"Positive Energy And Physical Space"
Is needed to stop Trump
The video below is something I saw on social media this morning and thought it important to share. Timothy Snyder is a historian who wrote On Tyrannay a few years ago, I’m listening to it on audiobook. He’s also on Substack, so follow him.
He starts this by saying: “What can we expect in the next hundred days?”
Here is also an article/video in the NY Times about organization in the US, please read. It’s frightening, and I am glad the Times published it. Snyder is interviewed in this article and he says,
“If you want the Democrats to do something, you have to create the platform, the positive energy and physical space where they can come to you.” He means protests. The combination of the media, courts, public protest and universities are essential for us to turn this around, to stop the fascists from taking over completely.
The public I have met here in Switzerland during my short stay are very concerned about the US. It seems they are not as informed by their media as they want to be—they ask so many questions and wonder if the US will remain a democracy. They ask me if I plan to leave my country, I tell them no. We need to stay and fight.
To add more here about the other things Trump is doing— taking $400 million gift of a plane from Qatar, for example- underscores all of the above. The corruption is blatent, and some of his supporters are expressing displeasure with this. Four democratic Senators are calling it “wildly illegal” and will vote against it.
“Air Force Once is more than just a plane – it’s a symbol of the presidency and of the United States itself,” the senators said in a joint statement. “No one should use public service for personal gain through foreign gifts.”
Although I’ve been talking politics the whole time I’ve been abroad, I feel a bit disconnected at the moment. Perhaps it’s being away, not sure. But I know I am committed more than ever to stay focussed on this.
The drawing above was done at the Geneva train station before I boarded a train to go to Paris for a few days. Here is the video grab.
Thanks for being here, see you tomorrow! Happy Wednesday.
Liza, thanks again for your insights during your travels. Right now the only people who can legally stop Trump are the Republicans in Congress. They will be to blame for the loss of democracy if they do not do their constitutionally mandated job and exert their power on behalf of the law and all Americans.
Could be that the part of you feeling disconnected is the part that needs it. There are tides and times for everything so this one is what it is without judgment. Anyway that's what I'm discovering so I see it as short-terming and long terming my energies. Whatcha think?