Simon Rosenberg, in his "Hopium Chronicles," surveys the damage done by Trump and his co- President:
... I don’t know how the Trumpian fever breaks, how the madness subsides,
and how we return to the Constitutional order and the America we and the
world has known for generations. It’s clear that in these early days
Democrats have not yet found their voice on the extremism and danger of
Trump - his alliance with Putin, his abandonment of Europe and Ukraine,
his “off with their heads” tariffs, his unconstitutional and illegal
dismantling of the US government including our global and domestic
public health systems, his clear and worsening madness. Our early,
narrow focus on costs and the terrible GOP budget while tactically
sound, are strategically insufficient as Trump and Musk rip apart the
global order and our own government in ways that will be very hard, if
not impossible, to put back together. Some of the damage being done
right now to what I call the America of the Four Freedoms is
irreparable, which is why in the coming weeks our leaders - all of them -
must work harder to find their voice on this assault and do everything
they can to stop it...
Reflect on that litany of shame again. In just a few weeks, the transatlantic alliance that has held since 1949 has been ended and Trump has aligned the U.S. with his patron and overseer Putin; he's installed loyalists in key positions in government, including the Pentagon, intelligence agencies, FBI and Justice, who will do his bidding without question; and his un- elected, ketamine- fueled South African billionaire co-President has been chainsawing vital government agencies, with more catastrophic damage to come.
We wonder if the leaders we have are up to that challenge, having never faced an existential black swan event the likes of Trump and his fascist coup before. The disorienting, fast- moving chaos caught most of those leaders flat- footed, even though Trump has been telling everyone what he would do if given a second chance at power. We'll say it again: we need better leaders who are imaginative, forceful, and proactive fighters (we noted a few here).
But Rosenberg's enterprise is called "Hopium Chronicles," so he goes on to outline the signs of hope he sees in the struggle:
My point today, on this the last day of February, just five weeks into the terrible new Trump era, is that cracks in Trumpism are emerging. He is making mistakes, huge mistakes. Public opinion is becoming more hostile to what he is doing. His economic strategy is hurting the country and people understand this. Republicans are aware their emerging budget strategy is a betrayal of working people and could drive down their standing even further. The courts keep delivering wins, and our 23 Dem state AGs have become a formidable force. Americans are waking up to what is happening, and we are seeing a growing citizen-led opposition movement spread across the country. Folks are outraged and pissed, as they should be...
There's more at the link worth reading and reflecting on. We continue to believe ours is a bottom up struggle, and that, as Rosenberg says, little cracks can become big cracks as long as we, all of us, work harder and don't give up or give in to despair or defeatism. We believe the outrage that's evident in the streets and in the town halls recently are signs that, as Rosenberg says, people are restive and waking up. That's likely to grow. But, remember, how you deal with these bullies is to get in their faces and do it "the Chicago way."
As we've always said, hope for the best, but plan for the worst.
