“Invader”: noun: one that enters territory for conquest or plunder; encroaches upon and injures; spreads over and into, disrupting the preexisting order.
Recently I have been on a mission. I have been fighting and speaking out against two kinds of “invaders” which are taking over our country. Neither invader is what you might think I am referring to. No, I am not thinking about the people born elsewhere whom our government has been vilifying, hunting down and treating inhumanely, then deporting to parts unknown. They don’t meet the definition above.
Rather, first I am troubled by some alarmingly successful plant invaders which are almost impossible to miss this time of year. These “invasive species” are rapidly edging out our native plants and dominating our landscape. You have undoubtedly seen them, whether you know it or not, along highways, back roads, or in your own backyard. I am on a mission to keep them at bay.
Many of these plants are stunning this time of year as they bloom, form fruit and go to seed. Swaths of purple loosestrife form a gorgeous ribbon of amethyst spires along highways and in wetlands. Bamboo-like Japanese knotweed with its wispy sprays of tiny blossoms masses itself along streams and hillsides. Burning bush is starting to turn crimson in the first flickers of its fall glory. Oriental bittersweet sends its vines climbing tall trees and dazzles with its curling tendrils and perfect orange and yellow berries.
But looks are deceptive. If only loosestrife didn’t grow aggressively in places where native grasses and cattails used to thrive, casting off a million seeds per plant to crowd out everything else. If only knotweed didn’t choke off everything that was once growing there, sending small plant fragments downstream to colonize new territory at an alarming rate. If only burning bush stayed in one place instead of disrupting local ecosystems. If only bittersweet didn’t climb over anything and everything in its path, smothering whole stands of trees and strangling native plants.
These plant invaders are exceptionally prolific and exceptionally hard to eradicate. Once they have gained a foothold, few of the plants we love, or the insect and wildlife populations that depend upon them, stand a chance. They bully their way into the landscape and hog resources which previously sustained countless native species. Even birds feeding on their berries are co-opted into spreading their seeds far and wide, ensuring these plants will dominate wherever the seeds are dropped.
The second “invaders” I am troubled by may have been born here, but are invading our
freedoms, our institutions, our lands and our very democracy.
I am thinking of the current leaders in our federal government, starting with the president. They are incredibly powerful and rich and govern without guardrails or a moral compass. The president and his cronies have greedily seized and abused power without any concern for the damage they inflict on our country and on us, and they have become richer and more aggressive with every passing day.
They have used a chainsaw to cripple or dismantle our prized institutions, when judicious pruning would have been far more effective. The president has governed by false promises, distractions, and disruptions, all while he has muzzled opposition. To me this is much the same way invading bittersweet vines have seduced with their gorgeous berries all while they have blanketed and strangled the plants beneath.
The people at the highest level of government seem not to understand that our government is for The People, not for themselves. They even view the earth as something to be exploited and dominated. They call climate change a hoax. They assume that our National Parks and Forests can take care of themselves with few employees and no maintenance. They view our public lands as places which they and their rich cronies can trample as they extract fossil fuels, uranium, heavy metals and forest products. They even plan to pave over our irreplaceable roadless areas, to the benefit of none but themselves.
Nowhere are the greed and misplaced priorities of the Invader-in-Chief more evident than in our nation’s capital. Instead of respecting the People’s House, he has smothered it with gold trim, and is busily growing a monstrous ballroom/bunker where the graceful East Wing once stood. Some may think these are beautiful, but only like burning bush and bittersweet berries are beautiful. We might be dazzled initially, but the president’s vanity and utter contempt for the job he was elected to do are inescapable. This is a man who would rather pour millions into ruining a reflecting pool than take a single hard look at his own outrageous behavior.
I am worried that the Invader-in-Chief and his minions are choking our democratic institutions to death. They are at work, trying everything they can to retain their grip on power. But even they are susceptible to the power of free and fair elections. This midterm, We the People need to be on a mission to take back what belongs to us.
Millie LaFontaine is a retired neurologist who lives in Concord.