Happy Thanksgiving Anyway

Just a short post for turkey day.

One of my huge regrets about the state of America’s governance is that the very real problems I post about here are at significant variance with the blessings of my own life. I’m one of those privileged Americans with a (very nice) roof over my head, plenty to eat (frequently too much) and enough disposable income to be comfortable.

Knowing that other people have far less, that many will suffer under Trump, and that America is no longer small-d democratic dims my ability to enjoy my own blessings, but I am immensely grateful for them.

The most important thing for which I am thankful is a wonderful family–great kids and step-kids and in-laws–and brilliant, perfect grandchildren (okay, perhaps I’m an overly fond grandma) who care deeply about the world they inhabit and take seriously their civic and human obligations. Unlike many who comment here, we are fortunate that there will be no Trumpers at our Thanksgiving table, not even among our extended family.

And speaking of that table, this year the kids have imposed a rule: no political discussions on Thanksgiving, on pain of fines to be assessed on a sliding scale. Five dollars for the first breach of the rule, ten for the next, and so on. All funds collected will be sent to the ACLU. We will use today’s meal as a time to remind ourselves of all the things for which we are grateful –first and foremost, each other.

I commend this approach.

I would be remiss if I didn’t add that I am very thankful for all of you who read my daily rants–the thoughtful folks whose comments and references constantly educate me, and the “lurkers”–those who sometimes email me and those I encounter when I’m out and about. In my retirement (dotage??), your participation keeps me engaged–and hopeful.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving. Share a loving table. Hug and kiss those you love. I’ll be back with doom and gloom (and occasional hopefulness) tomorrow.

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Resisting

I have often opined that there is one question that dominates times like these. That question is: what do we do?

It’s one thing to understand the importance of resistance to Trump and his clear intention to implement the proposals in Project 2025–it’s another to figure out how, to answer the question: what can an individual do? I’ve wrestled with that question in previous posts, but it is obvious that a true resistance will require the emergence of a movement, the creation of a variety of organizations cooperating to restrain, delay and when possible, reverse the damage.

An article from the website “Waging Nonviolence” addressed that issue.

No analysis will change the fact that the election delivered a serious blow to America’s most vulnerable communities, and promises to deliver a devastating setback for economic and social justice. It’s understandable that many of us are taking this moment to grieve for what we have lost–very much including (at least in my case) a belief in the essential good sense of the American public.

But even amidst our feelings of sorrow or hopelessness, we can recognize that political conditions are not static. As we step out of our grieving and look ahead, there are reasons to believe that a new social movement cycle to confront Trumpism can emerge. And in making this happen, we can draw on lessons from what has worked in the past and what we know can be effective in confronting autocrats. Our job will be to take advantage of the moments of opportunity that arise in coming months to hold the line against Trump’s authoritarianism — and also link them to a vision for creating the transformative change we need in our world.

The article went on to explain why we can expect resistance movements to emerge, especially the fact that the election was in all probability a “trigger event,” defined as a moment when

issues of social and economic injustice are thrown into the spotlight by a dramatic or expected public event: A shocking scandal, a natural disaster, a geopolitical conflict or an investigative report revealing gross misconduct stokes widespread outrage and sends people into the streets.

In 2016, Trump’s election itself served as a trigger event. A wide range of groups, from the liberal ACLU to the more radical Democratic Socialists of America, saw membership and donations surge as concerned progressives braced for what was expected to come from his administration. New groups also emerged, such as Indivisible, which began as a viral Google Doc about how to confront elected officials and compel them to resist the Trump administration. It then quickly grew into an organization with more than 4,000 affiliated local groups by 2021. 

The article noted that two days after the election, a call that had been organized by a coalition of 200 groups — including the Working Families Party, MoveOn, United We Dream and Movement for Black Lives Action — drew well in excess of 100,000 people, and that thousands more signed up for follow-up gatherings.

There is a tendency by the “Chattering classes” (people like David Brooks of the New York Times) to minimize the importance and effects of mass protests. The author of the article conceded that marches and other mass protests cannot effect change merely by occuring. However, as he pointed out, they can and do motivate change and activate other efforts.

And they send the message that We the People have not abandoned hope and resolve.

If ever there was a time to allow ourselves a space for mourning as we contemplate the fate of our country, it is now. But ultimately, only we can save ourselves from despair. David Brooks intended to be dismissive in characterizing collective protest as “mass therapy,” but in one respect he is onto something: There is no better antidote to hopelessness than action in community. 

Our past experience tells us that coming months and years will offer moments that trigger public revulsion. Social movements provide a unique mechanism for responding, creating common identity and purpose between strangers and allowing genuine, collective participation in building a better democracy. If we are to make it together through Trump’s second presidency and emerge in its aftermath to create the world we need, this may be our greatest hope. Indeed, it may be our only one.

Our choices are stark. We can either abandon ship, or join our like-minded friends and neighbors in efforts to make the one we’re in seaworthy.

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Meanwhile…

One of Stephen Colbert’s recurring “shticks” on the Late Show is a bit he calls “Meanwhile.”  He begins by explaining that X is happening, but meanwhile…there’s Y and Z, factoids that are hardly earth-shattering, but intriguing (and usually very funny).

A lot of us–especially those who participate in discussions here–obsessively follow government and politics, and are currently mourning America’s suicidal plunge back into the unresolved hatreds and fantasies of the past.  I’m certainly not going to advise “checking out”–although many of us are currently taking a vacation from the avalanche of depressing news–but I am going to counsel a detour into “meanwhile.”

Did far too many Americans vote affirmatively for ugly and hateful? Did too many consider the explicit threats to “others”–people with identities different from their own–irrelevant? Did far too many Americans ignore their most basic civic responsibility, which was to cast an informed ballot? Are we currently being inundated with after-the-fact “analyses” by self-important and un-self-aware pundits convinced that if Democrats had just done it their way, the result would be different?

Yes, yes and yes. All of it.

But meanwhile, in hundreds of communities, good people are continuing to do good things. Friends are volunteering at homeless shelters. Congregations that take seriously the moral teachings of their churches, synagogues and mosques are sponsoring food banks and offering sanctuary. Professional organizations are continuing to provide legal and medical assistance to folks in poor communities. The list goes on, and these efforts will be even more important as the assault on various types of federal assistance takes hold.

There are literally millions of efforts constantly underway to lend assistance to one group or another, or to bring a bit of joy to people who have less, or who who face adversity of one sort or another.

One example: on my desk at this moment is a flyer given to me by a friend who is (over)involved in such efforts, who has asked me to assist his nonprofit by helping sell tickets to “A Broadway Christmas,” featuring Anthony Nunziata. (Nunziata is described on the flyer as “A Carnegie Hall Headliner dubbed America’s New Singing Sensation.”) According to. my friend, Nunziata is donating his performance, because the entire event is intended to support an organization called “Kids Dance Outreach.” It’s a nonprofit that serves disabled children, ages 2-14, in school and after-school dance programs.

The organization’s webpage describes its mission as “To positively impact the lives of all children through joyful dance programs that inspire excellence, instill confidence, encourage teamwork, and applaud persistence.” It also says its free programs have served over twenty-two thousand children thus far.

With a commitment to providing high-quality dance education to all children, all KDO programs are inclusive for children with physical, cognitive, and developmental disabilities. The Dancers with Disabilities Programs offer further opportunities specifically designed for children with disabilities to learn and grow in a safe and joyful environment.

(The program my friend is promoting will be held at 7:00 pm at Broadway United Methodist Church on December 14th. Anyone in Indianapolis interested in attending can purchase tickets on the website.)

Efforts like this one may seem irrelevant–or at least, small potatoes– to those of us consumed with worry over Trump’s ability to deliver imminent, widespread harm . Dancing children? Fiddling while Rome burns, thanks to our own American Nero? But efforts like this one–and there are literally millions of similar, seemingly irrelevant programs across this country–programs that testify to the presence of millions of good people working with others to brighten the lives of those who are less fortunate or who face challenges the rest of us have been spared.

There’s a recent cartoon (I think from the New Yorker) that struck me. I’m paraphrasing, but in the single panel, one woman is telling another that–upon consideration following the election– her mistake was believing in the goodness of a majority of Americans. It’s tempting to take that lesson from the undeniable fact that millions of Americans cast votes for a vicious, mentally-ill criminal with a clearly-articulated desire to destroy America’s constitutional democracy.

But that would be the wrong lesson.

Yes, a sizable portion–probably a majority– of Trump’s vote came from the out-and-out bigots: racists, anti-Semites and misogynists he intentionally courted. But many others voted from ignorance fostered by dependence on right-wing propaganda. And all of those votes together did not reach 50% of the total cast.

Meanwhile, millions of Americans were volunteering or otherwise supporting the multitude of not-for-profit and voluntary organizations which exist only to help others. True, it isn’t enough. We have significant systemic issues we need to resolve.

But at times like these, it’s worth remembering.

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What Individuals Must Do

Almost everything I’ve read in the wake of the election has fallen into one of two categories: why did it happen? and what can we do? Articles in that first category vastly exceed those in the second, and that is unfortunate. Although it is always important to analyze the source of a problem, too many of the purported analyses have been smug, finger-pointing accusations by self-important know-it-alls–hardly helpful suggestions for action.

Also, many of us want an answer to the question: what can I do? I’m one of those people: tell me I can only solve problem X by climbing that mountain, and I’ll strap on my boots and start climbing. Tell me there’s really nothing I can do about problem X and I just feel helpless and depressed.

A newsletter from Democracy Docket (no link) recently summarized how we got here, and did so in an abbreviated (but reasonably accurate) few paragraphs:

The moral bankruptcy of the Republican Party did not happen overnight. It happened gradually — starting with Newt Gingrich’s attack on the government in the early 1990s. It continued with the Tea Party movement, the birther conspiracy and the nomination of Donald Trump in 2016.

It gained momentum when Trump won the 2016 election despite losing the popular vote. Once in office, it grew worse when his attacks on democratic institutions were met with acquiescence by most of his party.

The mistake many of us made was believing that the aftermath of the 2020 election marked an end to the GOP’s descent into moral collapse. We were wrong. Jan. 6 marked a further descent into the moral abyss.

By 2024, the few principled Republicans had already abandoned their party for the “Never Trump” movement. What was left were Trump dead-enders and those without any core principles at all. A party once built on the promise of Lincoln had become the morally bankrupt party of Trump.

So here we are. We have one party that has become, for all intents and purposes, a cult. It has turned its back on the project of governing in favor of a hysterical retreat into a past that never existed and an agenda of resentment and “othering.” That has left the remaining party the unenviable task of herding cats–representing voters who range from center-Right but too sane to stay in the GOP all the way to Bernie Sanders and AOC and even further Left. 

So that’s where we are. That rather obviously leaves us with the second question: what can we do? Are there promising steps that individuals can take that are likely to make a difference, or are our problems so massive that all we can do is marinate in our distress?

I’ve arrived at an answer that may or may not be correct, but works for me. (I encourage you all to rebut my suggestions and to offer better or additional ones).

As I indicated in a couple of recent posts, I think those of us who recognize that we are individually powerless to affect the dysfunctions and outrages of a national government headed by Trump have to turn to activism at the local level. Even rural occupants of Blue states can work through local government to protect citizens from the Trump assaults; in Red states, cities of over 500,000 are uniformly Blue, and activism is possible at the municipal level. (Rural folks in states like Indiana can at least join statewide organizations working to protect civil liberties or immigrants’ rights or the environment.)

In my case, given my interests and background, I will volunteer with local lawyers’ groups–certainly the ACLU, but perhaps  others as well– to determine the measures that are available in our federalist system, and work to use whatever tools we identify, including but not limited to lawsuits. While we no longer have a Supreme Court that we can rely upon to enforce the Constitution, there are numerous good judges at the local and appellate levels, and justice is famously slow. By the time any appeals reach the Supreme Court, we may be emerging from much of the current darkness. 

Others of you might work with local groups focused on immigrant rights, or on health, reproductive or environmental issues.

Most importantly, local activists need to work with educators and with recently established local media outlets, to educate and inform the voting population. If there was any systemic failure that led to our current disaster, it was widespread civic ignorance and misinformation. Citizens need to understand the Constitution and Bill of Rights, and they need to recognize the ways in which MAGA Republicanism rejects that foundational framework.

We have work to do.

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The Merits Of Federalism

I have always been ambivalent about American federalism. I know that many in the legal community, including Supreme Court Justices who came after him, agreed with Justice Brandeis that federalism encourages the states to be “laboratories of democracy,” but I also know that many states–including the one I inhabit–use “states’ rights” as their defense against compliance with national rules, especially– but certainly not exclusively–the extension of civil liberties to their own citizens.

The election of Donald Trump, however, has made me a federalism fan.

In a recent opinion piece, Jennifer Rubin focused on the possibilities for resistance that our federalist system provides to Blue state governors in the face of Trump’s assault on rational federal governance.

The positive news: Governors are constitutionally empowered and morally obligated to check the federal government and fill the gaps where the federal government has abandoned vulnerable people. They will be the last line of defense against an irresponsible and reckless Trump administration.

Fortunately, an extraordinary batch of Democratic governors including Tim Walz of Minnesota, JB Pritzker of Illinois, Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, Wes Moore of Maryland, Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania and Maura Healey of Massachusetts appear ready to both protect their residents from a reckless administration and offer an alternative vision that benefits average Americans.

Keith Ellison, the attorney general of Minnesota, told the New York Times, “States in our system have a lot of power — we’re entrusted with protecting people, and we’re going to do it.” He added, “They can expect that we’re going to show up every single time when they try to run over the American people.”

What can states do to counter what Rubin calls Trump’s “grab bag of crackpots?” His bizarre choice of RNK, Jr., who has declared war on medicine, is joined by his pick for secretary of defense, a man who doesn’t appear to believe in germs, and a nominee to head up Medicare who championed the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19, (Her column appeared before the CEO of the Wide World of Wrestling was chosen to head up the Department of Education.)

In the face of growing evidence that Trump intends to decimate the federal government, what can governors do? According to Rubin, plenty. With respect to health issues,

they can stockpile vaccines and abortion medications, offer medical school students from red states a transfer to their schools, loosen rules for telemedicine, ease requirements to license doctors accredited elsewhere, reiterate vaccine requirements for schoolchildren (and fund free vaccine programs for vulnerable communities), expand their own health departments and pool resources to fund medical research. In short, they can develop an alternative model of responsible health-care governance.

Governors’ actions can go well beyond healthcare. If Trump’s government tries to enforce his promises to roll back overtime and worker safety rules, governors can enforce state laws protecting workers. They can defend the environment by bringing a steady stream of litigation to protect air, water and natural resources. (Rubin notes that Democracy Forward, a legal group formed after Trump’s 2016 win, has built a “multimillion-dollar war chest and marshaled more than 800 lawyers to press a full-throated legal response across a wide range of issues.”)

On other fronts, they can sue to enforce consumer protection rules or challenge coercive action depriving states of federal funds. (States filed roughly 160 suits against the first Trump administration.) Bob Ferguson, Washington’s Democratic attorney general and governor-elect, recently said that, according to Associated Press, “offices of Democratic attorneys general have been in touch for months to talk about how to push back against Trump’s policies.” They also can maintain strict gun safety regulations, bring suits against gun manufacturers and fund research on gun violence….

To promote democracy, they can offer enhanced civics education, public media literacy programs and public service requirements for high school and college graduates. And, as leading legal minds have been arguing for some time, they can creatively expand multistate compacts on everything from “social services delivery; child placement; education policy; emergency and disaster assistance; corrections, law enforcement, and supervision; professional licensing; water allocation; land use planning; environmental protection and natural resources management; and transportation and urban infrastructure management.” A new entity, Governors Safeguarding Democracy, may be just the vehicle to facilitate this activity.

Finally, Rubin notes that governors can counter the right-wing media ecosphere by highlighting the damage caused by anti-family, anti-child and anti-life MAGA policies.

Rather obviously, Red state governors won’t take such measures, so the resistance won’t be uniform. But it will be instructive. And it will offer Americans options– places to relocate to if and when their own state’s compliance with the wrecking crew becomes too onerous.

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