Life in the Box: Team Names


I’ve been thinking for a while now that people who believe mainstream media is factual, and that the last election was fair, and that facts and evidence and laws and reason still matter, well, I think we need at team name.

You know, the MAGAs can all buy hats. The Bugaloos and Tea Partiers and so on, they all buy the merch.

They also make up names for us, like RINO: Republicans in Name Only (the ones that realized that Trump’s a fascist idiot.) I like the rhino as a team mascot, a big animal with a point, but lots of us reality-based folks aren’t former Republicans.

Those of us who still believe in facts have been called members of “Earth One” or “Reality One.” Too long, too many syllables. And it implies there really is an alternative reality that’s valid. There isn’t.

So, what can a large group of conservatives, liberals, progressives, scientists, lawyers, blue-collar and white-collar workers, smart and informed and just regular folks call their team? CLPSLBCWCWSIJRF is too many initials.

REALISTS? HOPERS? EVIDENCERS? Those Who Believe in Fair Government and Rule of Law?  TWBFGRL? Too broad and not enough vowels, and ends in “girl.” Boys won’t like that.  

TRUSTERS? Not hardly. We used to trust that government checks and balances would keep out people like Trump and his appointees, but now do we really trust that? We are also so appalled by the new ultra-radical Supreme Court that even the concept of equality under the constitution seems fragile.

I was reading a book about flowers and thought about some Johnny-Appleseed-type metaphors, like people seeding the world with truth. Seeders? Nah. Dandelions have a lot of seeds and are everywhere, but that concept is bit too fluffy. Okay, a LOT too fluffy. 

Metaphoric team names from the animal world are already taken by sports and high school teams. Team TIGER is a bit silly. I still think rhinos would be a great mascot, but not a team name. 

Natural phenomena like cyclones and hail storms seem a bit random and violent. The “ANTI GLOBAL WARMINGERS?” Nah.

Solid trees, like OAKS, grow slowly and are tough and strong. Not very sexy, though. Willows, Maples, Palms, Evergreens. PALMS – Putting ALl MatterS to the reality test. That lends itself to a logo of a hand with a palm leaf. Has it been taken already? Too much like a marijuana symbol?

AMERICANS has a nice ring to it, but obviously it’s a bit too broad because it includes the anti-truthers. The same with PATRIOTS. VOTERS? CONSTITUTIONALISTS? FLAGS – Fighters Living All Gay, no. For Life As GeniuseS? No. It has potential but I can’t seem to make it sensible.

ANTIFA has already been taken for people who are anti-fascist. We could be the ANTI-MAGAS, but do we really want to be against something, not FOR something?

FOR-TRUTHERS. FOR-FACTISTS. FOR-JUSTICERS. FOR-COMPASSION. FOR-EQUALITY. FOR-REALITY. FOR-CIVILITY. FOR-JOURNALISM.

PRO-Something… PRO WRESTLERS? No. Okay, Pro-Life has already been taken. PRO-BRAINS? PRO-FAIRNESS-FOR-ALL? PRO-STRENGTH?

We could name ourselves after the founding fathers, but they were all white men, and many were bigots and worse. How about Martha Washington or Dolly Madison, or… Dolly Parton!! Everyone loves Dolly Parton! Ugh, come to think of it, maybe men (and many women) don’t want to be called DOLLYS.

We could be the followers of RBG Ruth Bader Ginsburg. RBGers… I have to admit I have a little dyslexia about her initials, is it RGB or RBG? They rhyme. RUTHER-TRUTHERS. Hmm.

If there really is going to be a civil war, as ultra-right bloggers are agitating for, what is our team’s name? What colors are we wearing?

So, come on team! Let’s GO! Would someone please get us a fabulous name or cool initials? I want to buy the t-shirt.

Nancy Heather Brown is a retired, Emmy Award-winning television producer whose career has included interviewing, writing, narrating and editing for a span of four decades. Today, she enjoys learning new things and reflecting upon the creative process and life issues, both inside and outside the box. Her opinions are her own, and are not necessarily those of this web site.

Republican in Name Only (RINO) at Wikipedia

Make America Great Again (MAGA) at Wikipedia

Ruther Bader Ginsburg (RBG) at Wikipedia

New Yorker article about Republicans trying to convince MAGA Republicans that the big lie is a lie

Pew Research on defining “Mainstream Media”

Build Your Own Conspiracy Kit 

 




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