A hoax?

A  hoax?

I have just watched,

            for the second time,

            the entire press conference,

            held on the Capitol steps,

            in Washington, District of Columbia,

            of and by and for the survivors—

            that is, the survivors of rape—

            young women, hardly out of childhood,

            forced, against their will,

            to serve the sexual appetite

            of wealthy, powerful men

            and, at least one woman,

            who, from my way of looking at it,

            were all mentally ill, these perpetrators,

            which I define, 

            based upon my own personal experience,

            as one who has, unwittingly, damaged

            my own children—not raped, mind you,

            nor sexually abused

            but a perpetrator, nonetheless—

            as being separated from themselves,

            from their own true humanity,

            allowing them then to act out

            their own deep seated

            hatred of themselves

            on these defenseless

            young women.

We live in troubled times.

Our President has called,

            the press conference

            “A hoax”—this, in spite,

            of several of the women

            addressing him personally,

            inviting him to sit down with them        

            and to listen to their stories.

So, we have competing versions of reality—

            one that involves real people,

            speaking honestly about 

            their personal experiences,

            to everyone in the entire country,

            asking them to listen to and to hear

            their incredibly moving stories.

            These real people included 

            a Republican representative

            whom, quite honestly, I had not 

            always considered to be a real person.

            But in this press conference 

            Marjory Taylor Green, the representative 

            from north Georgia, spoke simply 

            and spoke eloquently in support 

            and in defense of these women,

            calling on her 200 Republican colleagues 

            in our House of Representatives

            to go on record and to vote 

            for House Resolution 668,

            noting that she only needed

            two of them—two out of two hundred—

            to vote in favor of the resolution

            to activate a full congressional investigation

            into the Epstein/Maxwell 

            sex and human trafficking

            operation.

The other version of reality?

            Our President who simply says, 

            “It’s a hoax!” and told

            the Republican representatives

            if they voted “yes” on this resolution

            he would consider it a “hostile act”

            toward himself.

I want to live in a country

            where people respect each other,

            where telling the truth matters,

            where wealth and power

            do not insulate one

            from being held

            accountable.

            Period.

            Full stop!

Pipe dream?

            Maybe but I don’t think so.

            As my sign said,

            when I carried it to downtown 

            Portland, on Labor Day,

            “Only we the people can 

            Redeem the Soul of America.”

What I witnessed in that press conference

            was exactly what redeeming the soul

            of America looks like.

            We need to simply continue

            to stand up and speak truth to power

            together, in community,

            never isolated, never

            by ourselves.

            And simultaneously

            we need to reach out

            to our neighbors,

            in real life, not in virtual reality,

            and come to that interaction 

            with an open, non-judgmental heart

            and listen and get to know them

            as neighbors.

For as the Quakers at FCNL say,

            “Love your neighbor, no exceptions.”

            So, we have a choice: 

            Love or Hate?

            I vote for 

            Love.

Will it take generations?

            For sure! But what’s

            new about that?

            We are an 

            aspirational

            people,

            after all!

Let’s get to work!

Bill Denham

September 8, 2025