So...Now What?

(I took a brief hiatus from my blogging because I simply didn’t want to be an extension of the campaign noise by repeating information that was already being heard far too often. I was sure the 2 or 3 people who actually read my blog didn’t miss it too badly.)

President-elect Donald J. Trump

The election has become a memory as America and the world continue to react to the success of Donald Trump, President-Elect of the United States. Furthermore, the House remains in the hands of the GOP Leadership as does the Senate.

Sen. Mitch McConnell - The Oracle of Obstruction

In her concession Speech, Secretary Clinton urged her supporters to keep an “open mind” and give President Trump an opportunity to lead. Part of me understands and perhaps agrees with her statement. However, the other part of me wonders why we liberals and democrats should bother, given the obstructive and belligerent reaction the GOP had to President Obama’s election, as expressed by Mitch McConnell, before Obama was inaugurated: Youtube video of Mitch McConnell. Top priority? Not running the government, doing the business of the American people? Not serving as a member of the U.S. Senate while representing all of the American people and the citizens of Kentucky? Our tax dollars paid his salary so he could focus on his party’s bullsh*t? And don’t get me started on the right wing media! Our government requires cooperation and compromise. Any achievement credited to the Reagan administration would not have been possible without the cooperation of House Speaker Tip O'Neill, However, if that is how the modern GOP reacts when their opponents are in the White House, why in the Hell should the left be “open minded” or give Trump a chance?


Before I can possibly consider being “open minded” I need to have one very important question answered:

“If America isn’t great now, when was it ever great?”

I am asking this question seriously, since Trump’s campaign slogan was “Make America Great Again.” What is Trump’s vision of greatness? Is he going to take serious action to reinvigorate the middle class? Address income inequality? Tackle climate change? Raise the minimum wage? Nothing in his campaign rhetoric leads me to believe these are even a remote possibility.

So, it is fair to ask what is greatness in Trump’s, and by extension, the GOP’s eyes?

Great American Family?

• 1950s Sitcom world, complete with stay-at-home mom, family dinners, (Christian) church on Sundays, and married couples sleeping in separate beds?
• The war years with the tragic cost in human life… as long as the corporations make healthy profits?
• Prohibition? Talk about corruption and organized crime!
• If I go any further back we will have to repeal a few Constitutional Amendments, specifically nos. XIII (Abolishing Slavery), XV (granting voting rights regardless of race, color, or previous servitude), and XIX (granting women the right to vote). Everyone knows slavery is bad, but corporate profits will soar with the free labor.

Forgive me Madam Secretary, but without some reasonable idea of where President Trump and the GOP plan to lead this country, all I have to guide me is the campaign rhetoric. So it is reasonable to assume the following are at least going to be strongly considered:

Will the GOP repeal the Clean Air and Water Acts?

• Repeal of, rather than revision or improvement to, the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) with no alternative yet being proposed or even discussed. So the poor will again be forced to wait until an ailment becomes so devastating that a trip to the emergency room is required.
• Reduction or even elimination of environmental regulations that the polluters feel are “too expensive.” If you think the pollution is a problem now, you ain’t seen nothing yet. Hope you enjoy those algal blooms on Lake Erie, Lake Okeechobee, the Ohio River, and many other fresh water bodies.

Recent Algal Bloom on Lake Erie

• Speaking of water, I hope the citizens of Flint, Michigan and other communities enjoy the lead and other contaminants in their drinking water. I am in the process of developing a cocktail consisting of Flint Water, Bourbon, Sweet Vermouth, and pickle brine. Now that’s a real lead cocktail (though it still needs work)!
• The defunding of Planned Parenthood, which means women who are poor will have no place to turn to for routine health screenings simply because a small portion, approximately 3 percent of their (non-Federal) funds, has been used to perform abortions in the past.
• Women’s rights, the rights of minorities and the LGBT+ community, or what I like to call human rights, will no longer be a primary concern once Trump nominates Scott Baio to serve on the U.S. Supreme court. So much for a Woman’s right to an abortion, marriage equality, and the ongoing discussion of our systemic racism.
• Ongoing and increased subsidizing of fossil fuel companies, big pharma, agribusiness… and the approval of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access Pipelines and similar projects.

So what can we liberals do to help insure that the issues of greatest concern to us do not get swept under the figurative political rug? Joining both local, grass root organizations as well as regional or National organizations can help, but protests and similar efforts rarely have a sustaining impact. It simply takes too much energy to maintain a protest and often once the protesters leave, business as usual returns. Remember “Occupy Wall Street?” Neither does Wall Street.

So I am proposing a radical approach. Join a group or groups that focus on those issues of greatest concern to you. However, in addition to the groups usual agenda (planting trees, protesting at government centers, providing services to underprivileged), propose that the group and all of its members attack the opposition in the most effective way possible… in their wallet!

Make a pledge to support only those businesses that support your causes. I no longer buy Yuengling beer because they supported Trump. We shop at Costco and Weilands Market (local grocery store) because they both pay a living wage to their workers (and Weilands has a top notch liquor store!). To reduce our carbon footprint, we purchase electrical power from a supplier using only wind power (Arcadia Power) and I walk far more than I drive, although if you saw my two vehicles, you might think I walk primarily because of safety concerns. These are just a few of the many purchasing decisions that we have made in an effort to support those firms who promote the ideas that are important to us. But we are only one household… imagine if groups of thousands made similar pledges:

• Spending your consumer dollars at woman and minority owned businesses
• Supporting corporations and establishments that contribute to the Gay Pride Parade and other LGBT+ community programs
• Making purchases from boutiques or galleries that support fair trade
• Shop at that small business in your neighborhood
• Refuse to support sponsors of Fox News, Rush Limbaugh…
• Research the charitable contributions of the companies where you typically shop. If they support causes contrary to yours, change your shopping habits and let the business know why you have done so.
• When you do make more informed consumer decisions, it is just as important to tell businesses why you decided to shop with them.

Finding companies that support your interests is only an internet search away. I believe that this would prove to be a far more effective tactic because it uses the one weapon all people possess to some degree… their purchasing power. It also hits your opponents exactly where it will hurt the most, in their pockets.

Just imagine how effective your efforts would be if your organization agreed to develop a list of preferred businesses, published it, and have members agreed to follow the list as much as possible. Maybe, once corporate profits began to take a hit from these monetary protests, positive, progressive changes just might re-enter the political discussion. After all, I recall hearing that we are “Stronger Together.”

-- Food for Thought