It’s Not A State of the Union It’s A . . . March 4, 2025March 4, 2025 State of Emergency! HERE’S WHY We are abandoning our allies to align with Russia! Doing everything Putin wants us to do! Switching sides! Losing the Cold War! Relinquishing our role as Leader of the Free World! Dismantling our government! We are also starving children and enabling malaria, polio, and AIDS to flourish, even as we surrender our “soft power” to China and Russia. And launching a Smoot-Hawley-reminiscent trade war that, if continued, will spike inflation and interest rates, tank the world’s economies and stock markets, tank 401k’s, and cause widespread hardship. Most of you get all that. (Carl sees the emergency as men playing in women’s sports and immigrant-perpetrated crime.) WHAT TO DO In a word? More than ever. (Well, three words.) So if you’ve been avoiding the news or taking a break — welcome back. We need you. Here’s my checklist: 1. Watch (or listen to) Rachel Maddow every night. She’s sometimes shrill or unfair; but most of the time she’s right on target, and often she’s invaluable. Last night, for example, which you may be able to watch here. And should definitely be able to listen to here. Everything Trump is doing is what Putin wants him to do. Why is that? What are we getting in return? Is this what the American people voted for? The parallels to the late 1930’s and 1940 are chilling. 2. Consider Lawrence O’Donnell, Chris Hayes, and Morning Joe when you have time, too. 3. Join an Indivisible chapter, if you haven’t already, or start one of your own — and get all your friends and relatives to do likewise. Participate in the actions they suggest. 4. Plant seeds of DIS-disinformation. 5. Live even more frugally than before, if you can, to build savings to fund the struggle. 6. Watch tonight. Technically, it’s not a State of the Union — but, however awful, it is history in the making. And don’t be too angry if Democrats don’t do something brilliant, because it’s not entirely clear (at least to me) what would be most effective. I liked the idea of our all just boycotting — what a statement it would be to show the chamber half empty. But someone pointed out that it wouldn’t be empty — the Rs would likely just fill those seats with cheering Republican staffers. 7. Know that ultimately we ARE going to turn things around because this is NOT what most Americans want, and at the end of the day, ours is a government of the people, by the people, for the people. We are NOT going to give in to dictatorship as they did in Russia after their brief fling with democracy. 8. Spread the word. It’s not easy to move from watching the news to becoming part of it, attending a town hall or demonstrating in front of a senator’s local office holding up a witty home-made sign. It’s a sacrifice to redirect part of one’s Travel & Entertainment budget to one’s budget to help save the world. But compared to what our forefathers had to sacrifice for democracy? Or what our lives will be like if we fail? It’s thrilling to have a chance to be part of something this important. 9. Lists are better with TEN things, so add one of your own — and share it with me! READER FEEDBACK: PRONOUNS [I haven’t cherry-picked these. If any of my LGBTQ+ readers disagree, they haven’t me-mailed. But realistically, my readers skew older and less gender-nonconforming than those who’d be most likely to push back. I’m sure my view is not universally accepted — and I respect theirs . . . unless, that is, they advocate for the possessive — he/him/his. That I can’t respect — but, as I argued yesterday, on grounds of grammar and logic, not politicals.] Gloria: “THANK YOU for posting this. I agree 100%. Speaking of signaling, I think all liberals, progressives, Democrats, etc, who are attending protests and demonstrations should proudly carry the American flag along with their signs. The flag is a symbol that belongs to all of us, not to MAGA, yet they have appropriated it. It is important to signal that we demonstrate precisely because we love this country.” David T.: “Thank you for saying what nobody else seems willing to say: stop with the ridiculous virtue-signaling pronouns, unless (as you said) you are someone who uses pronouns that are not obvious to the rest of us. I absolutely agree that, despite good intentions, they’ve done us far more harm than good.” Drew W.: “Far and away the most damaging ad in 2024 was the one that ended, ‘She’s for they/them. He’s for us.'” → So I would argue that a more effective way to express support for the gender-nonconforming — rather than specifying your pronouns in solidarity — is to send something to one or two of these 100 groups.” Rich G.: “It’s not just pronouns. There are 500,000 athletes under the auspices of the NCAA. Maybe 10 transsexual athletes. My friends say they don’t want their daughters to have to compete against men. Duh! We allowed Trump to make this tiny example a big issue.” → Yes. Here was my discourse on that: “The Elephant In The Bathroom.”