It’s fucking ridiculous that this has to be said out loud, but in our blighted era of Trumpian lunacy, when corrosiveness has been normalized, and gaslighting permeates everything from media to politics to education to social issues, it seems even the most basic expectations of principled society do have to be articulated.

There was a debate last night between an effective, decent, successful POTUS and a twice-impeached convicted felon who’s a pathological liar, a corrupt thug, and an adjudicated rapist, and the caterwauling afterwards—from media, pundits, terrified Democrats—is that the decent, successful man needs to “step down for the sake of the country” because he had a shitty debate. He’s too old, too “feeble”; his voice was hoarse, he didn’t counter the convicted felon’s relentless lies enough, he was pale; he lacked energy.

Huh.

So, despite the biblical list of disparities between the old fella with the big heart and the convicted felon/rapist, the loudest, the literally SHOUTED, suggestion/demand by many big name columnists, top shelf politicians; panic-stricken talking heads, was to demand the former commit political seppuku if he had any dignity or concern for his constituents. Didn’t hear one word about the convicted felon “stepping down for the sake of the country,” despite the fact that he’s articulated his plan to dismantle American democracy and his getting in the White House again would literally destroy the country as we know it.

That is a deeply systemic case of collective gaslighting.

They’re a slick bunch, gaslighters. Not just these post-debate caterwaulers, but all of them, so pervasive and relentless it’s a wonder they haven’t set the entire American experiment on fire… though it seems they’re trying. They’ve insinuated themselves into every corner of life, hiding behind church pulpits and congressional desks, in school boardrooms and medical facilities; they’re embedded in media, marketing, and Republican campaigns (even some Democratic ones, it sadly seems). They’re both blatant and surreptitious, bold and mewling; hardcore and sycophantic. And they’ve successfully manipulated a good portion of the American electorate to embrace—with blind conviction, obsequious devotion, terrifying ignorance, and ugly red hats—the belief that truth, decency, kindness, heart and humanity are not only not essential, they’re harbingers of weakness, softness, “wokeness,” unnecessary and irrelevant. This truth-averse contingent prefers their idols to be bullies, strongmen. They applaud coarseness, cheer indecorum, and hail corruption as a form of fist-pumping defiance.

The worst among them—both the gaslighters and gaslightees—are the contingent called “MAGA,” and they’re doing the dark work of trying to push Donald J. Trump back into our White House.

That cannot happen.

It’s fair to ask whether Trump is responsible for ushering in this toxic era. It feels like he did, but most would agree that MAGA was already here, just hiding beneath rocks and behind enforced social decorum. They hadn’t yet coalesced, given themselves hats and a name. It was when Trump slithered down the infamous escalator that an invitation, permission, was extended to other bigoted, small-minded, hate-and-fear oriented people to emulate his crassness. To step out of the shadows to hoot and holler and insurrect in the triggering, exciting strobe of his orange beacon. They bowed and shouted, deigned him their golden calf, and he, in turn, made them feel the power of belonging to his toxic cult. It’s a metastasizing, mutually repugnant relationship, and it’s been making American sick since 2015.

Yet still … and despite trends to the contrary … decency matters. Truth matters. Not everyone within earshot of the noise fell for the falsities. There are the millions of good people, kind people; people who care about their fellow humans, who are passionate about creating racial equity in our divided society, who see immigrants as essential members of the diverse landscape; who listen and speak with consideration, respect, and civility. People who refuse to reject truth to further lies and self-serving agendas. Who parent needy children, care for the elderly, administer schools, continue to create beautiful things, research important advances, and promote environmental improvements. People who run for office because they actually want to make life better for their constituents rather than use it to enrich and aggrandize themselves, their families, and their cronies… or stay out of prison.

These people—you, we—outnumber them.

Yet in a society where clickbait rules and salaciousness gets the attention, we spend so much time reading about, listening to, recoiling at; analyzing, reacting, and responding to the despicable, heinous words and deeds of the gaslighters it’s almost impossible to believe that the good people I’m referencing exist. Even our current president—a good, compassionate, honest man—gets less favorable, illuminating reportage than the cretin running against him … certainly as evidenced by the hysterical hand-wringing about his “disastrous debate performance.”

That won’t likely change. Our culture is too immersed in the trend of tabloid titillation. Train wrecks, political scandals, and pursuing Hunter Biden will always garner more curiosity than positive news. The only way to inject balance into that equation is to make a pact to, yes, rant, rail, and act against injustice, dishonesty, and corruption as compelled to do so, but also to shine as much light as possible on the honest, productive, integrity-inspiring people who vastly outnumber the worst amongst us who do get the headlines.

We’ve got a plate-shifting choice to make in this upcoming election. And despite the cacophony of polls and headlines that seem hellbent on amplifying the terrifying agenda and campaign of the indecent failure of a man called Trump, we have the power to push, pull, articulate, and embody the trend of decency and all that comes with it. We can holler about our individual grievances, cite examples where our causes haven’t been served to our satisfaction. We can enumerate our criticisms, opine about our disagreements, threaten to not vote, to vote third party, to “protest” vote in some self-soothing but ultimately self-sabotaging way (because I promise you, anything that helps Trump win is self-sabotaging), but at the end of the day, it’s decency that demands our attention, and that we should agree on.

Because decency is what’s at risk. Our democracy is at risk. Our rights and freedoms. Our very ability to live in a country that values those things and doesn’t gaslight its people to believe that authoritarianism, intolerance, fascism, and fear of other are acceptable principles, or that corruption, criminality, and dishonesty are simply costs of doing business.

This is no small event, this election. It’s world changing. And we can’t afford to look away. Because we do have the power to keep the terrifying echoes of Nazi Germany, Russia, North Korea, and other deadly, soul-killing, freedom-destroying political blueprints and agendas from subsuming our beloved America. Despite trends to the contrary, we have the power to make sure that doesn’t happen.

Age doesn’t matter. A bad debate performance doesn’t matter. A pale face and stumbling steps don’t matter. What matters is decency, truth, and integrity. Honesty. Upholding our American democracy. Regardless of how the Democratic leadership may respond to demands that Biden “step aside for the sake of the country,” good people who care enough about America to really pay attention, to not get lost in the weeds of debate and discord, will continue to vote like our very freedoms—the freedoms of our families, our children, our future generations—depend on it.

Because they do. And decency demands we protect those freedoms for all of us, all of them.

Visit www.lorrainedevonwilke.com for details and links to LDW’s books, music, photography, and articles.