Make America Great Again: Resist!

How does Trump intend to make America great again? By the abrupt and extreme hard right course adjustments made this week, we're in for a long, wild and whiplashed nightmare ride. We have a President who has a dysfunctional relationship with Truth. Those who know him well report that he really thinks everything he says or tweets is true - or should be. What would Descartes say? "I think, therefore I am... right, about everything, and anyone who disagrees is a pathetic loser, they're really quite weak. Sad."

(This is bad-ass)

His closest advisor, Steve Bannon, is the owner of Breitbart News, a far-right news aggregator that welcomes and promotes Alt-Right (white supremacists/Nazis) and xenophobic Nationalist viewpoints. I suppose you could call him "The Trump Whisperer": Bannon is the guy who articulates to The Disrupter-in-Chief the "truths" he's attempting to say. Among his wishes is to radically reduce immigration to the US so that economic opportunities improve for non-immigrant citizens. He also wishes to begin deportation of immigrants/green carders who receive any public funds. He appears to harbor deep Islamophobic ideas - he crafted the recent "Muslim Ban" executive order, and there's more where that came from. And though he isn't necessarily a xenophobe, his desire is to detach the US from most economic and security international alliances.

In fact, he has described himself as a Leninist; from an interview this summer, his stated goal is destroy everything that has sustained American stability and hegemony since World War 2:

 “Lenin wanted to destroy the state, and that’s my goal too. I want to bring everything crashing down, and destroy all of today’s establishment.” 

Oy vey. Remember, this guy is Trump's Brain. He has been made a permanent principal on the National Security Council, something unprecedented for a political strategist. He is a clear and present threat to the nation. For a fascinating look into what he believes, check out this terrific interview with him from a couple of years ago:

https://www.buzzfeed.com/lesterfeder/this-is-how-steve-bannon-sees-the-entire-world?utm_term=.inya5OP46#.ujWeyV1jx

So yes, Bannon has a Huuuuge agenda. And he has found the perfect collaborator to make it all happen. He is going to ram his wish-list through a pusillanimous Republican Congress. Oh woe! What can we do?

RESIST! Make every action attempted by Trump & Co. as difficult for them as possible. They've got it all wrong! Immigration means Diversity. Diversity means Innovation. Innovation means Economic Growth!! Sign up for Daily Action, an excellent "moderate" (sane) website that provides suggestions for quick and easy efforts you can do from home.

https://dailyaction.org

It will make you feel good about yourself and your country. My wife and I have certainly stepped up. Spontaneously deciding to protest the recent travel ban, we drove to Dulles Airport on Saturday night. It was a great experience, welcoming those who got past the Customs block-out, and giving loud voice to allow the detainees to meet with immigration lawyers who were there :

Just a few of the hundreds who were there.

Then the next day we found ourselves among 20,000 of our closest friends, outside the White House. Again, spontaneity ruled: this fairly unplanned protest became too big for Lafayette Square, spilling out onto 15th St, which police closed down, then it flowed out to Pennsylvania Avenue for a street-wide stroll past Trump Plaza to the Capitol Building! A reverse Inaugural Parade! Check it out:

All very inspiring! It helps that we live near the epicenter of this whirlwind. But even if we weren't, we'd be participating in similar events in Chicago. My wife is an immigrant. Her family are immigrants. At best, these executive orders may have been conceived with good intentions in an extraordinarily clumsy way; however, they represent the first steps onto a very slippery slope towards widespread societal tumult and breakdown. It's going to get much worse before it gets better again. Be prepared and give a damn!