The Trumpist-GQP Is Clearly Not Done and the Battle of our Lives Lies Ahead … Not Behind
Rest well, friends, but get ready, too
I understand there are times on a battlefield when everyone is exhausted and demoralized. Maybe the fighting has been very intense for a long time. Maybe there has been a break in the fighting and it feels nearly inconceivable to have to get up and fight again. … And yet, the enemy is on the march. Here they come. The stakes are just as high as before. You have made significant advances, but the battle has not been won.
In a little over a year, we face mid-term elections here in the U.S. … Buoyed by a victory for democracy, equality and sanity, eked out by the skin of our teeth, and thanks mostly to a mishandled global pandemic (!), we seek rest and peace. We want to go back to normal and be left alone.
In New York, thankfully, prosecutors led by a Black woman (the AG) and White man (the DA) are going after the entire Trump family. The GQP seemed in disarray and decline for a hot second. But after consulting with whatever remaining conscience they had left after enabling a would-be dictator for nearly five years, they have decided to simply dispose of that conscience and move forward with authoritarianism and possibly fascism, in deference to a base that has been the target of intense and, frankly, insane disinformation campaigns from the likes of Roger Stone, Alex Jones, Steve Bannon, Rupert Murdoch, “Q,” (Jim and Ron Watkins and their merry band of global madmen), the fossil fuel industry and the Russians, led by Vlad the Bad, who seeks to undermine democracy across Europe (See The Plot to Destroy Democracy by Malcom Nance).
Capitalizing on “White Fright” (see the essential books Caste, by Isabel Wilkerson and White Rage by Carol Anderson) and fundamentalist religion, nativism, racism, and homophobia, as well as cult indoctrination tactics and Nazi-era propaganda (Qanon), the GQP has now abandoned pretending at democracy.
In more than 20 states, they have passed or are working to pass voter suppression laws making it more difficult for people, especially in urban areas (POC, young people, Dems), to vote — and have organized to set up systems in states with GQP legislatures that will more effectively be able to overturn results of legitimate elections, from local to national, including Presidential.
In Maricopa County, Arizona, the wacky “Cyber Ninjas” have been dispatched by the GQP to cast doubt on prior rock-solid vote tabulations by GOP officials, and have been given access to millions of votes with little to no supervision.
In Calfornia, an out-of-state GQP-funded effort has gained steam to overturn results of a democratic election for Governor, similar to what happened in my own hometown to the two most progressive members of the City Council. This is a national GQP strategy.
This is all about the “base,” that solid majority of the 75 million Americans who joined the Trump cult, out of fear, anger … misunderstanding, propaganda, FOX news, INCEL desperation, the overreaches of liberalism, whatever. Some of their concerns are valid (corruption in politics and the frightening power of multinationals). By far, the majority are not, but have been conflated by the now fully Trumpist GQP from lie to “truth.”
This happened in another country. A man with no allegiance to the truth who sought power at any cost and believed in the supremacy of his “race,” while attacking scapegoats right and left, staged a violent coup within his own party and was jailed for this.
During his five years in “jail” — actually a chateau in the mountains — he would write the book that would help propel him to power later. Those in his party who supported him did not understand the power he had developed within his “base,” the cult-like allegiance, building on ancient fears and biases. They thought they could use him and control him. In the end, the opposite was true. The book he wrote was Mein Kampf, and you know the rest of this story.
The craven cowardliness and bold aggression of the GQP now can indeed be the death knell of one of the largest and most powerful democracies — such as it is — in the world. The forces supporting this are global and founded on white supremacy and white, Christian hegemony.
The Senate is one Senator shy of reverting to a GOP-GQP majority, and the House is up for grabs as the GQP is given gerrymandering rights across the nation because of population changes. Will Biden run again at over 80? Will Kamala Harris face the deep racism and sexism this nation yet harbors in an election against a white man or woman? We can trust that either Trump will run again if he is not in jail (do we think he will not, while we believe Biden, who is older, will?); or the GQP will run another Trumpist.
And yet, I have hope. This country has been called the great, American “experiment.” It is still possible we will bear good and sweet fruit.
And yet, I have hope. This country has been called the great, American “experiment.” It is still possible we will bear good and sweet fruit. Truth, goodness and justice are our on side. Dare I say it? I belive Jesus, Buddha, Lao Tsu, Quan-Yin, Moses and Mohammed are also with us.
Of course, it has been so hard — given our origins, our history and foundation in indigenous genocide, colonialism and slavery, the masses of people of all colors and religions who have come here from all over the world — to “get along.”
But the solidarity I now see coming from all quarters, from people of all colors and ages and orientations, and non-orientations … This is our hope. It is this UNITY in our common humanity that brings the hope. We are tired, but we must fight on. The stakes are simply far too high — from the climate crisis (civilizational collapse, mass extinction of species, including, very possibly, ours) to the human cruelty and insanity, the despair of a watching world that will ensue if we lose.
What does this mean, in action? It means we rest now while donating to campaigns for Democrats we like, and who have a shot. We continue our very important conversations and speaking up with strength and compassion … We engage more white people in anti-racism, acceptance and pro-human unity via education. Indeed, I see this as the crucial pressure point of this historical moment, the place where our efforts — already riding a profound momentum thanks to the Black Lives Matter movement — will bear most fruit, including more Blue votes, more love, healing and more understanding all around. The indigenous stand at Standing Rock for water and life, and against the “Black Snake” — and very dirty, very heating Canadian “Tar Sands” crude oil — and now in Minnesota, to protect water and land from Enbridge’s Line 3 pipeline have also been heart- and soul-full, solid foundations for our efforts.
And then, we begin to figure out, how, once again, we will make calls, write postcards, hit the streets, and get out the vote (GOTV), especially among younger generations, women and BIPOC and LGBTQ+ across the nation. (See the very fine organizations: Swing Left, People’s Action and more. Your suggestions also welcome in comments) … This is our dream, and what we are fighting for: A country that realizes the potential of words that, even when slaveholders uttered them, found root in our hearts. Because they were true: that “all humans are created equal.”
Many of us (not all!) are resting now, and so rest well, my beloved friends. But I ask you to carefully, slowly, with self care and self love, make your preparations to get back in the game. The battle is far from over.
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Resources (I am also open to solid suggestions in comments)
The Heart of America YouTube Channel
Caste: The Origins of our Discontents
White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of our Racial Divide
Awake: A Dream from Standing Rock
Treaty People’s Gathering: Enbridge Line 3 Protests
Ami Chen Mills-Naim is host of the YouTube show and podcast, Heart of America, as well the author of three books. She is a psycho-spiritual coach and teacher, an activist and a former investigative journalist. See more at www.AmiChen.com
