There is nothing ‘normal’ about this
Our capacity to adjust to almost any “new normal” may turn out, ironically, to be “one of our greatest liabilities as a species.” Most Republican legislators, many having expressed prior concerns about Trump as president, have chosen to remain silent in the face of his illegal actions. A prime example is Lindsey Graham currently Trump’s sidekick, but one who in 2016 worried that his nomination would destroy us.
How much are we willing to comply with the Trump administration’s policies and actions? In my view, they present both political and moral issues. I cannot accept such actions like: fomenting the January 6th riot, issuing executive orders gutting civil rights and constitutional protections, allowing ICE to snatch people off the streets, attacking universities and law firms, taking control of Venezuela and threatening military action against Colombia, Cuba, Mexico. War is seen as an extension of policy reminiscent of the gunboat diplomacy of the Gilded Age.
Trump has taken on himself the right to go to war with another country with no provocation in order to take its resources. He is openly working to destroy the rules-based international order that has stabilized the world since the 1940s. White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller told CNN’s Jake Tapper: “We live in a world, in the real world, Jake, that is governed by strength, that is governed by force, that is governed by power,” he said. “These are the iron laws of the world since the beginning of time.”
We are being hoodwinked into accepting this narrow vision of the world. Domestically, it subverts the rule of law and our Constitution; internationally, it rejects the rules-based international order. It views the use of power as a means to dominate rather than to deter. Accepting this as the “new normal” is likely to destroy our democracy. We need to speak loudly and reasonably to safeguard our rights; silence is killing us.