To Disobey Trump, Civilly...

Get the Point

I have found the hypocrisy quite "typical" that a number of our fellow Americans are just basking in President Donald Trump's declaration that the Trade War that he has begun may cause "discomfort in the short term," but will be “better for the nation in the long run.”

Say what?

Not only does the fact that our allies are forming trade coalitions with each other and China that will ice America out of lucrative markets in the near future pose significant immediate pocketbook problems, but if history is a guide, the likelihood of economic recession—if not depression—should be alarming to even the most ardent MAGA man or woman for the long term.

And yet, the alarm is hardly being addressed by right wing media, and those of us who see the coming economic train wreck can only look on with incredulity at those who are willing to "sacrifice" their own finances because Trump says it is good for them, when just five years ago, many of these same ones were unwilling to even wear a mask to prevent the spread of the deadly coronavirus!

And while the most hard core MAGAs will never be convinced otherwise, it is still important to try and reason with the fence sitting Trump voters who were duped into believing that Trump was somehow better situated to handle the economy than Kamala Harris because "he is a businessman," but are realizing two weeks in that dude has said little, and done even less, to address the high prices of groceries!

What Trump's business? Grifting, of course, as a good portion of his recent wealth derives from other wealthy men (read Elon Musk) who have struck a Faustian bargain to purchase the presidency and multiple means of communication in exchange for their ability to increase their already extreme wealth! Still, at this point, too many people have yet to push past the serf mentality which assumes that these rich folks will "trickle" their wealth down; as the grandson of sharecroppers, I know fully well that my ancestors did ALL of the work on the plantations, but derived NONE of the wealth from their labor!

Lest we forget that the rich have always screwed over the poor no matter whether the financial system was capitalism, feudalism, socialism, communism—the rich get richer and the middle and poorer classes struggle because they lack the will to hold the extremely wealthy accountable! Sadly, not since the age of the Robber Barons of the 19th Century have the extremely rich openly telegraphed how they are going to increase their wealth under Trump regardless of whether it works out fine for everyone else!

So, how do we combat what's happening in real time in Washington, D.C., only days removed from a non-elected official (Musk) seeking to secure control of the Treasury's disbursement powers?

Well, one of the true hallmarks of the Constitutional Convention and the subsequent Constitution was the system of checks and balances that was created by the Framers. But the SEPARATE and EQUAL branches that they envisaged MUST do their parts to check the bold authoritarian nature of Donald Trump and his sponsor/puppet master, Elon Musk!

When it comes to checking, I admit that I'm still holding out some faith that the federal judiciary, at least on the appellate and district court levels, will do its part to smack Trump’s worst instincts down; when cases and controversies make it to the Supreme Court, that perhaps Chief Justice John Roberts and one from among Justices Amy Coney Barrett, Neil Gorsuch, or Brett Kavanaugh, depending on the issue, could join progressives and offset the reliable Trump votes coming from Justices Sam Alito and Clarence Thomas.

And while the jury is still out on the judiciary, the branch that's most directly aligned to the people is Congress; one of my favorite transcendentalists, Henry David Thoreau, in his classic Civil Disobedience asked: "Must the citizen ever for a moment, or in the least degree, resign his conscience to the legislator? Why has every man a conscience then? I think that we should be men first, and subjects afterward. It is not desirable to cultivate a respect for the law, so much as for the right. The only obligation which I have a right to assume is to do at any time what I think right."

Indeed, somewhere along the way we, collectively, have surrendered our inherent understanding of what is right, to those elected leaders who substitute their whims and ambitions far beyond what's in the best interest of their constituents. Which is why I can only conclude that this very Republican dominated Congress, one that purports to represent the 97% of Americans who are not extremely wealthy, are primarily seeking to fulfill their own self interests, 1. Because they are on the come up and trying to get wealthy by carrying the water for the corporate elite and, 2. Are too frightened to challenge Trump lest they find a Trump supported primary challenger in the next election.

Prong two in the last paragraph is where we rank and file voters who may not agree on everything, but recognize that authoritarian rule supported by oligarchs is not in the long term best interests of the masses, must make our presences felt in the 2026 midterms and again in 2028! Like most people, I just want to earn enough to continue to live comfortably and with interest rates climbing, inflation totally out of control, and both only to get worse due to the looming tax cuts for the extremely wealthy and this idiotic Trump Trade War with Canada, Mexico, and our European allies, I will ONLY support candidates who will look out for my financial bottom line and the same for the masses!

In hoping that others join me in resisting and disobeying, civilly, I leave today's blog with more wisdom from Mr. Thoreau: "There will never be a really free and enlightened state until the state comes to recognize the individual as a higher and independent power, from which all its own power and authority are derived."

Stay tuned...