Hanging in There

The past twelve days have been one dramatic news story after another, as the Felon in Charge (FIC) has gutted government agencies, including the FAA, attacked Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) departments and employees, sent troops to the U.S.-Mexico border, begun a mass deportation and re-opened Guantanamo Bay. And that's just the tip of the iceburg.

I, like many other Americans, am pretty much living in a constant state of anxiety these days. We feel very helpless, as we do not see our Democratic reps and senators doing much of anything. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, however, assures us that things are happening behind closed doors. I pray we see evidence of this soon.

Meanwhile, everyday Americans are resisting. Federal workers have been given the option to continue to work from home if they promise to resign by September. Most of these workers are refusing to leave.

Greyhound announced it will not allow Border Patrol or ICE agents to search its buses.

When the U.S. government set up an anonymous tip line to report undocumented immigrants, it had to be taken down after being jammed up with people reporting Elon Musk.

I am very encouraged by the spirit of Americans during this time. The determination to rail against authoritarianism is strong. Still, it's not going to be easy. Yesterday, aides of Musk's DOGE department locked Office of Personnel Management workers out of its computer systems, prompting many to wonder what the DOGE head is trying to hide. Additionally, Trump announced that he may be implementing a 25% tariff on products from Mexico and Canada, a move that some say would decimate the U.S. auto industry.

So, I write. I write emails to my senators and rep (the phone lines are constantly jammed these days, but a former senator on Quora assured us that emails are logged, just like phone calls). I write articles on Medium, and I write blog posts like this so that I will not forget what has happened. I just hope this blog is not taken down since the tech Lords at Google seem to have kissed the FIC's ring.

If you are reading this, know that you are not alone in your fear and uncertainty. Please do not despair. I agree that things look grim, but they are not hopeless. There is a lot of power in numbers, and the vast majority of Americans did NOT vote for this.