Why I Joined the Resistance

“I can’t keep waiting for someone else to fix the problem.”

I was talking with my bride about my decision to get involved in the fight against all the daily horrors being brought on the world by the Trump administration and its lackeys.

Because national politics can feel distant and abstract, and it’s easy to think the fight for America’s future belongs only to elected officials and pundits. It doesn’t. Anyone who believes this country should remain a functioning democracy grounded in fairness, dignity, and truth needs to be doing their part – large or small – to try and save the home we all love.

Meaning the stakes of the Trump movement’s agenda fall squarely on the each of our shoulders, and we all have excellent reasons to push back hard. Why?

Democracy is under direct attack. The Trump machine has made undermining elections a core part of its strategy, embracing conspiracies that erode trust in voting, encouraging political intimidation, and normalizing the idea that election results only count when THEY win. A democracy cannot survive when its foundational rules are optional.

Civil rights are being rolled backward. Immigrants, LGBTQ Americans, people of color, people with disabilities, and religious minorities have watched their hard-earned protections targeted or erased. When leaders demonize entire groups, harassment rises on buses, in schools, and in workplaces.  

Women’s autonomy is being stripped away. Forbes Magazine reports federal job cuts disproportionately impacting women of all ages and career stages. The Trump administration projects a reduction of 300,000 federal jobs this year, and women represent roughly half of federal employees and have higher representation in the agencies targeted for cuts. These administrative actions threaten women’s jobs, career growth, retirement security and financial stability.

With Roe gone and reproductive rights shrinking state by state, women—especially low-income women—are losing the ability to control their health, their bodies, and their futures. Government overreach doesn’t get more personal than that.

Economic inequality is exploding. Trump-aligned politicians push tax cuts for corporations and the ultra-wealthy while fighting unions, workplace protections, and wage increases. Families work harder than ever while housing, groceries, and healthcare soar out of reach.

Environmental protections are being dismantled. Rolling back clean air and water standards means more pollution, more asthma, more contaminated drinking water, and a climate spiraling toward crisis—hurting everyone, but especially hitting working communities first and hardest.

Corruption and disinformation are becoming normalized. Most of us have figured out “Make America Great Again” translates to “How can Trump line his pockets?” and many who voted for him are finally figuring out that they got played. Bigly!

From using public office for personal enrichment to flooding the public sphere with lies, the Trump movement treats truth as optional and public service as a business opportunity. When people can’t trust their government, everyone suffers.

There’s a solution!

Each of us has a stake and a voice in resisting Trump and his allies. Democracy isn’t self-maintaining, rights don’t protect themselves, and silence only benefits the people working hardest to take those rights and protections away.

If you believe America, despite all its imperfections, is worth saving, then it’s time for you to also get involved. Join us today at DEMCCO. Or find another organization that suits you. But whatever you do, don’t think that someone else will solve the problem without your help.

Because as my old college friend Brian O’Donnell used to observe, “Whenever you say ‘Somebody ought to fix this,’ you, invariably, are the somebody.”

Finally, as a reward for finding your way to the end of this diatribe, I offer you this bonus holiday gift…sure to bring a smile to anyone needing respite from the day’s headlines.

ENJOY!

See you at the ballot box!

Rob