How much time have you spent doomscrolling since Inauguration Day? Are you getting a daily dose of doom from your favorite purveyors of doom? Have you had a hard time feeling relaxed in the last month? Are your shoulders up near your ears, with a side of tension pain? If you answered yes to any of these questions, congratulations! You aren’t alone; millions of us, including yours truly, have been right there with you.
In the month since the Donnie and Elon Show took off, I have had six panic attacks bad enough to require me to pop a Vistaril. In all of calendar year 2024, I took two.
That despite spending most of 2024 in the deepest grief I have ever experienced over someone who is still very much alive but currently unable to be in my life. I spent a year working myself through pain and grief so intense that there were nights I felt as if my heart would literally break, but despite the intensity of that pain rarely did I feel anxiety that rose to the level that required medical intervention or the inside of an ER. Yet in a month’s time, two men I have never met and will never meet have wreaked havoc on my mental health and the mental health of millions—and I am tired of it.
I am tired of the demented megalomaniac elderly man and his crackhead cowboy billionaire handler with the God complex and of the cabal of twisted mediocre white men who believe they are creating a new world where our humanity becomes their plaything to destroy for shits and giggles.
The thing is, after this first month, I don’t think I am alone in this feeling. No, if anything over the last few days, I am feeling the light winds of hope blowing across my face as signs emerge that people are realizing that we are on a rapidly descending plane that appears to destined to crash and leave no life—that is, if we don’t gather our collective courage to attempt to wrest control away from these terrorists attempting to hijack our lives.
In the past few days, despite the steady stream of hopelessness and cruelty, there are signs emerging that resistance might really become a thing. A coalition of people who share one common goal: to rid ourselves of Ketamine Ken and the Tangerine Tyrant. At the very least, to slow their takeover down and to thwart them as much as possible.
In Idaho, Teresa Borrenpohl attended a local Republican Town Hall event where she disrupted the event by not being a Eichmann and exercised her First Amendment right of free speech only to be forcibly physically removed from the event by private security guards who bore a strong resemblance to the Brownshirts. While no one at the event stepped in to help her, people in attendance did record the event and upload it to social media where her story has gone viral and, as of this writing, almost $100,000 has been raised for her legal defense and the story is getting traction. This as people realize how closely we are teetering on the edge of a complete loss of our freedoms.
At several Republican town halls across the country—including in some of the reddest of areas—lawmakers are facing angry constituents who are demanding to know what they are planning to do about Elon Musk and DOGE, as no one voted for him or his merry band of budding juvenile delinquents who are upending our country.
Even within the administration, tensions are afoot after Musk sent out an email to all federal employees, including judiciary employees, demanding they email a list of five bullet points of things they did last week. On Twitter/X, he said that failure to respond to this email would be considered a resignation. This email was sent out on a Saturday afternoon and demanded an answer by 11:59 pm on Monday. Immediately, Kash Patel, the diabolical new director of the FBI, and Tulsi Gabbard, the Russian asset—oops, Director of National Intelligence—almost immediately responded telling their departments to disregard that email. Chaos ensued as the good people of the internet started thinking of what they could send to Elon, though as of this writing, the OPM (Office of Personnel Management, effectively the HR department for the government) told federal agencies they don’t have to comply with that email. Though apparently the elderly toddler in the Oval Office still supposedly backs Musk’s efforts.
By the way, Musk wants this information to evaluate what positions in the federal government are necessary and is planning to use AI to help aid in his cost cutting measures and in sifting through any responses to the email he orchestrated.
Even the US Army Choir added to the efforts this weekend by singing “Do You Hear the People Sing” at the White House Governors’ Ball. For those unfamiliar with the song, it is from the 1980s musical Les Misérables and it is about a social revolution in which French proletariats stand against the ruling class.
No word on whether this was an intentional “fuck you” choice, but seeing as how many in attendance posted online about a wonderful night, it probably went over the heads of most in attendance. After all, their leaders’ favorite song is YMCA, which despite attempts to claim it as something else is still primarily known as a gay anthem. A gay anthem that their leader loves to dance to while appearing to provide hand jobs to two guys at the same time with his jerky hand motion. The brightest bulbs they are not.
Listen, I am not saying we are not in danger but what I am saying is that the coalition of resistance is clearly growing beyond those of us who didn’t vote for this guy. I know for many of us who didn’t vote for Trump, the anger and hostility for those who fell for this guy is still very real and palpable, and while I understand it, I am over it.
Look, when your house is on fire the firemen don’t waste time getting to the root of the fire before deciding whether they are going to put out the fire. No, that happens after the fire is put out and the area is safely secured.
Our collective house is on fire and while the anger about FAFO feels therapeutic, after this first month, it’s not. In fact, we need a broad-based coalition of people to push back now on what’s happening. That includes people we may not want to break bread with and others who hold or held questionable views. Yes, they didn’t care about others—we get it—and the fact is, not everyone can care beyond their immediate needs. It’s the sad reality of human nature. At the same time, we are all connected whether we want to see it or not.
Many farmers did vote for Trump and are now learning that their funding is being held up and while it feels good to laugh at the schadenfreude, the reality is that most of us aren’t eating locally grown food. Anyone who shops at chain grocery stores is accessing food that is grown across the country, meaning if too many of those farmers fail what becomes of our food supply? Idaho is the largest potato-producing state in the country and it’s one of the reddest states in the country. Potatoes are typically a cheap filling food and whether you are putting them in soup, chowder or stew or having fries, you typically get a lot of bang for your buck.
The thing is, between climate change and avian flu, our food supply is already on shaky ground and that’s without the tariffs and farmers’ funds being held up. I don’t know about you, but I like eating. And living in a rural state now for almost 23 years and being a big advocate of eating local, when possible, I have learned over the years that for whatever reason, a lot of farmers lean conservative. I was damn near heartbroken in 2016 when I learned a local farmer who I adored for years was a Trump supporter, until I learned he was not an anomaly. While I stopped seeking out his farm and looked for other alternatives, I had to accept that unless I was going to produce all my own food, there are times when we compromise. Again, I like eating; I highly recommend it.
It’s easy in these reactionary times to divide ourselves from those who don’t share our views and by no means do I plan on sitting down with anyone who sees me as inferior because of my race or gender, but the fact remains that as a society, we are all interconnected. Our collective survival requires our individual and community survival. Right now, there are forces at work to crush us all and they don’t see our divisions because really unless you have big millionaire or billionaire bucks, we are all working stiffs who they see as parasites or raw material.
We have had a month to mourn what has happened and what is happening but now is the time to move that fear, anger, and sorrow into the faith that we are not helpless—that there are more of us than them. That resistance can take many forms and right now, as my former mentor once told me, sometimes you must push all the buttons to get change. We must push all the buttons to push back our encroaching demise at the hands of soulless ghouls. Should we be successful, there is plenty of time to play over how this happened and craft a better way. But right we need to build the coalition and not lose faith in our collective humanity. Lean into faith and not fear.
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