How are you feeling? The information cycle looks like a twister that’s sweeping us all up. However listed below are two issues I’m protecting entrance of thoughts about what’s occurring 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.
“If you happen to overwhelm the media — for those who give it too many locations it must look, all of sudden, for those who preserve it shifting from one factor to the subsequent — 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 wish to, the President can’t rewrite the Structure, and lots of of his proposals are being stopped out of the gate. “Inside days, the birthright citizenship order was frozen by a choose,” writes Klein. “A choose froze the spending freeze earlier than it was even scheduled to enter impact, and shortly thereafter, the Trump administration rescinded the order, partly to keep away from the court docket case.”
This isn’t to say that issues are usually not dangerous — they’re. I don’t wish to decrease the wreckage. Individuals are residing in immense worry, and lots of are being harmed, together with trans of us, immigrants, federal staff, the record goes on. Even the threats Trump makes and the language he makes use of make folks much less protected by selling racism, sexism and “us vs. them” pondering.
As an alternative of freezing in shock, nonetheless, we are able to 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 completed. Nothing right here must be stunning. Don’t lose your composure.” We are going to 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 telephone numbers and let you know precisely what to say about main points (like defending the Division of Schooling or combating in opposition to Elon Musk’s authorities takeover or opposing RFK Jr. for Secretary of Well being and Human Companies). It’s easy and easy, and these calls make a distinction.
Additionally, take into account studying Indivisible: A Sensible Information to Democracy on the Brink, which presents crystal clear methods for combating again over the subsequent 4 years. Written by two very sensible, humorous folks, this information felt bolstering to learn.
Please share your ideas under — these are extraordinarily troublesome instances, however we’ve numerous good folks on this nation and numerous power and bandwidth. Sending large hugs and solidarity.
P.S. Poetry, for those who want some proper now.
(Picture by Jess Woodhouse/Stocksy.)