Be Brave Fellow Patriots,
On the first day of the 115th Congress, Republicans sought less accountability to the people, by proposing to gut the bi-partisan ethics committee.
On that same day Republicans resurrected an old procedural rule (Holman Rule) which would help them intimidate individual members of the non-partisan civil service. This rule would be an authoritarian tool considering the current political climate, and comes not long after the startling and unprecedented request by President-Elect’s transition team to receive a list of individuals in the administration who supported science on climate change.
Before that the President-Elect was already showing unethical corrupt behavior which has tainted his presidential transition efforts. If we were to measure Trump by his own yardstick, and what he falsely accused Hillary of, and what he is actually doing, he “would be in jail!” by now. Yet he holds himself above the law as an individual, as a President-Elect, and most likely will as a President.
And before that Trump showed deference toward Russia and consistently denied Russian cyberattacks and their misinformation campaign against the U.S. Even now he continues to deny the facts despite our own military and intelligence reports, and our ally reports, and he refuses to defend our country against its enemies.
While our President-Elect is trying to ingratiate himself with enemies who are not trustworthy, he seems to be striving to make new enemies out of allies, trading partners, and friends.
Add to all this the fact that most of Trump’s cabinet picks are foxes in charge of hen houses, ready to dismantle Congressionally-authorized departments. And they come with a slew of conflicts of interest which are difficult to ignore or disentangle, so much in fact that Newt Gingrich has suggested that to legally avoid his Cabinet’s conflicts of interest, Trump could pardon Cabinet members along the way. This is gangster rule.
Consider the threat to our Constitution by Trump–his policies, cabinet choices and rhetoric–in stark contrast to his oft-stated campaign promise to uphold the Constitution.
Add to all this the poisoned well effect of Trump’s leadership toward racism, sexism, xenophobia which has stirred the pot of discord between American citizens causing hate crimes to increase.
Republicans do not yet have all branches of government under their control, and Trump is not yet sworn in, and yet they are already wreaking havoc with American values and real outcomes for us all.
So what can we do? First we have to be brave and recognize that taking steps to speak out is being patriotic. On this momentous occasion commemorating the achievements of Martin Luther King Jr., let us remember what organized, peaceful demonstration, and sustained legal action and strategy, can achieve.
citizenstacy.com 