As hard as it may seem to wake up and face another day in a Trump presidency, every 24 hours is a reminder why we can’t afford to fall asleep on the job.
Trump may not work on weekends, but he sure can cause a firestorm in just a few days in the oval office.
Last Saturday our spirits were elevated by the strong and united women’s marches across the globe, setting a record for the number of demonstrators at the event. With the number of rallies, protests, sit-ins and other social actions we have year-round in the city, the Womxn’s March on Seattle set a new bar.
Combined with the national and global movement that call out Trump on everything from abortion rights, pay equality, immigration, protecting the LGBT community, funding education, attacks on Muslims — the list goes on — surely a lasting impression was made on our commander in chief.
Nope.
Trump has positioned himself to make more executive orders in his first 100 days than Obama made his entire two terms in office, making us wonder how he possibly finds time to lie about the size of his Inauguration Day crowd.
He started by rolling back the Affordable Care Act, allowing agency heads to waive requirement to the “maximum extent permitted by law.” Meanwhile, there doesn’t seem to be a Republican plan to replace Obamacare, though, to be fair, there’s only been six years or so to think that over
He’s put a freeze on any regulations that were in process, but not approved, that will either have to be approved by the agencies he’s manipulating or himself.
Federal dollars are being stripped from organizations that provide abortion services, as well as international organizations that even just provide women with information about abortion.
Trump has pulled the United States out of Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations, which, ironically, seems like it will be a benefit to China, a country the president criticized relentlessly during his campaign because of its impact on American jobs.
Our military will continue to grow amid a federal hiring freeze ordered by Trump, and how great is that? Maybe this will save some of the money we’ll certainly be purging when Trump follows through on his promise for a thorough investigation of what he believes were millions of undocumented immigrants illegally voting this past election, costing him the popular vote. To be clear, there is no evidence whatsoever to justify this decision. Everything’s a ratings game for Trump, and he can’t seem to accept his winning loss.
Not surprising, Trump has also ordered the speedy approval of the Dakota Access and Keystone Oil Pipelines, because environmental studies be damned. Considering the former (current?) reality star had once owned a heavy chunk of shares in Energy Transfer Partners — the DAPL’s lead developer — and that company’s CEO donated $100,000 to a committee supporting Trump’s campaign, what option did he have? Let’s not forget that sweet American steel. Water quality is no big deal. Just get a better Brita filter, right? And Native Americans? Not sure sure Trump knows much about them outside of casinos, but we’re sure he’ll make it out to North Dakota eventually, to ease the hearts and minds of a people with a rich history of getting screwed by white people.
Wednesday the president finally got around to fulfilling that one campaign promise we all know really pushed him over the top with voters — the legitimate ones, of course.
Trump signed an executive order that directs Homeland Security to get to work on that wall dividing the U.S. from Mexico, which he estimates will cost $8-$12 billion. It will take Congress approving the expenditure to actually succeed, but we haven’t heard much booing from the Republican majority.
Besides, we’re going to bill Mexico when it’s all done. The president of Mexico has repeatedly stated that bill will never get paid, but then again a lot of contractors said Trump never paid them either. That’s business.
He’s also calling for increased border patrols, which must fall under the public safety allowance for new federal hires.
We’re disgusted by all of this, not to mention the, in essence, Muslim ban by not issuing visas and accepting refugees. That deserves an editorial of its own, and it will get one in the weeks to come.
Trump is also ordering the stripping of federal funding for sanctuary cities like Seattle, because we resolve not help the feds round up people who have come here seeking a better quality of life or just to survive.
As we saw last weekend across the world, the one thing Trump can’t take away is our resolve to fight. We must maintain our strength in numbers and voice, and always call out tyranny when we see it.