How are you feeling? The information cycle appears like a twister that’s sweeping us all up. However listed below are two issues I’m holding entrance of thoughts about what’s taking place within the U.S. proper now (and please share your ideas within the feedback)…
1. Keep regular, keep targeted. The Trump administration created a particular plan for kicking off his second time period: shock and awe. They figured they’d flood the media and overwhelm the general public, in order that we’d get so muddled we wouldn’t know what to do after which simply…freeze.
“Should you overwhelm the media — should you give it too many locations it must look, unexpectedly, should you preserve it shifting from one factor to the following — no coherent opposition can emerge,” defined Ezra Klein on his podcast final Sunday.
However don’t imagine what Trump says, Klein urges. Trump makes wild, horrifying proclamations, however, as a lot as he might need to, the President can not rewrite the Structure, and plenty of of his proposals are being stopped out of the gate. “Inside days, the birthright citizenship order was frozen by a decide,” writes Klein. “A decide froze the spending freeze earlier than it was even scheduled to enter impact, and shortly thereafter, the Trump administration rescinded the order, partially to keep away from the court docket case.”
This isn’t to say that issues will not be unhealthy — they’re. I don’t need to decrease the wreckage. Persons are residing in immense worry, and plenty of are being harmed, together with trans people, immigrants, federal staff, the checklist goes on. Even the threats Trump makes and the language he makes use of make individuals much less secure by selling racism, sexism and “us vs. them” considering.
As a substitute of freezing in shock, nevertheless, we will act collectively. “The tempo and frequency of those offenses is supposed to flood the zone with shit, as Steve Bannon put it; to confuse, bamboozle, and immobilize us,” writes Jay Michaelson, a rabbi, activist, and former professor, in his e-newsletter Each/And. “They promised that they’d do ‘Shock and Awe’ and that’s what they’ve performed. Nothing right here must be stunning. Don’t lose your composure.” We’ll stand agency.
2. Get the 5 Calls app, which makes it very straightforward to name your reps. You can also make 5 calls in 5 minutes; they provide the cellphone numbers and let you know precisely what to say about main points (like defending the Division of Schooling or preventing in opposition to Elon Musk’s authorities takeover or opposing RFK Jr. for Secretary of Well being and Human Providers). It’s easy and easy, and these calls make a distinction.
Additionally, contemplate studying Indivisible: A Sensible Information to Democracy on the Brink, which gives crystal clear methods for preventing again over the following 4 years. Written by two very sensible, humorous individuals, this information felt bolstering to learn.
Please share your ideas beneath — these are extraordinarily troublesome occasions, however we’ve a number of good individuals on this nation and a number of power and bandwidth. Sending large hugs and solidarity.
P.S. Poetry, should you want some proper now.
(Photograph by Jess Woodhouse/Stocksy.)
