Across the country, people are speaking out, stepping up, standing tall, marching en masse and speaking Truth to Tyranny. In our nation’s courtrooms, Judges are clarifying the law, elected and appointed officials are leading the charge and people like you and me are phoning, tweeting, texting, emailing and demonstrating. We are leaving our homes, offices and classrooms to join the new revolution. This is a righteous fight and it is imperative if we are to continue as a haven of safety and reason.
When our tyrannical leader declared war on freedom and diversity, as we knew he would, I was thrilled to see so much pushback. Not just by the odd columnist or commentator but by a groundswell. I knew we lived in a country with checks and balances but I wasn’t seeing it in Congress. I cheered when from the ground up and from the top down, across the country and across the world; people began gathering, waving placards and standing up for their beliefs.
Most Republicans in the House and Senate continue to sit on the sidelines, fearful that their titular head will turn against them, sue them, incite voters against them or drive a bulldozer over them. Party loyalty continues to guide their actions, but here’s the thing… this is not politics as usual. Republican Party loyalty dissolved during last year’s primary. Folks you are dancing to a tune that’s no longer playing. Your familiar, insular network is gone. As of January 2017, we got a new brand of politics… The Politics of Pillage. This is governance by destruction; it is governing by crosscut shredder; it is government by egotism.
In this new world, we throw away the rulebooks; we toss out the law books, we ignore 219 years of Supreme Court decisions, we bury our Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Forget history, tradition, protocol, pledges, conventions and treaties. Forget allies and alliances; forget Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War; forget FDR and WWII; forget:
Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
In the Politics of Pillage, there is no golden door. There are walls and barriers. In the Politics of Pillage, it’s my way or the highway! It’s comply, submit, shut-up, agree, obey or guess what…. You’re Fired!
If we are to remain The Land of The Free And The Home Of The Brave, we have to be brave. We have to demonstrate the courage of our convictions, not just once, but every time Trump commits another horrendous, illegal, ego-maniacal act. We have to fight the good fight because the Politics of Pillage and the Rule of Tyranny are the same thing. Neither define the United States of America.