Just FYI, Trump apologist nonsense or other dismissal of the severity of this moment will be deleted, so don't bother. A U.S. state is having to deploy the state National Guard to protect itself against violent actions of the Federal Government.
I grew up in a fascist country (apartheid SA). Horrible things were done, but people were largely kept in ignorance. Witnessing, reporting, telling is important. But also boycotting, sanctioning and isolating.
Back in 2016 I was worried that Clinton would be a bad campaigner but a great President if she got in, and assumed it was a fluke that Trump won. In 2024 it was pretty clear the press was going after Biden and holding him to a different standard (again) than Trump, and yes he shouldn’t have run for a second term, but after he stepped down Harris had one of the best campaigns I’d seen for on the ground action. Way more disciplined than in the past. When she lost (and we’ll skip over the mistakes in messaging) I at least thought the democrats must have a plan to counter project 2025 as they spent a lot of time campaigning against it. Instead we got this deer in the headlights look and they seemed paralyzed (still are in many ways). Instead of it being resistance at the top it’s been people pushing for resistance from the ground floor (something a lot of Jamie Raskin’s constituents told him to focus on last year when we met with him. He’s doing great but I think could do more). At one of the demonstrations I went to there was a 75 year old women dressed as a frog and I asked her why she was out. It was the first time she had been to a demonstration since the 1970s. She knew what was at stake and so do a lot of us.
The first time around we were told that the institutions would protect the people and the constitution from Trump’s corrupt actions. They bent, but held to some degree (skipping over the republicans putting power before the constitution and refusing to impeach Trump for causing a coup in 2021, or the Supreme Court basically giving Trump the powers of a monarch). This time around all the institutions, universities, businesses, etc.. collapsed like a deck of cards except for some brave judges, lawyers, and state governments like Illinois. Resistance takes many forms and the comfort I get in these trying times is ordinary people showing up and taking a stand, sometimes at great tragic personal cost like Renee Good. The reason they are pushing so hard at the moment is because they are weak, and they know they are on shaken ground. They do not have the support of the public and they know it. Hence why they need to show they are strong but instead show they are weak. And if there’s one thing we need to take from this is that all of them are going to have to face up to their illegal actions in court once this lot are out of power. And that includes getting rid of the far right judges on the Supreme Court, who also need to be impeached. Thousands of people have died due to this administration and we should not forget that (600,000 kids last year along due to USAID being shut).
Resistance is in the hands of the people and we need to keep pushing our officials to do the right thing, no matter how exhausting it is, because if we don’t, then it will get worse. This is not where I wanted to be in 2026, and I’ve had friends leave the country because of it, but c’est la vie.
Thanks! Only thing keeping me grounded is reading a lot. But it's very stressful seeing armed militias running around like they own the place (I work in DC)
This is also way longer than I anticipated writing but it’s been a long and stressful year. I’m almost dreading what new chapters will be in my election judge manual regarding how to deal with far right protesters (it’s already got sections on mass shootings and bomb threats).
From 2016-2020 I spent most of my time away from the people, places and things in my life I loved, traveling back and forth from Boston to NY to DC, boots on the ground, with a band of intrepid activists to fight what was clearly headed our way. We dropped a banner the size of a brownstone in the Hart Senate atrium that said "TRUMP IS GUILTY", during the impeachment hearings (with no witnesses) and I was arrested for the first time in my life. We took over the Capitol Rotunda and sat, arms linked, facing out, screaming "Honor Your Oath!" which fell on the deaf ears of complicit Republicans the day he was acquitted--all of them cowering in their offices, rushing down hallways and running for their lives on January 6th. And here we are. An illegitimate President. An illegitimate Supreme Court. Fascism. State violence. Terror. It will take a massive presence of sustained resistance-it will be the courage and resilience, humanity and compassion of ordinary people who will see us through--"to wrestle the world from fools."
Just FYI, Trump apologist nonsense or other dismissal of the severity of this moment will be deleted, so don't bother. A U.S. state is having to deploy the state National Guard to protect itself against violent actions of the Federal Government.
As a Queer Black Latiné person I am used to be labeled as "extreme" and I'm used to my ideas being called "liberal". I'm also used to my reactions being called "dramatic" or "exaggerations". This is not new to me. I will keep fighting the good fight by witnessing, staying informed, and engaging in dialogue with others.
I grew up in a fascist country (apartheid SA). Horrible things were done, but people were largely kept in ignorance. Witnessing, reporting, telling is important. But also boycotting, sanctioning and isolating.
Back in 2016 I was worried that Clinton would be a bad campaigner but a great President if she got in, and assumed it was a fluke that Trump won. In 2024 it was pretty clear the press was going after Biden and holding him to a different standard (again) than Trump, and yes he shouldn’t have run for a second term, but after he stepped down Harris had one of the best campaigns I’d seen for on the ground action. Way more disciplined than in the past. When she lost (and we’ll skip over the mistakes in messaging) I at least thought the democrats must have a plan to counter project 2025 as they spent a lot of time campaigning against it. Instead we got this deer in the headlights look and they seemed paralyzed (still are in many ways). Instead of it being resistance at the top it’s been people pushing for resistance from the ground floor (something a lot of Jamie Raskin’s constituents told him to focus on last year when we met with him. He’s doing great but I think could do more). At one of the demonstrations I went to there was a 75 year old women dressed as a frog and I asked her why she was out. It was the first time she had been to a demonstration since the 1970s. She knew what was at stake and so do a lot of us.
The first time around we were told that the institutions would protect the people and the constitution from Trump’s corrupt actions. They bent, but held to some degree (skipping over the republicans putting power before the constitution and refusing to impeach Trump for causing a coup in 2021, or the Supreme Court basically giving Trump the powers of a monarch). This time around all the institutions, universities, businesses, etc.. collapsed like a deck of cards except for some brave judges, lawyers, and state governments like Illinois. Resistance takes many forms and the comfort I get in these trying times is ordinary people showing up and taking a stand, sometimes at great tragic personal cost like Renee Good. The reason they are pushing so hard at the moment is because they are weak, and they know they are on shaken ground. They do not have the support of the public and they know it. Hence why they need to show they are strong but instead show they are weak. And if there’s one thing we need to take from this is that all of them are going to have to face up to their illegal actions in court once this lot are out of power. And that includes getting rid of the far right judges on the Supreme Court, who also need to be impeached. Thousands of people have died due to this administration and we should not forget that (600,000 kids last year along due to USAID being shut).
Resistance is in the hands of the people and we need to keep pushing our officials to do the right thing, no matter how exhausting it is, because if we don’t, then it will get worse. This is not where I wanted to be in 2026, and I’ve had friends leave the country because of it, but c’est la vie.
Well said Paul.
Thanks! Only thing keeping me grounded is reading a lot. But it's very stressful seeing armed militias running around like they own the place (I work in DC)
This is also way longer than I anticipated writing but it’s been a long and stressful year. I’m almost dreading what new chapters will be in my election judge manual regarding how to deal with far right protesters (it’s already got sections on mass shootings and bomb threats).
From 2016-2020 I spent most of my time away from the people, places and things in my life I loved, traveling back and forth from Boston to NY to DC, boots on the ground, with a band of intrepid activists to fight what was clearly headed our way. We dropped a banner the size of a brownstone in the Hart Senate atrium that said "TRUMP IS GUILTY", during the impeachment hearings (with no witnesses) and I was arrested for the first time in my life. We took over the Capitol Rotunda and sat, arms linked, facing out, screaming "Honor Your Oath!" which fell on the deaf ears of complicit Republicans the day he was acquitted--all of them cowering in their offices, rushing down hallways and running for their lives on January 6th. And here we are. An illegitimate President. An illegitimate Supreme Court. Fascism. State violence. Terror. It will take a massive presence of sustained resistance-it will be the courage and resilience, humanity and compassion of ordinary people who will see us through--"to wrestle the world from fools."