Sh*t is terrifying out here! I sometimes feel like we're onboard a sinking Titanic, yet somehow, everyone is going about the business of their daily lives — clocking in and out, scrolling timelines, inhaling and exhaling as if we aren’t just one reckless Trump tweet away from an all out nuclear war.
Honestly, what else can we do? On top of the mountain of long standing social injustices we were already contending with, we now stand to lose ground on several fronts as the current administration aggressively moves us closer to an authoritative form of governance. What power do we, as individuals, possibly have to combat the horror unfolding before our very eyes in Trump's America? The answer is: plenty.
In today’s turbulent political environment, where everything from freedom of religion, access to affordable health care, free press and the sustainability of our planet are being threatened on a daily basis, staying engaged is more important than ever. It's one thing to disenfranchise black and brown folks, but now that everybody’s rights are at risk, we are starting to see an increase in activism, and a resurgence of momentum in the fight against injustice. With organized effort and active engagement on all fronts, it is entirely possible to capitalize on this impetus to halt the heinous political agenda of the current administration.
Photo: Flickr/Alisdare Hickson
The resistance is working. Despite his best efforts to transform our democracy into a dictatorship, Trump has faced some major defeats. He has the lowest approval rating of any new president EVER, his national security adviser was ousted due to allegations of suspicious connections to the Russian government and in just three months in office, Trump has faced loss, after loss, after humiliating loss.
1. Repeal and Replace
Photo: Twitter (screenshot)
No sir, you won't. On Friday, in a major defeat for Trump, conservatives and moderates joined Democrats to pull legislation that would have repealed Obama Care. Donald Trump and many Republican leaders ran entire campaigns largely on the premise of swiftly repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act. Still despite their best efforts, in the words of House speaker, Paul D. Ryan, “We’re going to be living with Obamacare for the foreseeable future.”
2. Trump’s War On the Media
Photo: Twitter (screenshot)
Such an itty bitty, limp little ego. The way his narcissism is set up, y'all's president needs a constant stream of adulation and praise. Anything less, and you can go ahead and brace yourself for an all-out Twitter tantrum. Trump is not a big fan of reality, fact-checking or any sort of accountability for that matter. In his desperate attempt to control the media, he characterizes any critical reportage of him as "fake news", but his efforts backfired as protesters galvanized in support of the free press.
His special disdain for The New York Times had the unintended effect of helping to grow the media outlet. As of February of 2017, CNN Money reported that in addition to adding 25,000 print subscribers (the highest number in six years), The New York Times saw digital subscriptions increase by 276,000 in the fourth quarter, making it the newspaper's best quarter since 2011. Welp! Maybe he does know how to grow a business after all.
3. Trump’s Travel Ban
Photo: Twitter (screenshot)
He tried it. By signing an executive order imposing a travel ban on seven majority Muslim countries, President Trump attempted to make good on his long promised statement to prevent Muslim immigration into the United States. The President caused chaos in airports across the country as individuals with valid immigrant visas were detained. Following a massive outpouring of support for the detainees as immigrant lawyers for the ACLU scrambled to their defense, a Washington State federal judge ruled to halt the ban. Allegedly, Trump's history of xenophobic tweets worked against him in this case. While the temporary victory was a definite win, the fight is far from over. A federal judge in Virginia has since ruled in favor of a revised version of Trump’s travel ban, increasing the chances of the case being brought before the Supreme Court.
Although we've won a few battles, the war is far from over. The stakes are high, and if we’ve learned anything from the millions of Americans who voted for Trump against their own self-interest, it’s that ignorance is NOT bliss. We must continue to get Information, stay engaged and turn out to vote in local elections.
Photo: Twitter (screenshot)
For more information and practical tips on how to resist the Trump/GOP agenda, click here to check out The Resistance Manual.
Photo: Twitter (screenshot)
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