It\’s a good time of the year to remember that everything that makes you angry about the US and our politics today, about Trump and his accomplices is a source of real, often profound human suffering for the countless victims of his policies and crimes. Think of them. Fight for them.
The main difference between the GOP and the Democrats is compassion. The GOP sees it as weakness. The Democrats see it as the essence of what community and service and government are about. It is easy to forget what it might be like to spend Christmas in a cage, to be separated from a child or a parent, to live not knowing how you will pay your medical bills, fearful your illness will leave your family homeless, to be an ally fighting for your home but abandoned by an America upon whom you depended, to watch as your world literally goes up in flames.
Trump is vile and corrupt and heartless and McConnell and Barr are lawless. The destruction of our institutions and the desecration of our values is appalling. But for a moment, now, please stop and think of the people at the border, in Puerto Rico, in inner cities, in Syria, in Ukraine, in communities terrorized by ICE, on farms destroyed by reckless trade policies, in cities on which the government has turned its back. Think of the fathers and mothers and children, grandparents and those all alone. The pain endures. The fear persists.
It is our obligation to fight for them, to give them voice, to use our power as their power. That\’s what this time of year is about. Let\’s make sure that\’s what 2020 is about as well. This is not about politics. It is about humanity losing a source of hope and healing, or about winning it back.
