The Longest week ever…
“Courage is more exhilarating than fear and in the long run it is easier. We do not have to become heroes overnight. Just a step at time, meeting each thing that comes up, seeing it is not as dreadful as it appeared, discovering we have the strength to stare it down.”
Eleanor Roosevelt
This will likely become a common feeling over the next four years. The constant barrage of executive orders, bad bills, and chaotic appointment hearings is enough to make anyone want to go back to bed. That, as they say, is a feature not a bug. We saw this tactic used during the Biden/Trump debate. It even has a name: “gish gallop.” The idea is to bombard the opposition with so many, frequently meritless, arguments and information that they are left scrambling to figure out what to respond to first. Steve Bannon calls it “flooding the zone.”
Much of what we saw in the last nine days has been just that. A barrage meant to confuse and discourage us into inaction, unable to discern which new bit of information was the most horrifying. And yet, there is hope.
Pick your battles
It has been rumored that many of the state attorney generals and governors have been planning for the return of Trumpism to the White House. The last nine days proved the rumors be true. As of this post, there have been 40 executive orders signed by the current administration and this block of AGs have pushed back against several where they have had the most legal standing.
The End of Birthright Citizenship granted by the 14th Ammendment.
This was immediately challenged by two dozen AGs, the ACLU, and several interested parties. It was blocked by a Reagan appointed judge who called it "blatantly unconstitutional."
A memo from the Office of Management and Budget called for a pause in grant and aid spending on 1/28. Potentially related to this memo, all 50 states lost access to their Medicaid portals and led to confusion about benefits to citizens as varied as student loans, disability, SNAP, and WIC to name a few.
Immediate push back against this memo by governors and AGs led to a judge blocking memo, which was ultimately recended by the administration.
A Long Road ahead
While there have been wins, there will undoubtably be challenges down the road. As of right now, Trump Tax Tarrifs are scheduled to go into effect on Saturday, which will lead to higher prices across the board for anything coming from Canada or Mexico. Threatened tarriffs on Colombia caused coffee futures to skyrocket, while ICE raids led to many agricultural and meat packing plant workers to stay home. Grocery prices will not be coming down anytime soon and shortages on produce might also be on the horizon.
What can be done?
The ACLU could use donations to keep fighting. We can continue calling our Senators, Elissa Slotkin and Gary Peters, who will be voting to confirm or block Trump’s cabinet appointees. Make your opinions known and make sure to tell them you are a voter from Michigan.
Some of the more objectionable selections:
Russell Vought-Trump’s pick for Office of Management and Budget was one of the architects of Project 2025.
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.-Trump’s pick for Health and Human Services is known for spreading viral conspiracy theories about everything from vaccines to Covid.
Tulsi Gabbard-Trump’s pick for director of national intelligence met with Bashar al-Assad and has credible links to Russia and Putin.
Kash Patel-Trump’s pick to lead the FBI authored a list of 60 “enemies” within the executive branch, including Merrick Garland and Former President Joe Biden.
This is overwhelming
This is intended to be overwhelming. Authoritarian governments thrive in places where there is no hope; give yourself permission to enjoy life. This is not going to be solved overnight. Take time to unplug and do something that brings you joy. Limit your exposure to the outrage. We’ve been here before and the playbook is similar; and spoilers…we survived.
