Frustrated by reports of his falling approval rating, Trump tests several lines of attack. “We don’t need their TAXES.” When news of the shaky economy emerges, he turns back to your actions, “We could be a GREAT COUNTRY if not for TAX-DODGING LAW-BREAKERS.” You wonder if his mind is slowing down.
The Supreme Court allows him to proceed with firing 50,000 government workers under Schedule F. He fills the government with loyalists. Bureaucratic fights take place everywhere. It’s not all loss. Trump floats a bill outlawing abortion after 16 weeks. The protest movement galvanizes direct actions all over the country. “Hands off my body.” Congress halts the bill. Analysts point to Trump’s decreasing approval ratings in the polls. And the courts hand Trump another setback when they rule, for the second time, against his bill to close the border with Mexico. As a result, the military again withdraws from policing the border.
But Trump doubles down on everything. He vows to return the military to the border. Emboldened right-wing militias echo ICE’s mass deportation plans with frightful scenes of armed men strolling through immigrant neighborhoods. Trump opens up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling. He vows to “introduce an abortion bill that everyone will love.”
The resistance wing is uncertain. You know you cannot do reactionary protests to everything he does — much less proposes. Over 200,000 people have withheld their taxes, many in an escrow “until the next President.” Now that April 15th is past, movement energy is dragging. You wonder if you need a bigger perspective to see who is out there and where to find more energy.