We Need to Be the Change

Gandhi, famous for his non-violent approach to conflicts, never hesitated to use coercion when an opponent refused to even come to the table and talk. Gandhi was steadfast in his opposition to using coercion or force or violence to compel an opponent, once at the table, to accept a position or outcome.

But when opponents refuse to even engage, when they flaunt the fact that today they are in the more powerful position so they can afford to ignore others, Gandhi argued we have an obligation to take action, to march to the sea in violation of unjust laws, to go on a hunger strike, to compel today’s opponents to come to the table.

We are in this situation today. As one friend recently put it so elegantly…

In some ways he's making it easy. Every day my resolve to defy and resist grows. Every instinct I might have had to be constructive, to conciliate, to give it time--stomped out, one by one, and not gently. He's used up every chance I might have wanted to give him. In one week.

Then another friend just today, in response to the news that the Alt-Right senior adviser to Trump would replace the chair of the joints chiefs on the National Security Council’s principle committee….  We can see that there is no doubt any longer…Trump is refusing to engage, refusing to talk or come to the table.

The self-proclaimed deal maker is simply flaunting the fact that for the moment he has enough power to ignore everyone else. This is no surprise from someone’s whose business ‘success’ was also based on naked power—inheriting his father’s wealth—and not on the hard work of coming to the table to figure it out. He has never had to earn it and we need to make him earn it.

Here is what my other friend said today:

This is perhaps the most troubling thing I've seen in the first 8 days. Steve Bannon, Trump's top political adviser, was given a seat on the National Security Council's principal's committee and the Director of National Intelligence and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff were both removed.

Besides this being unprecedented in our nation's history, does this make America safer? No. It does the opposite. It does, however, show the power of Bannon who reportedly has authored Trump's executive orders and his "America First" Inaugural Address.

This is the same Bannon who has anti-Semitic and White nationalist sympathies and ran Breitbart, a publication that has become a refuge for the alt-Right (White Supremacy). Bannon is clearly Trump's most trusted adviser--a modern day Rasputin. This self-described Leninist who wants to "destroy the system" is a dangerous person to have whispering in Trump's ear and now giving national security advice.

I have studied White House staffing my whole career & I believe that Bannon, with his proximity to POTUS, represents an existential threat to the stability of our republic. Either others in the White House & administration will undermine him to the point where he leaves/is fired, or Bannon wins the power struggle that is currently raging. The fact that such a person has emerged as the most influential adviser in Trump's orbit speaks volumes about Trump's judgement.

It did not take long, but we gave him a chance to show his true colors, to demonstrate that he understands the gravity and responsibility of democratic governance and that he could transition from campaign to governance.

He never even tried. Never took the chance to show any colors other than what we saw in the campaign—dangerously ill-informed, thin-skinned, and bigoted.

We need to focus on either bringing him to the table so we can renew the challenging work of democratic governance or enact this ourselves, build coalitions to oppose him at every turn, win or lose, with courage and grace and dignity and respect for democracy. 

It is time to get involved in local politics. Yes, dull meetings on evenings you would rather be home, but the alternative is Trumpism. And sometimes meetings accomplish things, which is fun.

Find one of the zillion amazingly smart women who want to run for office and support her. The future is female and we have not done a good job cultivating diverse and skilled leadership within our own ranks. Think Elizabeth Warren and Maya Angelou times a million.

Participate in the 10 actions in the first 100 days being organized by the million women march. Bring friends; make it meaningful and impactful and fun community building.

Subscribe to your local newspaper, and to a magazine like The Atlantic, and pledge to NPR. Support good journalism and the journalists who produce it.

Join the ACLU, Amnesty International, Greenpeace and Oxfam. 

It is time for all decent people to stand up and be counted, today and every day.