These are the mythic times when hope builds ladders and keys
And the world soul unfolds its wings in simple mystery
The air is filled with melodious forms
Truth burns hot and cold
–Robin Williamson, from the song “Mythic Times”
Set Aside the Stunning Cruelty for Just a Moment
Right now, most major news outlets are focused on Trump calling in the National Guard – and the Marines! – to confront and arrest and occasionally visit physical violence upon peaceful protesters in Los Angeles. We’ve also seen coverage of ICE’s rampaging overreach in Los Angeles and elsewhere, the detainments and deportations of innocent, hardworking people, and the resultant shredding of families and communities.
And of course, there was yesterday’s ugly and horrifying mistreatment of Senator Padilla, who was thrown to the ground and handcuffed by Kristi Noem’s security detail when he tried to pose a question at her press conference.
It’s sick, atrocious, and heartbreaking. It bodes ill for the rule of law, and I quake in my sneakers for the future of our democracy.
That said, Trump also seems ferociously intent on destroying the entire world as we know it.
Climate Enemy
Shortly after reassuming the presidency last January, in one of his many shocking moves, Trump ordered the spilling of billions of gallons of freshwater from two Central California reservoirs, allegedly to supplement firefighting resources in Southern California. Aside from the fact that it was wintertime and there was no imminent fire danger, the water never came close to reaching Southern California because the reservoirs were in no way connected to Southern California’s aqueducts. So all that water, which farmers in California’s Central Valley depend on during the summer, was actually just dumped, and the only practical result of this was an increase in local flooding.
This executive order, dutifully carried out by the Army Corps of Engineers over a three-day period, was really just Trump’s grandiose way of saying “Hello again and fuck you,” to the perennially thirsty, deep blue state of California.
Also, Trump has (again) withdrawn the U.S. from the Paris Climate Accords, initiated the rollback of numerous environmental regulations, removed mention of climate change from government websites, fired hundreds of climate scientists, destroyed climate-related databases, curtailed climate research, eliminated funding for clean energy projects, and boosted fossil fuel production like crazy. Just last week I read that he ordered a couple of 60+-year-old coal and gas plants in Michigan and Pennsylvania, which were scheduled for closure due to their obsolescence, to remain open – this in flagrant disregard of the expert opinions of grid operators in those states.
We used to say that people who disbelieved in climate change could no longer be called “climate skeptics” because the evidence for global warming is now so indisputable and overwhelming. Instead, we said (and by “we” I mean anyone who perceives climate change to be an existential threat to human civilization) that they have to be called “climate deniers” now, which is more accurate.
But in Trump, we have a whole new category. He’s an out-and-out climate enemy. He has a vendetta against the climate! He hates anything to do with preserving our planet’s ecosystems.
Who knows why?
Is it that he views people who care about the Earth to be, by and large, people who do not care for him? Is his anti-climate crusade merely one expression of his never-ending Evil Overlord tantrum against anyone who doesn’t place him at the center of the universe?
It’s beyond crazy.
Cruelty, Inc.
Spite and mean-spirited laughter characterize Trump and the culture he creates and emanates. Remember his press conference with the president of El Salvador, when they were asked about the unlawful deportation and imprisonment of Kilmar Abrego Garcia? The two presidents were practically cackling with gratuitous cruelty about the situation.
I wonder if that vibe of blatant heartlessness and sadistic amusement appeals to some demographic of people. It must. Trump is back in power, after all.
And the sycophancy he evokes is breathtaking. Here’s one easy example. House Speaker Mike Johnson, a week ago today, addressing reporters, said this: “I’ll tell you what, do not doubt and do not second-guess and don’t ever challenge the president of the United States, Donald Trump. He is the leader of the party. He’s the most consequential political figure of this generation and probably the modern era.”
As the saying goes, you can’t make this shit up.
Sometimes, what we are up against now just hits me so hard, I feel paralyzed. Like when I make simple ecological decisions, such as hanging my clothes up to dry rather than placing them in the dryer. How on earth can it still matter when the guys who hold the keys and turn the handles (that is, Trump and his minions in government and elsewhere) are hell-bent on despoiling and deadening the planet?
There’s a Gandhi quote that I’ve seen rendered in slightly varying ways, but my favorite version is: “Whatever you do may seem insignificant to you, but it is most important that you do it.” So I remember this, and try to live by this, as I continue to flat-out wonder why it is that Trump seems to want to hurt us every single day.
And who is this “us” that he hurts? Who are the people whose hearts Trump is busy hurting?
Who are we exactly? Are we a tribe?
The Mythic Element
And this is where, stepping back a little, our situation looks mythic and archetypal.
The most powerful person in the world is an evil madman who possesses what appears to be a quasi-superpower to bend others to his will and command their unconditional loyalty.
The various animal species of the world are in the midst of what scientists call “the sixth mass extinction.” Species are dying out forever right now at a rate that is tens (or possibly hundreds) of times faster than normal, all as a result of human activity (pollution, habitat destruction, etc.).
Though many of us in the industrialized world remain (for now) insulated from the gritty consequences of climate change and resource depletion, the very foundations of our organic life support systems are rapidly deteriorating. To say that our current path is likely unsustainable is a little like saying the sun will probably rise tomorrow.
Yet it’s never been easier to sleep through a crisis. We have TV. We have AI. We have social media. We have an infinite number of distractions. And on top of all that, we each have our own personal problems to deal with.
Can the collective human heart issue a call that penetrates all the noise and opiates?
I asked a moment ago who “we” are. Maybe by “we,” I meant those of us who are nominally awake, or at least want to wake up. I understand that right wing media and politicians have crucified the term “woke” much as they did “politically correct” a generation or two ago. But stripped of any cultural baggage, or “left” vs. “right” polarization, it strikes me as a very apt term for this moment.
This moment in time is like the Sleeping Beauty story. It’s absolutely mythic. Will we wake up in time? Who or what will cause us to wake up?
Showing Up Tomorrow
I think we are waking up, all of us, together. It’s not something that happens all at once, but maybe at some point in the future it will seem obvious that we have been in a slow but steady awakening process, not just together with those whom we might comfortably view as “our tribe,” but with everyone else as well, including Trump voters and people whose points of view we have yet to comprehend.
And of course, venturing beyond our personal concerns and taking action on behalf of our fragile democracy is one way of shaking ourselves into more wakefulness.
Tomorrow’s 1,800-city “No Kings” protest across the country is critically significant. Hopefully, I’ll feel like one tiny drop in a sea of people in downtown Portland. Hopefully, you’ll feel a little like that too, wherever you are. After all, each of us (as individuals) is merely a drop in the ocean of humanity. It’s when we align our drops into a coherent wave that we become something larger than our small selves.
Leah Greenberg, one of the founders of Indivisible, has posted a compelling letter about tomorrow’s nationwide action. It feels appropriate to give Ms. Greenberg the final word here. Her entire letter is well worth reading but for now I’ll just close with some excerpts, and hopefully see you tomorrow.
For the would-be dictator, success depends on projecting power and creating an aura of inevitability. They need you to believe that Trump is the new normal, that the MAGA movement will be in power for the long haul, that the only rational move is to go along, keep your head down, and protect your own interests.
We’ve seen over the last six months what happens when this aura of inevitability goes unchallenged. Institutions — from state governments to businesses to civil society to higher education to media — start to fall in line, do what Trump tells them, and/or go silent.Here’s the thing: The aura of inevitability is a lie. It’s all a lie. Power in American society doesn’t derive from the top down. Trump’s grasp is brittle, and he’s overreaching dramatically. He will only succeed if everyone agrees to believe the lie.
….
Countering the aura of inevitability requires a hundred different tactics and strategies.
….
We need to understand that we’re part of a movement …That’s where No Kings comes in. With 1,800 events nationwide, in every state, this will be the single largest protest of this Trump administration.
A single mobilization won’t turn this ship around. But it can do a few very important things:
Change the narrative. A massive show of popular opposition everywhere in the country can disrupt Trump’s effort to project strength. It shows that resistance is big, powerful, growing, and everywhere.
Bring in new people. A mobilization of this scale and scope reaches people who aren’t yet engaged, and — if done right — helps to draw them into a cycle of action and relationships on the ground.
Foster community. When you show up, you realize that not only are you not alone — you’re actually part of something enormous. And that helps to build the shared sense of identity we’ll need for the path ahead.
Spread courage. After Hands Off!, we heard from people in positions of power within institutions — law firms, universities (one big university, in fact), and elsewhere — who told us they were emboldened by the protests to push back on pressure from the Trump regime. As we often say, courage is contagious.
And No Kings comes at an absolutely crucial moment.
Trump and Stephen Miller’s vicious anti-immigrant crackdown has been escalating over the last few months. The scale of the cruelty and terror they’ve created is almost impossible to put into words. And they have been cynically, intentionally sending their masked, unaccountable ICE forces into blue cities and states, communities where no one wants them. They’ve been working overtime to manufacture chaos, so that they have a pretext to deploy military forces to crack down on dissent for all of us.
Trump’s birthday parade and his attack on LA are all part of the same agenda of fascist theatrics, divide and conquer politics, and the consolidation of power.
Trump wants to look strong. What he doesn’t understand is that true power comes from the people. And on June 14th, we’re going to prove it.
Oh, and One More Thing!
This Jimmy Kimmel clip is an absolute tour-de-force, especially the last couple of minutes, but the whole thing, really. He knocks it out of the park. Enjoy!
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