In fighting Trump’s assaults on democracy, I speak from experience. As the first governor to come out against his Muslim ban, one of the most vocal in speaking out against his Covid negligence, and telling him to his face to stop tweeting and start protecting our children, earning me the honor of being called a “snake”, I know standing up brings the heat. So be it.
But my more important experience is decades watching a courageous citizenry force its federal government to change course. In the 50s and 60s, the government was forced to change, thanks in large part to a woman refusing to sit in the back of the bus. In the 70s, the Vietnam war ended only because thousands marched, including myself, proving the ability of committed people, though unelected, to compel change. In the 80s it was private citizens who forced the federal government to start treating HIV patients like humans.
In each of these decades, small acts of defiance led to national change as courage rippled outwards. The benefit of having lived these decades during the American experiment is learning that leaders in civil society who resist should be exalted, joined, and followed.
Those who believe that this call to action is an overstatement of the threat understand neither the nature of the tyrant-in-chief nor the slow but inexorable nature of how democracies are lost. I witnessed Trump’s cruelty and lack of empathy as I dealt with him during the Covid pandemic, as he willfully withheld help and then consciously spread misinformation that caused so many needless deaths. Anyone who saw this up close would make the call for resistance I am making today. How can anyone not understand that the refusal to follow the law on January 6 continues in full force today? Why would it stop unless it is made to stop?
Is he white? Being white also shields a lot of people from this stuff. Although, as a personal antidote, we had a driver from East Africa and he was super MAGA. He had even won a lottery to get here. Interesting conversation.
I was like your friend when I was young as well. It's super easy to stick your head in the sand.
He is white, but queer. It isn't only people of wealth privilege that fall into this. I think it may be the majority that don't understand this type of threat assessment. The cabbie got here, he won the lottery, his life is likely a lot better, in a lot of ways, and none of this has impacted him, or anyone he really cares about, at least not yet. I bring up the middle class because their resources are crucial to making change happen.