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ACCORDING TO LIZ - Public pressure is widening cracks in support for the oppression of the innocent being carried out by those in charge in the current government. Both domestically and internationally.
Last week it was the release of an American soldier’s wife after five days of detention by ICE following her being hauled off from the office of her husband’s Army base where they were completing paperwork for Annie Ramos to move in with her soldier husband.
Fascist creep has been building. At first it was easy to accept the cruel deportations of thousands. They were here illegally and were taking the jobs of economically-suffering Americans.
Unless they were friends and neighbors. Until their removal started shattering local economies dependent on their labor in construction and on farms.
Bombing drug boats in the Caribbean seemed a small price to pay if it could reduce the scourge of drugs decimating towns across America. Even if foreign governments disapproved. After all, they were foreign.
Until the rapid expansion into multiple conflicts made it clear that the president was contradicting campaign promises made to keep America out of foreign involvement.
Clashing with the MAGA base calling for Trump to follow through on prior pledges to concentrate on issues of concern to those here at home.
Fracturing other alliances including previously staunch supporters Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly and the editorial board of The Wall Street Journal.
So far, Trump has succeeded by separating his detractors and by exacerbating the fears of his followers based on others being different. By killing hope.
Even Republicans have begun to turn against the administration in droves, either by not voting or by crossing over to more palatable options in special elections, Since November 2024 – thirty out of thirty-one went down to defeat.
The thirty-first was the race to replace Marjory Taylor Greene in the deepest of deep red districts. While Democratic candidate Sean Harris did lose by 11.8 points, it was the largest reversal since Trump took office, with him outperforming the 2024 Democratic presidential candidate by 25 points.
Automatic registration for military draft, as proposed last week, is sure to peel off more support and galvanize increased opposition.
No-one can rely on impeaching the president since it would require the Vice President to get a majority of cabinet to agree that Trump is not fit.
Vance is a numbers man, and he would have to be very sure those numbers aligned his way before taking on the virulent tantrums he would face from his boss and the difficulties of convincing a cadre hand-selected by and loyal to the sitting president.
Trump’s cabinet members are in it for their own egos and grift; not addressing the real dangers facing the United States today and how to solve them. They all need to go.
The chance of Trump dying, which would achieve the same end – launching Vance into the Oval Office with less drama and acrimony, is probably about equal. And how many disaffected Americans really want JD as president?
And that’s before obtaining approval of two-thirds of Congress, many of whom are election-deniers and Trump sycophants.
Democrats may argue that Trump is a clear and present danger to democracy and that he deserves the boot for his shocking threats towards Iran, and his attacks on voting rights and fair elections, but those don’t resonate with Republicans currying favor to retain their cushy jobs nor the deep-pocket war contractors who are rolling in profits from the president’s empire-building and the escalation of militarized domestic tyranny.
The danger the DNC faces by labeling people, by creating their own elites and favored cliques through criticism and social division is that their own base keeps shrinking. The past decades have proven that policy-as-politics doesn’t work. Parties can, and historically have, forged stronger, more sustainable connections with voters through other means.
This is the opportunity for a big tent coalition, for an additive approach. For progressives to stop with the labeling and welcome all shades of voters to work together to address not an amorphous and visibly failing democracy but the economic interests of the vast majority – tax relief, affordable housing, health care (not insurance), effective oversight of corporations, accountability for the wealthy and, above all, real reform of government so it serves the people not Wall Street.
It’s not enough just to rebuild what was there before but need to build something new and better, with working people and the upcoming generation at the center of the equation.
To encourage people across the spectrum to come into government not for own egos but because they want to help their neighbors.
Where young people are welcome and can create student-led organizations within the greater community. Where they are respected and heard, where leadership and adults alike listen more and pay attention.
They are the ones who are still traumatized by the pandemic, who see their future hobbled by a generation that eschewed addressing climate change for more profit, who are hooked on their own devices but intimately aware that Big Tech is mining their data for profit.
It is their anger that must be acknowledged, their value as human beings that must be embraced. We must trust that they can help lead us out of the echo chamber of the internet, and reinvigorate the real world and restructure how it exists for the benefit of everyone.
They know there is no magical hack to save the democracy. That the government not only won’t, it can’t. Change has to come from below, with all of us pushing and fighting for survival against an entrenched and ultimately evil bureaucracy.
Voters want better choices, new voices, and fresh faces, untainted by the baggage of previous administrations and the rehashing of tired old policies that benefit the few. And they want stronger and enforceable protections from executive overreach.
Individuals can join “No Kings” marches all they want but, beyond displays of discontent, they must work together to promote politicians who have concrete and positive plans to offer as a replacement for the disastrous disorderliness through which we are now living.
To inspire voters to believe that change is possible.
To inspire young Americans who many think have given up hope, but haven’t, how to use their power and energy to drive the change we need.
It’s the people who must stand up and say “enough.” It’s the people who must develop and elect credible opponents to the current government.
Their numbers are growing even in deep red states, but we need more and without delay to turn the tide of fascism and reclaim our democracy. Using peaceful means.
Bolsonaro and Orbán are now gone. Americans must decide who will be next – leaders in the Middle East or the removal of a more dangerous cancer here at home.
(Liz Amsden is a former Angeleno now living in Vermont and a regular CityWatch contributor. She writes on issues she’s passionate about, including social justice, government accountability, and community empowerment. Liz brings a sharp, activist voice to her commentary and continues to engage with Los Angeles civic affairs from afar. She can be reached at [email protected]. )
