Thankful a tyrant is bleeding support

Signs of hope in a scary time

It is tempting, after every outrage by this president, to say, "He's finished now!" But his normalizing of ignorance, recklessness and cruelty, combined with his strategy of "flooding the zone," has brought a lot of destruction in a short time.

I will believe that Donald Trump is finished when he is well and truly gone.

I am writing this at the end of a week when the president said "Quiet, piggy" to Bloomberg News correspondent Catherine Lucey for questioning him about the Epstein files, and made death threats against members of Congress who reminded military service members of their duty not to obey unlawful orders.

The first incident showed once again that Trump himself is a sexist pig. (I apologize to pigs.) The second is not just disgusting, it is unhinged. The members of Congress in question, all of whom are veterans, did not say service members should simply disobey orders. They specifically said they must disobey unlawful orders. That requirement is enshrined in the Uniform Code of Military Justice and the Nuremberg Principles.

Trump likes projecting his crimes onto others. Thus he sees insurrection in every peaceful protest against him, and sedition in a restatement of well-established law that he finds inconvenient.

At the moment I am trying to decide what to bring to my family's Thanksgiving celebration. Dear readers, I cannot give all of you pecan pies or bottles of Baileys Irish Cream; but I can surely do better in this season of thanks than be grateful that a war criminal got no peace prize—though I am grateful. So here's trying.

First, power to the people: millions of Americans stood up against Trump and made it clear that we will have no kings. Many have taken him to court to stop his manifold abuses of power. Minorities that Trump has attacked, including LGBTQ people, have continued affirming their lives and supporting their communities. Voters in the recent off-year elections turned out in large numbers to push back against Trump's misrule.

Many of the loudest self-professed Christians have been shown by their own statements and actions to be no such thing. It is one thing to mind one's own business; but when religious bullies are determined to impose their faith dictates on everyone else, pushing back becomes our business.

In particular, I am glad that Kim Davis was turned away by the Supreme Court in her effort to overturn civil marriage equality. Our opponents will have to keep looking.

Speaking of people of faith, I am glad that Pope Leo has raised his voice in criticism of our cruel president.

I am thankful for the political skill of New York Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, who had Trump practically eating out of his hand at their White House meeting after Trump scored zero hits with his attacks during the campaign. Trump cannot resist basking in the glow of a winner.

I am thankful to those who try their best to have substantive discussions on social media despite the growing toxicity on those platforms. One side effect of Trump's tenure in office has been to drag everyone else into the gutter with him. Exercising our freedom of speech does not require us to be as vicious as possible. We need a public space where we can work peacefully to resolve our differences and repair our frayed bonds.

It is essential, however, to recognize that not everyone is acting in good faith. We have a responsibility to call out the evil, for example, of masked secret police grabbing people in the street and disappearing them. The thugs may not yet be coming for those of us who do not "fit the profile," but if we sit idly by while others are dragged off, we should not be surprised when our turn comes.

I am also thankful to various people for unwittingly entertaining us, from a presidential press secretary displaying astounding stupidity to The New York Times having to change a headline that asked if women ruined the workplace.

There is a place for outrage; indeed, if nothing has pissed you off, may I gently suggest that you have not been paying attention. Nonetheless, some things are so idiotic that they deserve to become laugh lines.

Let us give thanks that recent poll numbers show that the Rethuglicans, as some have dubbed the increasingly authoritarian GOP, are in serious trouble heading into the midterms. Let us also remember that polls do not win elections, people do. Thank you in advance for doing your part.

Richard Rosendall is a writer and activist who can be reached at [email protected].

Copyright © 2025 by Richard J. Rosendall. All rights reserved.