Trump 2.0 – THIS IS IT

from Sherrilyn Ifill’s Newsletter, January 5, 2025

(Note: If you're not familiar with Sherrilyn Ifill, you might like to check it out. Here's a link to the original publication of this article on Ifill’s Substack: https://sherrilyn.substack.com/p/this-is-it-facing-trump-20.

If you'd like to subscribe you can find Sherrilyn's Newsletter here:  https://sherrilyn.substack.com/)

In a climactic scene in the 2006 film Titanic, Rose and her beau Jack are holding on as they stand on tiptoe outside the rails of the capsizing ship. As the ship begins its final, rapid descent into the dark cold waters of the Atlantic, Jack says, “This is it.” They have received instructions from the ship’s architect on how they might survive once they are in the water. They are both clear about the goals: survive and stay together.

   This feels like the moment this country faces as we approach Trump 2.0. In just days, Donald Trump will return to the White House, bringing with him a coterie of some of the most incompetent and vile miscreants to serve in some of the highest and most consequential positions in our government. Their intentions are clear. Their penchant for lies and targeting has already been on display. Their ham-fisted approach to governance is clumsy, cruel, and unethical, but that won’t stop it from being effective. They are prepared to fight battles small and large. With the wind of a conservative Supreme Court and Republican-controlled Congress at their backs, Trump and his team are feeling bold and unstoppable. The outcome seems clear.

   But like Rose and Jack, we have goals as well: To survive personally and nationally, with the remnants of democracy still in place so that we have a platform on which to build a new, stronger, healthier democracy. Our other goal is to stay together. We can and must do both.

   The greatest obstacle to our fight to survive as a democracy (even a deeply flawed one) and to hold together a semblance of unity among those who believe in the fight for equality and justice in this country, is the inclination to give up–to believe that Trump’s plans cannot be stopped. I agree that they cannot be stopped in total. But I do believe that they can be upended in part, and we must use what powers we have to thwart as many of his harmful policies and plans as we can. […]

   Many of us are fighting exhaustion and ongoing shock that this giant, seemingly unsinkable state-of-the-art democracy, however flawed, can really be about to sink. That exhaustion and disbelief can lead to paralysis, something we can ill afford. I’m reminded that the first thing Jack and Rose did was take deep breaths before holding one long breath as the ship descended. And we must do the same, first pulling in as oxygen those things that nourish us and keep us going. I have encouraged people to lean in to art, and nature, and family, and spiritual practice. It’s critical to establish a regimen of these things that you will engage and absorb regularly over the next four years. An exercise schedule, morning meditation or prayer, monthly museum visits or concerts, a book club, monthly family dinners, Netflix nights, rooting for your favorite sports team. These can help ensure that you are oxygenated throughout what I can guarantee will be moments that will take our breath away in their cruelty and audacity.

   Lastly, like Jack and Rose, hold hands. Stay connected to our cohort of democratic survivors, those determined to make it to shore. There’s room on the floating door for more than one if we don’t panic and if we understand that our fate is inextricably linked to those who share our vision for democracy, justice, and equality.

   Generosity and encouragement will be key. Our hands may come apart from time to time, but we can still stay close. Fight those who are opposed to democracy, equality, and justice--not those who are your allies. You can disagree with your allies. Correct them, edify them, firmly push back against them when necessary. But try to reserve your fight for your opponents. 

   Once we’ve established our oxygen routine, we will have to focus. Many things will be competing for our attention. But we must decide what are the things or areas to which we’ve committed ourselves. We cannot exhaust ourselves. There are civil rights and civil liberties organizations ready to file suit. Support them. There are representatives in Congress who know the rules and are ready to resist the excesses of the Republicans. We don’t have to do their work--but we must support them.

   But there is work for every citizen to do. When your friends or family members get tired, and start thinking we can’t survive this, give them the number to call their Senator or House member. Remind them that it matters, and remind yourself. Never make it easy for those in power to trample our rights. Make them hear your voices, no matter what. Speak, write, call, march. If we stop doing those things, it won’t be long before we no longer remember where the line is for decency, truth, justice and democracy.

   There’s another reason it matters. Remember that the fear of losing their jobs is the prime motivator of most elected representatives, and they are in constant fear that they have lost sight of which way the wind is blowing. The 2022 midterms loom large, and Republicans remain in disarray. They too, are exhausted just from trying to keep up with what Trump or Musk has ordered in their most recent tweets.

   So when you call, leave messages, send texts and emails, send postcards and letters. Trust me: they worry, and they waver. And if you are blessed to have terrific representatives, then they need the encouragement and the reminder of who they are fighting for. We must call our elected representatives when they do wrong, but we must also pat them on the back when they do right.

   Get engaged locally. Go with a friend or family member to the next school board meeting. Show up at city council meetings. Visit your library as a way of showing your community who you are, and that you care. Do not cede the space to your opponents. They win whenever we fail to show up. Our presence is powerful and destabilizes the sense that we are intimidated. This is especially important if you live in a blue state or district. We need to hold the spaces, cities and states we have.

   When you feel your resolve flagging, look at your children, your young cousin, your niece or nephew, and ask yourself if you are too intimidated to protect their future. If the answer is no, then act like it. Enter the space that is yours. Decide that in 2025 you will become an active citizen, not an observer.

   For my friends in media, many of you are already failing this preliminary moment. Tighten up your language. Stop conceding the rationality of things that are fundamentally irrational and the legality of things that are illegal. Musk and Ramaswamy are leading--at best--a “project on government accountability,” or maybe an “ad hoc committee” or study group. It is not a “Department,” which is a legal term for federal agencies. The creation of federal departments requires an act of Congress, not the mere whim of a president-elect and his benefactor. Think “Department of Homeland Security.” There is no “Department of Government Efficiency.” […]

   Restore your obligation to help your readers understand what is out-of-the-ordinary and antidemocratic. Trump’s stated plans to seize the Panama Canal, to make Canada the 51st state, and to “buy” Greenland is not “Trump being Trump.” It is not a “policy plan.” And it is certainly not an “approach to diplomacy.” If you took 11th grade social studies, you know that his pronouncement reflects imperialist ambitions, that it is an act of hostility toward those nations, and that is destabilizing to those nations, their people, and their markets. Report on it as such. When a President-elect makes these kinds of threats, they should be treated seriously and presented as the threat they constitute. This is not normal behavior. It could and may yet lead to trade wars or armed conflict.

   It is also critical that the media compel elected representatives to stand either with or against Trump’s most excessive plans. I would have expected a responsible press to be camped outside the house of Senator Marco Rubio who, as Trump’s Secretary of State nominee, would be charged with handling the fallout from Trump’s intemperate and menacing threats against sovereign nations. What are his views about Trump’s stated plan to seize the Panama Canal? There is a pretty healthy Panamanian American population in Florida. What is Rubio saying to that community?     […]

   The public doesn’t sustain its outrage, because the news moves on to something else. Stop letting Trump set the news cycle. Your job is to keep the citizens educated so that we can make good decisions. Trump’s election is evidence that this has failed. But it’s never too late to do better.

   And don’t forget the anti-democratic excesses that are happening around the country, and not just on Capitol Hill. What about ongoing attacks against Black women elected prosecutors in Florida? And the theft of power from Democratic governors by Republican legislatures?  Ongoing police racism and brutality? The catastrophic humanitarian crisis in our nation’s prisons? […]  Cover these stories more prominently, so that the public can understand that the threats are not limited to those on Capitol Hill and can engage at the local level.

   Even when the media fails, all of us are still obligated to stay informed. Start following the terrific lawyers, journalists, activists, and writers who have shown that they have the ability to meet the moment and who can share with you information you are unlikely to get other places. [ We add, for starters: https://sherrilyn.substack.com/ , https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/ , https://joycevance.substack.com/ , https://lucid.substack.com/p/welcome-to-lucid ]

   To faith leaders who believe in democracy and justice: there’s work to do, and it is urgent. Now is the time to reach out to your local police precinct captains. Make sure they know who you are. Ask for a cell number where you can reach them. When and if we see our neighbors being targeted, taken away by ICE or other law enforcement, faith leaders should be on call for their communities, with a direct point of contact to find out where individuals have been taken and how they can be reached. Let your local police know that you expect humane treatment of arrestees and detainees.

   Finally, we all end the year with a little less money than we would like; but make a decision once your finances stabilize about which two or three public, non-profit sources of information or advocacy you will support. PBS? Democracy Now? ProPublica? Wikipedia (now under threat from Elon)? Your library? Black press? Your town’s alternative weekly? Then do it. Do it now.

   Begin printing out articles that contain important information and social media posts that shed important light on controversial issues. There’s a great deal of “scrubbing” happening on the internet right now and many of the most nefarious figures of this time that have stayed under the radar will reappear in the days of our future rebuilding, espousing brand-new positions and ideas.

   I intend to use this space to shed light and do some deep dives on the meaning and context behind the anti-democratic plans and proposals that are unfolding, especially those that strike at the heart of our constitution’s guarantee of equality, so please tune in. As I always say, I don’t have all the answers. I’m only absolutely clear about the need to fight.

                                                            #               #               #