs. “Because it is easy,” he says, “for Israel to engage in the politics of fear. Israel must act like a country in the Middle East and not as if it is a transplant of the West. It will be good for Israel if democracy comes to Arab countries.”

Mo wants the U.S. to do everything it can to let democracy bloom in the Middle East instead of promoting its candidates in the name of stability. “Jews and Muslims are not separate,” he said. “We are united by a common future.” He is sure that the last pharaoh will soon go. “Coddling dictators has been the U.S. policy. That has to change. All this talk about the Brotherhood coming to power is a tactic to create anxiety and undermine the revolution of the people.”

“O Mubarak can’t you see, Time to join Ben Ali.” The rhyming slogans are catchy and energizing and make us smile.

More people are pouring in. I realize with a shock that three hours have already passed. When stories and images of oppressed people breaking free from their oppressors grip us, time becomes inconsequential.

People sitting on the fences say that demonstrations, rallies and protest marches don’t change anything. What they don’t understand is that, at the very least, they change the participants in subtle and significant ways. Change without can come only from change within.

What Tunisians have achieved, and Egyptians are poised to achieve, is nothing short of miraculous. It’s still a long way to freedom and democracy but the first steps have been taken. The least we can do is show them, “We are with you, all the way!”

Two to Tango

The motto of the school I attended in the 1960s was: “Deeds, Not Words.” Our principal, a no-nonsense New Zealander, had the annoying habit of drilling this message into us at every opportunity. We bitterly resented him for it but with time and experience came to recognize that this was a tough but good tenet to live by.

I thought of this while listening to President Barack Hussein Obama’s address to Muslims from Cairo. It was a stirring speech, delivered with poise and flair, but that was expected from this wordsmith and orator. The pressing question is: Can Obama match his words with deeds?

The president anticipated this challenge: “Words alone cannot meet the needs of our people,” he said. “These needs will be met only if we act boldly in the years ahead, and if we understand that the challenges we face are shared, and our failure to meet them will hurt us all.”

With that as context, let’s try to understand the specific issues the president identified in his speech. The issues are meaningful not only in and of themselves but also in the order in which they were presented.

One would have thought that at the top of the list would be the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. That the president chose, instead, to begin with the issue of “violent extremism in all its forms” is significant. By doing so he is challenging Muslims to reject and defeat the minority of extremists among us. He is also subtly suggesting that these extremists pose a greater danger to world peace, whether in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan or elsewhere, than the Israeli oppression of Palestinians.

Having framed his worldview thus, the president then takes up the “situation between Israelis, Palestinians and the Arab world.” While reiterating America’s strong bonds with Israel and the fundamental right of that nation to live in peace and security, the president gave equal credence to Palestinian aspirations for a homeland. But how does an independent nation of Palestine come about? “Palestinians must abandon violence … Now is the time for Palestinians to focus on what they can build.”

These are tough words. The president is saying that it is easy to destroy, to be trapped in the past, to be driven solely by revenge. Why not learn from history and try the non-violent and the moral high ground approaches to achieving your goals? The president is saying that for far too long, Palestinian leadership and the Arab world have used Palestinians as pawns for power and self-aggrandizement.

“At the same time, Israelis must acknowledge that just as Israel’s right to exist cannot be denied, neither can Palestine’s. By using the word “Palestine,” Obama is saying that an independent nation for Palestinians will be a cornerstone of American foreign policy. “The United States does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlements.”

But the real issue here is not Palestinian but Israeli leadership. Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu refused to even utter the words “two-state solution” during his recent meeting with Obama in the White House. Can the Israeli leader, obsessed with trumped-up threats from Iran, be forced to deal with the issue of Palestinians who “endure daily humiliations, large and small, that come with occupation?”

The last U.S. president who spoke forcefully for Palestinian rights during office was Jimmy Carter. He was also a one-term president. Things have changed since Carter’s time, however. There is more awareness about the plight of the Palestinians in America now than there was three decades ago. Obama also has a more powerful mandate than Carter to bring lasting changes to the Middle East and probably more clout with Israel, with Hillary Clinton firmly by his side.

The irony is that all U.S. presidents become ardent supporters of Palestinians when they become ex-presidents. Jimmy Carter found out the hard way what happens when this trend is broken. And yet, if any president can be a catalyst for change in the Middle East, it is Barack Obama. In the wake of the speech, the world will keenly observe how the president plays his hand in helping to create a separate homeland for Palestinians. There is only one criterion here: Deeds, Not Words.

On nuclear weapons, Obama was mostly addressing Iran. He repeated his offer to negotiate with Iran without preconditions. But what about the fact that Israel has one of the largest nuclear arsenals in the world? The president referred to it subtly and suggested this somewhat Utopian solution: “I understand those who protest that some countries have weapons and others do not. No single nation should pick and choose which nations hold nuclear weapons. That is why I strongly reaffirmed America’s commitment to seek a world in which no nations hold nuclear weapons.”

Obama also touched on democracy, religious freedom, women’s rights, and economic development and opportunity, in each case hinting at the lack of these values in many Muslim-majority countries, while admitting that the United States was also deficient in them.

The president broke new ground by quoting from the Quran three times:
“Be conscious of God and always speak the truth.” (33:70)
“Whoever kills an innocent, it is as if he has killed all mankind; and whoever saves a person, it is as if he has saved all mankind.” (5:32), and
"O mankind! We have created you male and a female; and we have made you into nations and tribes so that you may know one another." (49:13)

I chuckled when Obama mispronounced “hijab” as “hajib.” A distraction was his mix of pronunciations: “Izlam” as well as “Islam” and “Mozlem” as well as “Muslim.” A request from a citizen: Please, Mr. President, talk about “Islam” and “Muslim” when you need to, not “Izlam” and “Mozlem.”

In lauding the achievement of American Muslims, he talked about those who excelled in our sports arenas (Obama did not name names but it is easy to guess: Muhammad Ali, Kareem Abdul-Jababr, Ahmad Rashad, and many more), won Nobel Prize (reference to Ahmed Zewail, an Egyptian-American who won the 1999 Nobel Prize in chemistry), built our tallest building (Fazlur Rahman Khan, Bangladeshi-American structural engineer, considered "the greatest structural engineer of the second half of the 20th century" for his constructions of the Sears Tower and John Hancock Center), and lit the Olympic Torch (again, Muhammad Ali).

The president inspired hope in most of his listeners that a better and more peaceful world is a distinct possibility, now that he is at the helm of the most powerful nation on earth. It is no longer "either you're with us or you're against us" but "mutual respect and mutual interests."

It is by no means certain that Obama can deliver on the promises he has made in his Cairo speech. But by the vision he has articulated and the challenges he has undertaken, surely he deserves the gratitude not just of Muslims but of all those who have the “courage to make a new beginning,” and thus strengthened, “to make the world we seek.”

Filtering out the Arsenic of Corruption

As Bangladeshis watch enthralled the reeling in of the corrupt 'big fish' by the military-backed caretaker government, and let out a collective exultation of “finally!”, an event in the United States has added to this exultation.

Dr. Abul Hussam, a chemistry professor at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, won the 2007 “Grainger Challenge Prize for Sustainability” for developing an inexpensive, easy-to-make system for filtering arsenic from well water. Of Bangladeshi origin, the chemist plans to donate the $1 million prize money for distributing these filters to needy communities around the world.

Dr. Hussam was moved by the plight of millions of Bangladeshis poisoned by tube-well water laced with arsenic - leading to serious skin conditions, tumors, breathing difficulties, cancer, and ultimately to agonizing death - and made it his quest to find a solution.

After experimenting with hundreds of prototypes, he finally found the right combination of sand, charcoal, brick and cast iron to filter out almost any trace of arsenic from well water. In the northern district of Kushtia now, these systems are being produced at the rate of about 200 per week, at a cost of about $40 each. Over 30,000 filtration systems have already been distributed throughout the country.

Coming in the wake of Dr. Yunus’s Nobel Peace Prize last year, Dr. Abul Hussam’s achievement should lift the heart of even the most stubborn pessimist.

In light of Bangladesh’s current attempt to make corrupt kingpins accountable for their past misdeeds, the success of Dr. Hussam’s discovery suggests a compelling question: Will Bangladesh be able to filter out the arsenic of corruption, greed, nepotism and misrule once and for all from the roots of its government, no matter who may be in power?

Conscientious Bangladeshis hung their heads in shame when the Berlin-based Transparency International ranked the country as the most corrupt in the world five years in a row, beginning with 2000. They witnessed with horror the powerful and the unscrupulous looting the country’s treasury, the Faustian bargains political parties made with one another and the terribly widening gap between the rich and the poor. (What a contrast, for instance, to a Bangladeshi taxi driver in New York named Osman chowdhury who returned a lost bag of diamond rings worth $500,000 to the owner after she had left it in the trunk of his cab. If only Bangladeshi politicians and their sycophants could learn honesty and integrity from this humble man!)

Both the Awami League and the Bangladesh National Party indulged in thievery and gangsterism with impunity, and functionaries of both parties – mercenaries, really - created a twilight zone in which their words were the law. Only the ‘fittest’ thrived in this twilight zone, the fittest being those in or close to power, and their henchmen down the food chain.

Now there is hope that the darkness may be lifting, that those who abused power and amassed fortunes at the expense of the nation and its citizens will be brought to justice.

Because it is the army, backed by the interim government, that is spearheading the crackdown and the cleansing mission, some Bangladeshis are already protesting that democracy is in danger.

What planet are they on? Democracy cannot flourish in a vacuum. It can thrive only in the fertile soil of accountability, responsibility, and good governance. When the soil is saturated with the arsenic of greed, nepotism and solipsism, what thrives is “thugocracy,” not democracy. This has been the sad lot of Bangladeshis since 1991, following the overthrow of the military dictatorship of General Ershad.

The country has been kept afloat not by any government in power, but by the innate genius of common Bangladeshis – the human capital - and their entrepreneurship and creativity against all odds.

What is critical is for the interim government to proceed with prudence, and not try to bite off more than it can chew. One measure of this prudence can be seen in the systematic way in which the army is being used to snag progressively ‘bigger fish’ with each passing day. Ultimately the biggest fish – an unholy group of crooks and criminal masterminds across party lines – will have to be hauled in for justice to prevail.

Visiting Bangladesh last November, friends and relatives repeatedly told me that if only the government got off the back of the people and the powerful were held accountable for their actions, the country could achieve wonders. While neighboring India was earning billions of dollars in foreign exchange through the Internet-driven boom in IT services and products, Bangladesh was moving backward through debilitating strikes and plundering of the nation’s assets by the privileged.

Will decades of national nightmare be soon over, and will a new and responsible government usher in an era of enlightened democracy, of accountability, of law and order, of economic and educational opportunity for all? Let’s hope the groundwork is now being laid for such an outcome, so that future generations can look to this interim government as one that, after fits and starts, found its calling and made good on its promise.