This amazing artifact represents the best of who we are. It has no military or monetary purpose. It's purpose is purely to learn. I can't imagine anything like it being funded or built today, but maybe that's my excessive pessimism
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You can just drive right up and photograph the antennas. It's in a vast, high-altitude plain that feels infinite in size. There's a self-guided walking tour, and some warnings about snakes, and a fee box on the honor system.
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The VLA lies in a huge congressional district I was visiting, where the Republican incumbent is stepping down. I drove 50 miles further to Socorro to meet with one of the Democratic candidates, trying to figure out if she could win. Often I ask what prompted people to run.
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Her "origin story" was simple. She went to WalMart one day, and saw a little girl 3 or 4 years old start to cry when she saw someone who looked like her grandma. When her mom asked what was the matter, the girl said "are they going to take my abuelita away?"
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The girl's grandma was Mexican, and even at that young age she had somehow understood that her abuelita was no longer safe in the United States. That's when Mad Hildenbrandt, who told me this story, decided she had to run for office. It was a moral imperative
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She had served in the Coast Guard, and her military training kicked in. Get between the threat and the victims. In this case, the threat is coming from inside the House. So despite having no resources, no network of rich friends, she is going to run and win.
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Across the country, people—it seems especially to be women—are taking up this fight. Mad has no money, so she's going to churches and WalMarts, and just talking to people. She's just talking to every voter she can find. As a veteran, all kinds of people will listen to her.
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So those are two starkly different visions of America—a little child crying at the store because her grandma will get deported, or this vast land sculpture of radio antennas that we built at public expense just because it would be the metal thing to do.
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And as someone who is really sold on that second vision of America, it occurs to me to ask—what if we just gave Mad some fucking money, so she can win her district? What if we did that for a few dozen others? It's amazing what $1 per taxpayer can buy.https://secure.actblue.com/donate/ts4mad
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(full disclosure: I forgot to put money in the VLA fee box. But I did write Mad a check for two grand)
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End of conversation
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