The Good Guys
We will not storm the Capitol on January 6th. And we will not spend the next four years claiming that the election was rigged, or that Donald Trump is not the legitimate President of the United States. It’s important to remember: we are not using the Trump “playbook”. We have to play it like the “good guys” (When did the Democratic Party of Joe Kennedy and Richard Daley become “good guys”?). The old Democratic joke, “vote early and vote often” is, like Bill Cosby’s funniest lines; forbidden.
Last week’s election results felt overwhelming. I described my reaction to a friend as: crushed, devastated, infuriated, and traumatized. But it’s not last week anymore. So Democrats have to move on. And there is one important “statistic” to remember: almost half of Americans wanted Kamala Harris for President. In the end, once California finally counts all of her votes (the Bear Flag State is more the Sloth Flag when it comes to elections), it’s likely that Trump won the popular vote by less than one percent. So the “overwhelming, crushing, traumatizing” Red Wave, isn’t the electoral mandate that we thought, and that MAGA Republicans claim.
Friction
And we can certainly hope that the House flips to Democrats. The votes are in, it’s not a question of action, it’s just a matter of waiting (Sloth Flag and a few others). However the House shakes out, it’s going to be a razor thin margin of control, a vote or two between Mike Johnson or Hakeem Jeffries. The House will serve to create “friction” to Trump’s plans.
As “good Americans”, some will want to stand with the new/old President, supporting him out of loyalty to the nation. But, there is one lesson we can learn from the MAGA Republicans. Even in the middle of the pandemic, even after the Insurrection (that memory will be buried deep in the next four years), I didn’t see MAGA leaders or followers lining up to support Joe Biden. As my Mom would say; what’s good for “their Goose”, is fine for “our Gander”.
We had the right answer in 2017: RESIST.
RESIST
I’m not calling for a Revolution, for Harris/Walz’s flags on the Capitol steps. But we do need to create friction, resistance; to every inhumane or anti-democratic action that the Trump Administration tries to inflict.
So, if they start rounding up migrants for deportation: RESIST. Make the 49.5% of Americans who chose against this feel like they are heard. As we did with the child-separation program six years ago, shine a light on Trumpian inhumanity. Make the historic comparisons to other American atrocities: the Trail of Tears, the Tulsa Riot, Japanese/American Internment, “Operation Wetback”, Child-Separation. Let Americans and the world see that he does not represent us all.
If America begins to abandon Ukraine and/or NATO: RESIST. Stand up for what’s right, regardless of the flawed autocrat-supporting views of MAGA. “Let the word go forth” that while the leadership of the United States wants to abandon our “Shining City on the Hill”, almost half of Americans do not.
If your local school or library or university is pressured to bow to MAGA-idealism: RESIST. The Electoral College does not apply to local elections. Organize what I still believe is the majority of Americans who do not stand for censorship, suppression, or screaming intimidation. The billionaire sponsored, Steve Bannon plan for overwhelming America starts at the local level. So can ours.
And if you’re local sheriff turns out to be a “Constitutional Sheriff”, another focus of the MAGA world, RESIST. If he (almost always he) decides to take unilateral action to support MAGA theology, protest. Call him out for stepping out of his role of protecting local citizens; make him pay a public and political price for abusing the authorities of his office.
Be Heard
Don’t worry; they’ll be lots of chances to make your voice heard. The only “sin” is to remain silent, or small, or to take the “safe” way out, when injustice is clear. We must make the cost transparent. As Martin Niemoller wrote from a Nazi concentration camp:
First they came for the Communists.
And I did not speak out, because I was not a Communist.
Then they came for the Socialists.
And I did not speak out, because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists.
And I did not speak out, because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews.
And I did not speak out, because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me.
And there was no one left to speak out for me.
Speak out!! Find that old “RESIST!” t-shirt from 2018 buried in the drawer. Go buy the poster board and Sharpies to make your signs. We know what we need to do, and as hard as it is to “do it again”, it must be done.
Otherwise, who will be left to speak for us?
