Trump Is Purposely Painting a Fuzzy Picture through Chaos. We Must Connect the Dots.
He is using the power of the government for himself, not us.
As families gather around the table for Thanksgiving, conversations will flow. Some about politics. Some easier than others. Some more essential than ever about the future of the American way of life as we know it.
The elephant in the room? An unrelenting and dreadful stream of actions from this White House.
We have to talk about it.
During Donald Trump’s presidency, we have seen chaos and corruption, from manufacturing enemies, attempting to turn the military into his own personal army, troops sent to police the streets of our own cities, and military strikes abroad against nameless enemies. Each of these moments is a dot. A dot in a bigger picture Trump is painting to distort the very foundation of who we are as a nation. And when they’re all connected, we see his plan to manipulate, abuse, and exploit to build a system that empowers him and targets you.
He is hoping we won’t put the pieces together. Unnoticed or unchecked, he thinks he has the power to do whatever he wants against anyone he wants at any time.
But we have our own power to see the bigger picture and stop it before it’s too late.
As people see growing price tags right now and are just trying to get through the holiday season, I know it’s unfair to have to confront all of this, but I believe we have no other choice. I am asking my fellow Americans to take it all in and connect the dots with me and do what Trump hopes we won’t: stand up for our democracy and remind him that power within this great nation is with the people.
My public service career began in national security. I know very well the real threats our country faces. I’ve witnessed militaries patrolling a country’s own streets in authoritarian countries across the world and seen leaders create false enemies and use force against their own citizens. These scenes do not belong in America. Yet, Trump is sending Black Hawk helicopters into cities, demonizing and prosecuting political opponents, threatening the lives of members of Congress, ordering lethal strikes of unnamed enemies, threatening to invoke the Insurrection Act ... the list goes on.
This is not normal. We cannot let it be.
Despite all of it, I have faith in our democracy and what we can do with all the pieces put together. We must move forward together with common understanding and armed with the truth. We must help more and more of our neighbors and friends see the full picture and what’s at stake. Whether it’s watching and sharing a short video about what’s happening around us, sitting down at the dinner table to talk about it, or calling your representatives to tell them what you think, our knowledge is our strength, our voice is our power, and through these conversations, we can take charge of the future ahead of us.
Andy Kim, a Democrat, represents New Jersey in the U.S. Senate.
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Boy, am I thankful for elected officials like Andy Kim and those who have, like me, been collecting and connecting dots for 10 years now. Yes, please keep trying to get through to your family and friends who are not making the connections that show we must be engaged NOW.
I have a dear friend who admits her head is in the sand; she has all but stopped paying attention to the news but clearly knows that she ought to. We had a chat yesterday, and she asked me which news she should know about this week. I let her own smoldering guilt answer that question when I replied, "You should know about all of it and none of it--but it has to be done."
It has been very painful to follow all of the transgressions by Trump since 2016--no, he did not pause during Biden's term. Now he has threatened or destroyed most of the things that are important to me. We cannot look away, though, or how are we to do what we can, when we can, to restore our democracy?
It is quite an honor, imho, to be a constituent of Sen. Andy Kim. He was my Representative before he was elected to the Senate, and I have had several conversations with him. I find him to be a man of integrity and honor, and I’m so glad that he responds to my concerns whenever I contact him. I know he cares about the people of NJ, and the rest of the country, too.