POLITICS
Sometimes, You Have to Punch a Bully Back
After being bullied by Republicans for years, it’s high time Democrats fight back.
When I was in the 7th grade, my family moved to Pine Bluff, Arkansas. The first person that befriended me was Jimmy, an older kid that lived across the street from my house. We hit it off immediately. Jimmy introduced me to the other kids in the neighborhood. He picked me to be on his team for sandlot baseball games. His charm won my parents over.
But it only took me a few weeks to realize something about Jimmy: he was an enormous bully. If his team lost a baseball game, he started a fight. When we played pickup basketball games, he’d always cheat. A hail of profanity and violence awaited any kid bold enough to call out Jimmy’s cheating.
Before long, I found myself on the receiving end of Jimmy the Bully’s temper. What started as a friendly shove for a botched play escalated to a punch on the shoulder. My brothers and I were raised not to fight, so I offered little resistance.
One hot summer night, Jimmy invited my brothers and me outside to hang out with the other kids in the neighborhood. As soon as I walked across the street, I knew something was wrong. I never learned what triggered my confrontation with Jimmy that…
