Trump flipped off and mouthed “f*ck you” to a factory worker who called him a “pedophile protector.” ICE agents are escalating raids and continue to detain people without due process. Leaving communities confused and in fear.
Congress is failing to act, with Democrats paralyzed and Republicans chasing power. The country is facing authoritarian collapse, global instability, and economic uncertainty. Families are scared for their children’s futures. But through fear comes clarity, and the refusal to be silent. There is still time, and there is still hope.
When I try to talk with my friends (generally all over 50) about what's going on today, using Heather's information and imagery, the most common reaction that I get is that they DO NOT want to talk about it. They seem to largely understand that none of what's going on is normal, but they're so afraid, or so overwhelmed by the magnitude, or so worried that there IS no solution, that they just want to block it out. One other alternate view is that everything is solely due to Trump, that the cabinet members are all so cowed by him that they're afraid to say anything out of line. (I don't agree with this assessment; I see Trump as an empty vessel that is controlled by a cabinet that is comprised of mostly Project 2025 people.) As much as I try to argue that the result of ignoring what's happening is literally the end of the USA, they don't want to hear it. They just want to stay in their own private family bubble, hoping and praying that the violence and potential economic catastrophes don't affect them personally. I don't have a method that works for breaking through this. I just don't know what to do.
The seeming mass apathy you write of is now common in every postwar democratic society that has suffered the fifty years of criminal plunder by the neoliberal Reaganomics globalisation Project. No one can afford to engage. When you face poverty and destitution, or worse, like Tabula and Renee Good, for any show of social protest, political resistance becomes a personal existential threat. As Delaney writes above: They raise the cost of everything we can’t live without. This fact is the literal foundation of capitalism. Price gouging aka the profit motive. I think it was the USSR’s Prime Minister Nikita Khrushchev (d.1971) who said if you think life is bad under Communists try living under Capitalists. They will eat you alive. America is a capitalist country. It’s political ideals have always been in conflict with its financial ones. Millions of Americans have voted for an America that has no moral centre, only financial ones. Recognising this truth is essential if there is any hope of retrieving Enlightenment rule of law.
You are not alone, my friend. I think we’re all wondering just how loud, how far, how much we need to do to rein in the illegal madness that is going on. Some of my friends don’t want to hear about it and even in my own household we have a 3 minute rule for discussions about what’s going on that day. Finding the balance between maintaining one’s own sanity and doing the necessary work that’s in front of us seems to be key and I’m still searching.
But even though your friends don’t want to talk about it, don’t stop informing them if they have their heads down. Eventually, they will look up. I do believe that. In the meantime, we all just need to work harder to make our voices heard. Remember, ride Congress hard and they will come around. They need reelection and won’t be able to win that if they keep sitting on the sidelines (or actively assisting in the dismantling of all our government guardrails.) Hold them accountable with your vote!
Unfortunately, I'm a white Canadian citizen on a green card, so I can't vote. I'm following what's going on because I've lived in the US for most of my life (I'm 79), and I care about the US. Personally I keep my head down because as an alien, I could be deported by Trump in an instant.
You need to stay safe and must do whatever that takes. Maybe you can support candidates for 2026 even tho you cannot vote. Write, call, donate when possible. And thank you❤️
Thanks Heather- like always your writing brings a stark clarity to our current mess. And I’m frightened right along with you.
We are so polarized today - and with a cult of denial along with complicity born of greed is exactly what the Administration is counting on.
I totally agree we have to fight for each other to end this darkness.
But I’m really not sure there’s much chance of enough congressional members finding the courage to remember their jobs to serve the people instead of themselves.
But we can fight with our wallets as well as our voices. Organized consumer economic sanctions. Non-violent change using our collective leverage.
What if enough people decided that Ford products and dealerships no longer deserve our business? If they won’t earn our trust by supporting their own employee’s right to free speech, perhaps we can send a message.
There are enough of us still sane that we can make a difference together.
We have to find a way to survive and win the midterms. Trump is going for full consolidation of power before he is seriously weakened. There are no constraints to his non-stop assault, fueled by Stephen Miller. I don't know if pressuring Congress and protesters are enough. I don't hope for but suspect more violent clashes to come, most likely in Minneapolis. How much lawless brutality by highly armed thugs are people supposed to take? At some point we need to make a stand. I feel it is coming soon. We are at a tipping point.
When I try to talk with my friends (generally all over 50) about what's going on today, using Heather's information and imagery, the most common reaction that I get is that they DO NOT want to talk about it. They seem to largely understand that none of what's going on is normal, but they're so afraid, or so overwhelmed by the magnitude, or so worried that there IS no solution, that they just want to block it out. One other alternate view is that everything is solely due to Trump, that the cabinet members are all so cowed by him that they're afraid to say anything out of line. (I don't agree with this assessment; I see Trump as an empty vessel that is controlled by a cabinet that is comprised of mostly Project 2025 people.) As much as I try to argue that the result of ignoring what's happening is literally the end of the USA, they don't want to hear it. They just want to stay in their own private family bubble, hoping and praying that the violence and potential economic catastrophes don't affect them personally. I don't have a method that works for breaking through this. I just don't know what to do.
The seeming mass apathy you write of is now common in every postwar democratic society that has suffered the fifty years of criminal plunder by the neoliberal Reaganomics globalisation Project. No one can afford to engage. When you face poverty and destitution, or worse, like Tabula and Renee Good, for any show of social protest, political resistance becomes a personal existential threat. As Delaney writes above: They raise the cost of everything we can’t live without. This fact is the literal foundation of capitalism. Price gouging aka the profit motive. I think it was the USSR’s Prime Minister Nikita Khrushchev (d.1971) who said if you think life is bad under Communists try living under Capitalists. They will eat you alive. America is a capitalist country. It’s political ideals have always been in conflict with its financial ones. Millions of Americans have voted for an America that has no moral centre, only financial ones. Recognising this truth is essential if there is any hope of retrieving Enlightenment rule of law.
TJSabula - apologies. Deepest. Heavily triggered today.
You are not alone, my friend. I think we’re all wondering just how loud, how far, how much we need to do to rein in the illegal madness that is going on. Some of my friends don’t want to hear about it and even in my own household we have a 3 minute rule for discussions about what’s going on that day. Finding the balance between maintaining one’s own sanity and doing the necessary work that’s in front of us seems to be key and I’m still searching.
But even though your friends don’t want to talk about it, don’t stop informing them if they have their heads down. Eventually, they will look up. I do believe that. In the meantime, we all just need to work harder to make our voices heard. Remember, ride Congress hard and they will come around. They need reelection and won’t be able to win that if they keep sitting on the sidelines (or actively assisting in the dismantling of all our government guardrails.) Hold them accountable with your vote!
Unfortunately, I'm a white Canadian citizen on a green card, so I can't vote. I'm following what's going on because I've lived in the US for most of my life (I'm 79), and I care about the US. Personally I keep my head down because as an alien, I could be deported by Trump in an instant.
You need to stay safe and must do whatever that takes. Maybe you can support candidates for 2026 even tho you cannot vote. Write, call, donate when possible. And thank you❤️
I have the same reaction from "older" folks, and I'm 74 years old! You're doing the best you can, keep up going.
Good article in today's NY Times:
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/14/opinion/trump-presidential-power-immunity.html?unlocked_article_code=1.EVA.sXzk.yzNB9HwBibVW&smid=url-share
Thanks Heather- like always your writing brings a stark clarity to our current mess. And I’m frightened right along with you.
We are so polarized today - and with a cult of denial along with complicity born of greed is exactly what the Administration is counting on.
I totally agree we have to fight for each other to end this darkness.
But I’m really not sure there’s much chance of enough congressional members finding the courage to remember their jobs to serve the people instead of themselves.
But we can fight with our wallets as well as our voices. Organized consumer economic sanctions. Non-violent change using our collective leverage.
What if enough people decided that Ford products and dealerships no longer deserve our business? If they won’t earn our trust by supporting their own employee’s right to free speech, perhaps we can send a message.
There are enough of us still sane that we can make a difference together.
Never owned a Ford; sure as hell not buying one now.
Look forward to your column everyday. Bless you Heather
Your writing serves as a voice of clarity and reason. I enjoy it quite a lot, the subject matter notwithstanding.
Liked and restacked.
Thanks for your words and your leadership. We will prevail.
“Forcing truth into the frame” = hero.
We have to find a way to survive and win the midterms. Trump is going for full consolidation of power before he is seriously weakened. There are no constraints to his non-stop assault, fueled by Stephen Miller. I don't know if pressuring Congress and protesters are enough. I don't hope for but suspect more violent clashes to come, most likely in Minneapolis. How much lawless brutality by highly armed thugs are people supposed to take? At some point we need to make a stand. I feel it is coming soon. We are at a tipping point.