LAUGHING AT WHAT AILS YOU.

Several years ago, in the opening days of the Iraq War, I wrote a Letter to the Editor of the Statesman-Journal in opposition to that war. I was not then a writer, which is not to say I am one now. I had had a learning experience in my teens writing a Letter to the Editor. I was maybe 15 years old, and I was under the influence of my dad and uncles, who supported going to war in Vietnam. In that letter I called our two great Senators of the day, Mark Hatfield (R) and Wayne Morse (D), both in opposition to that war, "worms in the bowels of government". I have never apologized to Senator Hatfield; I did hike up the trail leading to the Morse Family Farm in Eugene a few years ago to apologize to the plaque honoring SEN. Morse. Yes, it was way too late, but sometimes we learn slowly, and sometimes life gets in the way. I still owe Senator Hatfield an apology, though I'm quick to respond that Republicans were better in that day.

My efforts as a letter-writer were held back until that more reasoned letter-writer emerged. It took George Bush to inspire the new letter-writer to emerge. The catalyst was a phone call from a fellow congratulating me on a letter-to-the-editor I wrote against invading Iraq. We had phone books then, and he found my name there. We talked quite a while and he told me about his and his wife's experiences with persecution during the blacklists of the Hollywood 10. I wanted my children, 10 and 13 at the time, to hear history from the lips of those who experienced it, so I asked if we could meet for coffee so my sons could hear their story. He invited us over to his home.

After the introductions his wife serverhot cocoa and pound cake, coffee and pound cake for the adults. My hosts were members of theatrical trade unions in the 1940s, she was a seamstress, he was a set builder. They lost their jobs in Hollywood for their union actuvities. To the members of HUAC, and too many moved by fear, they were communists. They had some savings and investments in those post-war years and were able to open a little café that was frequented by old friends and acquaintences. It became a successful small business. Ironically, they were forced by circumstances to become capitalists. Their story was inspiring to me. They were a nice couple who believed in the union movement. They had been a part of the movie business and felt lucky to be where they were. They were being persecuted for being, by extension socialists, which by right wing extension, was communist. We parted company and said our goodbyes. I as inspired to read more about that era, a time when the stories were, prior to that time, spoken about in hushed tons. I wrote many Letters to the Editor subsequent to that time. Some of them were published. I started looking for more opportunities to write. I enrolled in a class at Chemeketa Community College, and over time became a writer withourlt portfolio. Something I have learned to accept. I will always remember that couple. Their names were not among the Hollywood 10, but they suffered the same fate. No one told their stories, outside of family didcussions, but the writers and actors caught up in that web of right wing extremism did write their stories, found ways to hire writers under assumed names, and otherwise show their contempt of those that perpetrated that injustice.

Since that time we have entered another era where right wing extremism is intruding on our rights. You could rightly say they are extruding into our rights. The Heritage Foundation is setting the stage with Project 2025 to make persecution of people who they dislike possible, among sundry other attacks on democracy. It remains to see whether they will get the chance to implement their plan. The candidate they have hitched their cart to is stumbling. By contrast his opponant, Kamala Harris, is riding in the popularity polls. She stands a good chance of deposing this round of right wing persecuters. Make no mistake, they will not go away. They have corrupted the courts, established wrll-funded pressure groups, and own most of the Republican party, and they still have billions of dollars left over. We must confront them at every opportunity. We have one potent.weapon that they don't; we laugh at them. They are the subjects of our tlridicule,and it bothered them. Deeply. Authoritarians hate to be laughed at. Andauthoritarians, because they oppress the oppressed cannot find a way to make their insults funny. Meanwhile, we who are oppressed by them, oppress our oppressors. It is easier to fond humor there. It is ehsy Charlie Chaplin did to Adolf Hitler. It is what The 3 Stooges did to Hitler, it is what Mel Brooks did to fascism in general, using Hitler's era as the catalyst for his great play/movie, The Producers. It is our greatest weapon. And it is effective beyond our wildest imagination. Authoritarians hate to be made fun of; and so we must.