June 5, 2019
For the last two days, Americans have been forced to endure the embarrassing spectacle of Trump’s state visit to the U.K. We have been treated to pictures of the crass and bloated narcissist in ill-fitting white tie. We have seen a tableau of his family in hideous 80’s inspired fashion, looking like the Nazis at Captain Von Trapp’s ball. We have watched Londoners engage in epic trolling by projecting Trump’s abysmal approval ratings (21%) next to those for President Obama (72%). Most of all, though, we have been shamed by the massive protests that greeted Trump, in which 75,000 people flooded the streets to vociferously voice their displeasure (Source: “Fact Checking Trump’s London Visit: Trade, Protests, Brexit,” by Linda Qiu, The New York Times, 6/4/19).
Our indolence in the face of the mounting lawlessness and galloping authoritarianism of this administration is galling by comparison. On Monday, we learned that ICE kept 37 migrant children between the ages of 5 and 12 locked in vans for two nights while in the process of reuniting them with their families, (Source: “Botched family reunifications left migrant children waiting in vans overnight,” by Jacob Soboroff and Julia Ainsley, NBCNews.com, 6/3/19). We have become so inured to the routine brutalization of migrant children that this shocking tale was barely a one day story. After all, when we learned several months ago that the administration had separated thousands more than 2700 children and had no way to track them, we merely shrugged, (Source: “IG: Trump administration took thousands more migrant children from parents,” by Amy Goldstein, The Washington Post, 1/17/19).
Our muted response to these clear human rights abuses has emboldened the Trump administration to ratchet up the cruelty. Mark Morgan, the Acting Head of ICE, announced plans to target immigrant families living within the U.S. for arrest and deportation, (Source: “New ICE chief vows to target more families,” by Nick Miroff, The Washington Post, 6/4/19). Meanwhile, Trump is bludgeoning Mexico with steep tariffs in an effort to force them to stop the Central American refugees traversing their country from reaching our borders. Trump will impose a 5% tariff on June 10th and plans to increase the tariff by 5% each month, up to a maximum of 25%, if the flow of migrants does not slow enough for his satisfaction, (Source: “Trump erupts over immigration, threatening Mexico with tariffs,” by Abby Phillip, Kevin Liptak, Caroline Kelly and Kaitlan Collins, CNN.com, 5/31/19). Trump’s wildly irrational move poses so much danger to the U.S. economy that Senate Republicans are threatening to block it, (Source: “Senate Republicans Warn White House Against Mexico Tariffs,” by Catie Edmonson and Maggie Haberman, The New York Times, 6/4/19).
Meanwhile, Democrats appear hapless in the face of escalating defiance from a widening circle of Trump functionaries determined to thwart Congressional oversight power. Empty-headed glambot, Hope Hicks, is the latest not to turn over documents relating to her tenure in The White House, (Source: “White House tells Hicks, Donaldson, not to turn over certain documents to the House Judiciary,” by Morgan Chalfant and Olivia Beavers, TheHill.com, 6/4/19).
Although the Democrats’ seeming timidity is infuriating, it may be that they are taking their cues from us. Nothing this administration does seems to rouse us from our torpor. Trump slaps tariffs on China and Mexico that will cripple farmers, raise prices and cost Americans up to 400,000 jobs and our response…crickets. Trump’s administration brutalizes children and announces that it will start hunting immigrant families and our response…nothing. HUD strips vulnerable transgender Americans of healthcare and housing on the eve of Pride Month…scarcely a peep of protest. Justice Department officials brazenly lie about the rationale behind adding the citizenship question to the census, in an effort to strip people of color of all political power… and the streets are empty. Perhaps we needed our British cousins to remind us that, in the words of ACTUP, “Silence = Death.” It is long past time to be LOUD!
We’re clearly getting worn down by the constant barrage of malfeaance. The Brits only have to muster up one anti Trump rally a year, although they also have their own issues. It’s a real problem here – maintaining our sense of outrage.
I agree that we’re getting worn down, but we have to summon our outrage to embolden our representatives. At the very least, we should call our reps and demand that they start an impeachment inquiry.