Resistance Starts with Us

Dear Editor,

As governance of our republic hangs in the balance, one might wonder how experienced, highly informed people in positions of power could fail – day after day – to take definitive action in opposition to Trump’s global carnival of death and destruction.

The rationale of Congressional Democrats, who regularly issue statements of “concern” while otherwise meekly acquiescing, seems to be based upon a conviction that the worst possible thing that could happen to their constituents would be for said Democrats to lose their jobs in November.  This would justify the Democrats’ only discernable focus at this moment in history, i.e. raising money.  The presumption here is that midterm elections will actually take place and that the certified results will be respected.  Why anyone would take that for granted is beyond the comprehension of this citizen.

As regards Republican leaders like Mike Johnson and so-called conservative judges like Alito, the explanation may prove far more nefarious.  By their words and deeds, they suggest that a republic not under the control of white, Christian men is a republic not worth saving.

It is clear today, as has been true in the past, that any change in trajectory away from despotism and toward something akin to democracy will be a from-the-ground-up process.  Only when acts of mass protest like those in Minneapolis and Chicago are replicated in cities and towns across the nation and even rural pockets of resistance become empowered through interconnection, as we are seeing happen here in Wisconsin, should we expect effective leadership to arise from among elected officials.

If you truly want to enable change for the better, start by having some serious conversations with your family, friends, neighbors and co-workers.

The dreadful, dark cloud under which we are living will not dissipate unless ordinary people like you and me are willing to take risks.  It’s easier – or at least less scary – when we do it together.

Michael Brandt, Spring Green, WI