Trump campaigned on being a dictator on day one, but it seems his ambitions extend far beyond a single afternoon. From issuing executive orders like post-it notes from God to purging the FBI, he sure seems like he's not playing around. Elon Musk, an unelected South African billionaire, is locking Federal employees out of their computers while stealing the keys to the Treasury. The Department of Justice has promised to go after anyone who impedes Musk and his cronies. Birthright citizenship might be up in the air; El Salvador will apparently be the destination for deportees, possibly including American citizens. Nonsense tariffs have been put in place against Mexico and Canada and then temporarily removed, sowing chaos in the markets. America, quite frankly, is not the country it was just a few weeks ago. Project 2025 is being implemented, and its goal is to transform the country into an oligarchy.
What the fuck do we do?
First, you can call your worthless Democratic or Republican representative and tell them you want them to uphold the Constitution and the rule of law. Will this work? Seeing how they give more of a shit about billionaires like Elon Musk, I don't know. I do know that if more and more people call every day, then that might make them think twice about doing nothing while we descend into authoritarianism. To find your congressional representative, click here.
I called Todd Young, one of my senators earlier, and got transferred to voicemail. I'll call back later to see if I can get an actual living person on the phone, but here's what I said:
Hi I’m a resident of Aurora, Indiana and I have a message for the Senator:
I want to know if the Senator is going to preserve the rule of law in this country. An unelected South African billionaire is preventing government employees from doing their jobs while stealing the personal information of millions of Americans and nothing has been done to stop him. I want to know if he’s going to be complicit with President Trump’s efforts to transform the Justice Department and FBI into his own personal police force. I want to know if the Senator supports birthright citizenship and the Constitution. I want to know if the Senator is going to do his job as a member of Congress, and represent the American people rather than billionaires and special interests. I want to know if the Senator will put his country before his political party. That’s what I want to know.
Thank you.
Secondly, you can donate to organizations like the ACLU and pray that the rule of law holds up enough that the Trump administration obeys the courts. I also give to the World Wildlife Fund and the Union of Concerned Scientists, and while they won't oppose authoritarianism, they will hopefully provide a little resistance against the Trump administration's efforts to destroy the planet. We should also support legitimate news and journalism, and for me that means subscribing to Vox, Slow Boring, and Defector (ostensibly a sports site, but they feature some excellent political writing from David Roth in particular). Maybe also cancel your Amazon Prime subscription, and don't use Instagram or Facebook.
Thirdly, you can take direct action. Join your local Democratic party or attend a protest. Write a shitty little article like this and share it on social media. Just do something. Don't let depression or anxiety take you. These fuckers are moving fast because they know they have limited time. They're counting on the American people to sit on their asses and cry. Nothing is inevitable and no one is absolutely powerless. This is going to be a tough four years, but we can make it through it.
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