Remember
I disagree. Yes, you have very valid points. And, no, I am not disabled, but I have friends who are. Sure there is so much more that can be done, but what Ms. Streep did was call out bullying. She pointed out to the world — well, at least all those watching the Golden Globes and all those who saw the subsequent and multiple online articles about her speech which is a big part of the world — that Donald Trump is a bully and that he specifically bullied a disabled person. She didn’t have to do that. She is a celebrity, for heaven’s sake. She could have accepted her award and given the typical yada-yada thank you speech. But, she didn’t. She took a stand. She called out a bully. She made sure we, who were outraged by the incident many months ago, will not forget it, will not sweep in under the proverbial rug and let him get away with it. Yes, her speech may not have been the “action” that you or others want to see, but it was, in many ways, more than that. People these days have short — very short — memories. She brought to light an incident — a very important and very telling incident — that happened many months ago during the campaign. She told us to remember. She told us to never forget. She told us to not accept. In the few moments she had on stage, what else could she do? Although you think what she did was not enough, I think what she did was monumental. She said REMEMBER. How easily we forget and move on to whatever the next outrage is — and there is always a next outrage. But she said REMEMBER. REMEMBER that our president-elect is a bully. REMEMBER that he belittles the disabled. REMEMBER that he is a despicable human being. REMEMBER that he will do everything in his power to take away the rights of those who have fought so hard to get rights. REMEMBER that he only cares about himself. REMEMBER that he does not care about the disabled or women or LGBTQ people or children or veterans or, or. . . REMEMBER, please REMEMBER. What she did is not enough, nor did she think it was enough. What she did was jog the memory of people living in a time of tweets and memes and texts, of instant communication and gratification, of what happened yesterday is old, forgotten news. She said REMEMBER. Maybe, that may not seem like much, but in these times it is. REMEMBER is a powerful word.
