Heads up Political Pawns and Puppets readers! Keep your eyes and ears open for written comments by the media and verbal comments by talking heads on news shows, especially cable news shows, that make excuses for Republicans in congress who side with and support Donald Trump. The core excuse is, Republicans see that the MAGA movement works; Trump has proven it time-and-time again. And that is why Republican senators and representatives have fallen in line and decided to go with it: It’s politics.
If that is true and that is all that it is, politics; then the American people are in essence just chess pieces in a virtual board game to be moved about in any way that is most advantageous to each senator or representative to achieve their personal political or Party goals. I have always hoped that our elected officials valued their constituents as more than inanimate objects to be manipulated simply for their personal gain. I have always hoped that their oath of office to uphold and defend the Constitution holds real meaning to them. It appears that it does not.
The Republican Party is forging ahead with dismantling government institutions and departments as fast as possible and rewarding the rich while none of its individual members will speak up and say that what their Party is doing is wrong. They know that what the Trump administration is doing is wrong, embarrassing, an unprecedented insult to the American people, and an existential threat to democracy yet they remain silent!
These Republicans have no shame. And while the Democratic Party has good intentions, want to preserve democracy and have America continue to be a country of laws that operates under the rule of law, they are waiting for what they perceive to be the right time to fight! Well, surprise Democrats! By the time that you perceive that the right time to fight has arrived it may be too late: there might not be anything left to fight for. The Republicans will have completely destroyed what it has taken America almost 250 years to build.
Let’s look at some of the things that Trump and his Republican Party have already done and are trying to do as quickly as possible during Trump’s second term as The Donald J. Trump of the United States of America; Trump has:
- Granted Putin his wish list of things that Putin would like to see enacted to help Russia achieve its goals in its war with Ukraine and in its goals to reestablish the Soviet Union. Many of the items on this wish list hurt the United States of America and make us less safe.
- Used the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), headed by Elon Musk, to attack numerous government departments and fire large numbers of staff members, without due process, all in the name of reducing fraud and waste. This has not only had, and continues to have, a negative impact on those individuals fired and the departments that employed them but has negatively impacted on people around the world.
- Via DOGE, had an existential impact on the Social Security Administration causing some experts to say that the system is in imminent danger of completely crashing if intervention is not taken soon.
- For frivolous reasons used executive orders to attack law firms that he does not like by threatening to restrict them from entering government buildings and take away their employees’ clearances, in effect, taking away their government contracts and preventing them from effectively serving many of the clients that they already have unless they agree to do pro bono work for his administration in the amounts of millions of dollars.
- Attacked institutions of higher learning via executive orders and threatened to withhold federal funds from them unless they agreed to make changes that he wanted them to make in areas such as diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).
- Pushed the impeachment of judges who have made rulings that he didn’t like and…
- Done many other things, many of which some critics have called lawless, that are anti democracy.
The Democratic Party might be frozen in fear because they do not know what to do and so are waiting for their perceived right time to fight. But the American people see what Trump and his Republican Party are doing and recognize that it is an imminent threat to democracy so they have chosen to fight now. They are protesting in the streets all across America right now while working to determine the next steps strategy in their fight to save the American democracy and possibly struggling democracies around the world. It is important that the American people and the Democratic Party stand up to Trump and his Republican Party now!
The fight must be taken to them now; there is no time to wait! Trump and his Republican Party have already done irreparable damage to America with our allies and many other people around the world. Most Americans likely believe that the Democratic Party is trying to fight back even though it is the minority Party. Its members are talking about the things they are doing so that when the midterm elections arrive, they will trounce the Republicans: and the midterm elections are important. However, I agree with the woman that was shouting from the balcony during a townhall meeting with her senator/representative when she shouted, “the house is on fire and you are talking about voting!
Again, to vote in the upcoming midterm elections is important just as it is to vote in all elections. But the immediacy of America’s current situation demands that Americans act now! Let’s take the fight to Trump and DOGE now while there is still a chance to save the American democracy. The window is closing fast so find your niche and do what you can. You do not have to have a big platform that can reach hundreds or thousands of people; if you reach and convince one person that now is the time to fight to save democracy then that is one more person who will be in the fight to save democracy. Let’s get busy now while always keeping in mind that voting is important…
So always remember, whether you are a Democrat, Republican, or Independent, your vote is the most important one of all…unless you don’t use it!
Eulus Dennis – author, M2: Street Cop To Top Cop, Operation Rubik’s Cube, and Living Between The Line