Doing nothing about the rogue president and his gauleiters is unacceptable. Like many of you, I’ve had my moments of despair about Trump, rationalizing that we “nobody’s” couldn’t affect change; I’ve had letdowns and have withdrawn from the fray. It’s easy to let go, but it is wrong to do so. WE MUST NOT STOP FIGHTING! Worse, we must not accept the current status quo as normal because it isn’t and must not be.
What can we do? We can continue to holler, shout and complain whenever possible. We must be outspoken, not in a nasty way but with honesty and integrity about politics, government and moral and ethical standards. We must not succumb to the fiction and false flags of the MAGA crowd, take the bait about the Democrats’ shortcomings or the GOP’s obsession with NPR and other targets. We must seize the moral high ground to argue that the immediate problem is Trump and not conservative ideology or what used to be Republican orthodoxy.
We must seize the opportunity to challenge our friends and acquaintances when they lace their conversations with pro-Trump comments (they will, they almost always do). I know that speaking up is uncomfortable for many and may seem impolite, but our silence serves as a powerful multiplier for consent and approval.
There are, of course, the usual avenues open to us – we can write letters to the editor, call or write our political representatives, join political parties, contribute monies or become activists.
Above all, we must be true to ourselves. We must speak the truth as we see it no matter how unpopular doing so may be, no matter how ineffective it may be, for we must live with ourselves and our conscience. At the end of the day it is comforting to know that we did the right thing and stood up for truth, honesty and decency.
Think of Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
“Gauleiters” indeed. A short time ago, I would have been cautious about comparing Trump and his acolytes to Hitler and his cronies. But it becomes more realistic with each passing day. They have even come for aid to veterans, for God’s sake. Let food for Africa and other nations rot in storage bins in their countries rather that let USAID have funds to distribute it. American Farmers are being squeezed to the breaking point. Now, too, it’s the University under massive attack on the entirely disingenuous guise of protecting against anti-Semitism. What’s the breaking point? Maybe when they go after social security, of which we are already getting big hints despite Trump’s frequent denials that it will happen. Shortly after WWII, you couldn’t find a German who had been a Nazi or even an enthusiastic supporter of Hitler. Will there come a time when few will confess to having been MAGA supporters? Only if we reach Armagedon — which I hope we can still avoid if we wake up and resist before it’s too late.