Will decent people who maintain empathy for others, a healthy regard for right and wrong, and an enduring respect for the Constitution and the rule of law determine quick enough that these things are worth fighting for? I hope so. I know I am willing to fight. But is it because I’m in the final chapter of my life and have so little to lose personally? No. It’s because I care about the future of my children and grandchildren. I worry about the kind of life they will have if our country continues along its current path. We are experiencing a brain drain, an economic downturn, a destruction of the planet, and the erosion of morality that values all humanity. Liberty and justice for all are being challenged. It’s not looking good.
I don’t believe most Americans approve of the brutality of masked ICE agents raiding apartments, invading businesses, hospitals, courtroom halls, and smashing car windows to detain non-white men, women and children on suspicion that they may be deportable. These ICE agents aren’t interested catching dangerous undocumented immigrants; they are interested in making their arrest quotas. It’s evident that this administration is hiring violent bigoted sociopathic men and women who disregard the rule of law to carry out this operation with cruelty and brutality. It’s heartbreaking to watch. But it’s also encouraging to see courageous citizens calling them out, challenging them, blocking them, and videotaping them. Sometimes, they too are attacked by these thugs. I hope they sue and anyone falsely retained sues for violations of their civil rights.
I also don’t believe that Americans approve of the indictments of James Comey and Leticia James purely to feed Trump’s petty desire for revenge. Neither prosecution will succeed in court, not only because the accusations are demonstratively baseless, but because Trump can only find incompetent attorneys to prosecute the cases. They’ve already suffered embarrassing days in court, and more are to come if they the cases aren’t thrown out before the trials. I’m encouraged by the fact that career prosecutors refused to participate in these cases. They aren’t willing to risk their law licenses nor their professional reputations for this unwell authoritarian.
It’s clear that Americans don’t like having our freedom of speech taken away, our right to protest challenged, nor do we like having the military policing our streets. Disney learned the hard way that Americans value freedom not cowardice. Target learned this too. But not only are these military deployments wasting our taxpayer dollars, but they aren’t even serving a legitimate purpose. I’m encouraged by the judges who repeatedly rule against the Administration. I’m also encouraged by all the social media posts of everyday Americans showing the actual beauty and peace of their “war-torn” cities. The Trump Administration is continuously being exposed for their lies and false claims. Americans hate being lied to and gaslighted every day. Many just stop listening altogether.
And finally, no one likes for the government to shut down. But if an untenable rise in healthcare premiums for millions of low-income Americans is on the line, then it has to be done. Everyone feels the unfairness that the political leaders continue to be paid during the shutdown while government workers and the military do not. The Republicans would like us to believe that the Democrats are at fault for the shut down, but I think most people realize that it’s the Republicans who have no plan to keep healthcare accessible and somewhat affordable. In fact, Republicans are dismantling all safety nets that help the poorest among us. They are willing to either imprison or allow poor people to die in favor of lining the pockets of their wealthy donors.
As this Administration (with the blessing of Republicans in Congress) destroys public health, weakens the economy, degrades education, denies climate change, and defunds disaster relief, Americans will soon find themselves more vulnerable, sickly, and impoverished than ever. Without reliable information and American ingenuity, America will soon resemble North Korea and Russia where a few people horde all the wealth, innovation is non-existent, freedoms are lost, and the majority of the citizens live in poverty and fear, occupied with barely scraping by. These are not thriving societies. It certainly isn’t the future I desire for my children and grandchildren.
My advice is to wake up your friends, neighbors, and family members to the five-alarm fire threatening to engulf them. Second, I advise folks to save their pennies for the rainy days ahead. Third, I advise folks to build community with those who are like-minded. And finally, I advise all decent Americans to support frontline freedom fighters while also resisting with all their might those who envision a society that lacks liberty and justice for all. I truly believe that liberty and justice for all are values worth fighting for.