The first four years of the Orange Cheeto's stay in the White House should have been enough warning of what he intended to do. Should have been.
Apparently, it wasn't.
We've forgotten history – or chosen to believe it could not happen to us, here in the good ol' U S of A. We didn't think that an autocrat, a dictator, an oligarch could get himself elected once into the presidency, much less twice. Yet, here we are.
Many warnings were sounded. Too many voters didn't listen. The party that could possibly have prevented this mess didn't get their shit straight from the git-go, and offered up a candidate who just didn't have the energy to get through another election campaign. They compounded that mistake by offering up a second candidate who could've gone the distance, but didn't get the groundwork needed and the time to put it in place before the November election.
Now, we're seeing the results of that fatal misstep. The avalanche is falling not just on certain folks, but on all of us. FAFO is in effect, y'all, and it is ugly and heartbreaking.
The black folks are sitting back, having their tea and nodding. They deserve their break. After all, where were the rest of us in the 1960s? The 1970s and later, right up until last year? Sure, some of us got out and protested, some of us organized, some of us spoke up and voted for social change. But not enough.
Not nearly enough.
"It can't happen heeeeeeeeerrrrrre..." Frank Zappa sang back in the counter-culture decades. He was being sarcastic. He knew damn well it could happen here.
So, what do we as citizens of the US do now?
We can sit around crying and moaning, sure. That'll change nothing. It'll only bring the end of the country that much sooner. You wanna live in a fascist dictatorship? Do nothing and wait around, it'll happen.
If you want to retain what's left of your freedom, get off your ass and get to work. Grabbing the reigns of this runaway carriage and getting it back on the road of democratic governance per the Constitution is going to take sustained effort over a long period of time.
INFORM YOURSELF. Gather information from a wide range of sources, not just mainstream media. Always consider the source. "Independent" journalism isn't always independent; check who's footing the bill for the news outlets you read/view.
Call, email, and write handwritten (or typed) letters or postcards to your congress-persons at the state and federal levels. Weekly. Yes, weekly. There's plenty of topics to choose from. A single-page letter per topic will be easier for the politicians' aides to file. :-) If you're not much of a writer, simply state what you support or don't support re: what's going on in Washington.
SECURE YOUR INCOME, FOOD AND PROPERTY. If you have a good job, and you're saving money, good. Keep doing that. Try to save a little more each month. Stock your pantry with non-perishables. If you can afford it, install a security system (electronic, animal, bells, etc.) over all the windows and entrances to your home. KEEP YOUR DOORS AND WINDOWS LOCKED AT ALL TIMES. If I had a nickel for every bodycam video I've seen where people left their front door unlocked and someone just waltzed in and committed mayhem, I'd have a lot more $$ than I do right now.
Why is the preceding paragraph important? Because the Orange Cheeto and his Meme Monster are coming for ALL of us. Do you really want to just let them in?
This is the BARE MINIMUM. Everyone can do these things, or have helpers do them for you if needed. It may not sound like a lot, but every little bit does, indeed, help.
For those who are able to do so, there are other steps to take.
Find local organizations representing groups affected by the executive orders issued so far, or contact national groups like the ACLU, NAACP, etc., and find out how you can volunteer to help. We aren't all cut out for marching in the streets, and that's okay. Manning phone banks, writing website content, creating flyers and signs, holding bake sales and yard sales to raise money for a bail fund for those protesters who get arrested, organizing lawyers to represent those arrested folks in court when needed, and a lot of other roles need filling. Check the histories of the civil-rights movement for ideas on organizing, protesting, dealing with getting arrested, what civil disobedience is and how to practice it, and so much more.
Yes, the time we are in feels surreal and weird. Because it IS weird. But it's also real and happening right now, and if we don't grab this thing by the neck right now, we'll be consumed by it.
Just because it's never happened to us before, doesn't mean it can never happen to us. The proof is in front of us every day.
To paraphrase someone much wiser than I am, retaining freedom requires eternal vigilance.
