If we cats were writing a bad novel about two guys who get killed defending a couple of Muslim girls from a white supremacist, Jeremy Joseph Christian, our editor would say, "Change the bad guy's last name. Too obvious."
But that is indeed what happened this weekend in Portland, Oregon. The alt-right jackass killer's name is Christian — we swear. Which is an interesting contrast to the names of his victims, Taliesen Myrddin Namkai-Meche (hmmm, Steven Bannon is scratching his chin doubtfully... doesn't sound like a real American, does it?) and Ricky John Best, who simply, was.
What worries us most now (aside from absolutely everything else about this awful story) is that decent people in America will no longer stand up to hate and harassment and bigotry, out of fear for their lives — forgetting that actions like the ones Namkai-Meche and Best took always carry with them an element of risk. Just ask anyone who marched during the civil rights movement, or who provide abortions or escort to the clinics the women who need them.
Add to that the fact that we have a bullying bigot in the White House who will certainly be undeterred by appeals from Namkai-Meche's mom, or anyone else. Is all lost?
Maybe, maybe not. Consider Namkai-Meche's last words to the woman he'd tried to defend. "I want everybody on this train to know I love them." If we can all live in that young man's spirit, maybe there's hope for the country. We cats HISS and PURR at the same time.
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