If you're not familiar with The Stand, it centers on a group of survivors of a deadly plague (a weaponized version of the flu, released by the government, so not like our current pandemic, but still it's a deadly virus that kills a lot of people) coming together to figure out what happens next. The survivors are drawn together by the forces of good and evil, and of course, have to face the apocalypse as one does in a Stephen King dark fantasy novel. There a lot of characters. There are tons of subplots and small scenes of the way the world "ends." There's also hope and love and friendship, so like every King novel I love, I didn't leave my readings of The Stand hopeless, but hopeful. Yes, the world could literally go to hell, but our humanity would figure out a way to bring us back.
There is a scene early in the book, that also appears in the first episode of the miniseries, where Frannie is listening to the radio while caring for her ailing father. They're listening to a talk radio show and the show host, Ray, is discussing the appearance of soldiers in cities and towns all around the country. I think Ray is a he in the book, but is portrayed by Kathy Bates in the series. Ray is having a conversation with a woman about her dying family when soldiers/military police break into the studio and demand that Ray shut down the program. Ray refuses, continuing to broadcast what is happening live on the air until one of the soldiers shoots him(her). The radio signal whines, and Frannie and her father are left horrified by what they just heard.
When I think about reading and watching The Stand, this is one of the scenes that bothered me the most. It's not a long scene and happens so early in the story that you would assume I'd forget about it by the time I finished the book because so many other terrible things happen along the way, but this scene has always stuck with me. In the novel, the government is responsible for the release of the deadly flu into the world, so sending soldiers and other military personnel is exactly what they're going to do to try to cover things up and quash any sort of dissent that would tell people otherwise. I was 14 or 15 when I read the novel for the first time, and I understood enough about how the world and governments of the world work to know this was the inevitable in the world of The Stand. I was also not stupid, and understood how fundamentally wrong this was even in a work of fiction.
This is exactly what came to mind this week as news came out of Portland, OR that protesters are being "arrested" by unnamed police forces in military dress. People are being forcefully removed from the streets, thrown into unmarked vans, and taken to federal courthouses where they're detained for hours. These "soldiers" don't identify themselves, don't tell people why they're being arrested, and have been captured on video throwing people to the ground and causing other harm. Since initial reporting started, it's been revealed that these "soldiers" are from Customs and Border Patrol and that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is behind sending them into the city. Since I wrote this on Sunday, these forces have beaten up a veteran and shot tear gas at a group of mothers protesting their tactics. The mayor of Portland and the governor of Oregon have called for these "troops" to be removed from the city, and the ACLU and other organizations have sued the federal government over this unnecessary use of force. It's another example of the impostor in chief testing what he can get away with when it comes to those who disagree with him and his racism.
If what's happening in Portland doesn't bother you, well, I'm not sure why you're reading my blog. The protests going on around the country and the world are what democracy is about. If we don't question the systems and policies and practices of our government, we have failed as Americans. It's part of why this country was founded in the first place. If you're not supporting Black Lives Matter protests, if you're not questioning why the 45 sent military personnel into Lafayette Square with tear gas to clear protesters, and you're not asking why people are being whisked away in unmarked vans by the government, you're part of the problem. And you can support this movement without being physically present; we each participate in the way we can. I've been donating to groups supporting protesters, sharing relevant information on social media, and making sure my elected officials know this needs to stop. We are watching fascism live on tv, and we need to stop it. I know it's been one video after another, one story after another since the end of May, but this is how movements work. It's not one protest and we're done; it's a long process.
I know everyone is dealing with a lot right now. We're all balancing a million things while living in a pandemic and a constant state of fear and uncertainty. I understand this. The pandemic isn't going away - I hate to be the one to tell you that, but it's not, at least not in the US. We squandered four months of staying at home to be right back where we started from in many states in the country. We rushed, when we should have figured out a national testing plan and contact tracing. Instead, the 45 ignores experts, declares children will go to school in the fall, and has removed virus data from the CDC's website. He spends his time golfing, selling products (which he's not supposed to do), and being racist. He doesn't care about you. He barely cares about his own family, so let's not pretend he cares about anyone else.
I'd love nothing more than to start sharing my novel again or post something about the movies I'm watching or my embroidery work or literally anything other than what I keep writing about, but the reality is that none of those things feel right or okay to me right now. As a person who processes things through writing, I have to get this down and a private journal isn't cutting it anymore. Something I love about Stephen King novels is that the horror of monsters and plagues can be stripped away to reveal the true villain: us. Our relationships to one another, our humanity or lack thereof, our choices are the real villains in every story. That's what makes Stephen King such a terrifying writer, it's not the ancient, homicidal clown or vampires or possessed cars - it's one another or our fears come to life. We can choose to not wear a mask and show we don't care about anyone. We can choose to vote for a racist. We can choose to be okay with unnamed military police manning US cities for no reason. When we do choose these things, Randall Flagg (the big bad of The Stand) or Pennywise or the vampires (Salem's Lot) or the killer car (Christine) or the rabid dog (Cujo) or whichever other King big bad you want to pick, wins.
Or we can be like Mother Abagail's group in The Stand or the Losers or anyone else who goes to battle in one of these novels - we confront the evils head on to become the hero. We can wear the mask and vote for someone who is not a racist, and we can question and fight when unnamed military police start manning US cities for no reason. Is this route easy? No, it's harder and more painful, but it's what we have to do.
Next week: Maybe we'll discuss a documentary I just watched (not about a cult) that was all about the kind of positivity we need in the world right now. Maybe something else horrible will happen and I'll have to rage again. I don't know. I don't know what our lives are anymore.
Stay safe. Wear your mask. Wash your hands. Be nice to one another. Vote. Black Lives Matter.
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