If Donald Trump was afraid of the Resistance before…
Over the past two weeks, Donald Trump finally stopped pretending that the Resistance against him doesn’t exist. Instead he began acknowledging the Resistance by name, while trying to dismiss it. He even claimed that his side was better off because it had the slogan “Produce” instead of “Resist.” Now the apple cart has been completely upset for all involved – and Trump suddenly has a whole lot more to worry about.
Today’s surprise retirement announcement from Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy means that, barring an intervention, Trump will get to replace him with a corrupt extremist. This would lead to Roe v Wade and gay marriage being overturned, as well as the erasure of numerous other civil and personal rights that we’ve come to take for granted during our lifetime. The nomination is an opportunity for Trump – but it’s also a problem.
Back when Trump appointed conservative extremist Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court last year, it was outrageous, but it didn’t change the math at the time. It was a far-right justice replacing a far-right justice. Anthony Kennedy, on the other hand, is a moderate who usually ends up being the swing vote in 5-4 decisions. For those who oppose Trump and what he stands for, Trump absolutely cannot be allowed to pick Kennedy’s replacement. The majority of Americans have no intention of letting it happen.
For awhile, the Resistance had the difficult task of convincing mainstream Americans that Donald Trump was an unqualified and unstable individual who was going to do atrocious things. Then the argument became that Trump was a criminal who rigged the election in his favor. Very recently the argument became that Trump was a monster who was locking immigrant kids in cages. Now the Resistance argument is that if we don’t push back right now with everything we have, we’ll quickly lose our basic human rights.
The “Resistance” we’re about to see against Donald Trump will be five, ten, or a hundred times more fierce than anything we’ve seen to date. Yes, the Democrats can win the midterms. Yes, Robert Mueller will take Trump down eventually. But we can no longer afford to wait for that. The South Koreans managed to force their leader out by staging such fierce and overwhelming protests that the country couldn’t function until a change was made. We’re about to see something unprecedented in the United States. If Trump was afraid of the Resistance before, he’s facing an even bigger problem now.
