A Time to Stand Up & Fight Back
Under the Trump presidency, our values and our way of life have come under attack on an almost daily basis. As a veteran of the Obama White House and Commerce Department, I watch with horror as President Trump takes steps almost daily to undermine the progress we made over the past eight years to move towards an economy that works for everyone, fight poverty and inequality, expand access to health insurance, advance a sustainable energy future, fight climate change, and repair America’s relationships with its allies.
Even more than policy differences, the Trump Administration attacks the very foundations of America itself. As the Nazis and KKK marched on Charlottesville, Trump’s sympathies seemed to be with the white supremacists. His Muslim ban, his political appointments, his farcical plan to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexican border, and his heartless plans to end DACA betray a contempt for the multicultural foundations of our society. He has no respect for science or facts or evidence. He lies shamelessly and attacks our free press. He assaults women and brags about it. He demonstrates contempt for our courts, our legal traditions, and our constitutional order.
This is a fight for the very soul of America. What will we tell our children and grandchildren we did to stand up and fight back? Will we tell them we marched and counter-protested when bigots and racists took to the streets? That we lit up the phone lines in Congress to oppose harsh and outrageous efforts to knock tens of millions of our neighbors off health insurance? That we represented our neighbors when they were caught in the cruel crosshairs of Trump’s immigration policies?
Whatever we do, we must not stand on the sidelines.
With the 2018 elections right around the corner, it’s time to focus on taking back our government. Now more than ever, it is time to knock on doors and make phone calls and write checks to support candidates who stand for the opposite of what the Trump Administration stands for.
Given the damage Trump has done in seven months, we cannot wait until the next presidential election to respond, sharing articles on Facebook and Twitter about the latest outrage, hoping against hope that Bob Mueller and his talented team of lawyers will rapidly unravel the sordid details of the Trump campaign’s apparent collusion with Russia to undermine our elections.
We are underreacting — not overreacting — to the threat Trump poses to our democracy and our way of life. We need to be systematic and organized in our efforts to stand up and fight back.
Angry about Trump? Angry about Nazis and the KKK marching in our cities and on our college campuses? Support Democrats running for office in 2018, particularly those who can help us take back statewide offices and congressional seats currently held by Republicans.
We’ve seen enough to know that more moderate voices in the Republican party cannot or will not restrain Trump. There will be no pivot. Flynn, Bannon, and Gorka may be gone, but Trump is Trump. The best solution to Trump’s assault on our democracy is at the ballot box.
Until January 2021 at least, Republicans will hold the White House and federal administrative agencies. But we can take back governors’ offices and Congress next year if we work together and organize now. States and citizens can and must lead the resistance to Trump.
The stakes have never been higher.
