Father’s Day, I spent the morning at an impromptu demonstration outside a local jail that’s used to house ICE detainees. There weren’t many of us — under 100, I’m sure — and no official speakers or musicians, just people taking turns telling heartfelt stories of their immigrant ancestors, alternating with chants and a chorus of “This Land Is Your Land.”
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Sometimes I leave demonstrations feeling energized and hopeful. Not so much lately. There’s too much happening too fast: the separation of immigrant families, the attacks on health care, voter suppression, the rise of open Nazis, the devastation in Puerto Rico, the ever-expanding attacks on legal residents and naturalized citizens…
Lately it’s hard to see what good it does, me standing there with my all-purpose Trump-era protest sign: NOW YOU’VE PISSED OFF THE SOCIAL WORKERS! My own Representative and Senators are already on the right side, but as long as power stays concentrated in Republican hands, there are limits to what Democrats can accomplish. Even after bad publicity forced the administration to back away from baby jails, the replacement appears to be indefinite family jails.
I have no faith that any amount of scandal or exposed criminality will get this administration out of office when so many in their party are complicit. I am not at all sanguine about November when they keep coming up with new forms of voter suppression. I don’t know where all this ends.
But I show up with my sign, and I’ll be back there again, because silence is complicity. And I want to thank all of you who have been out there too, protesting, calling your Congresscritters, donating, speaking up. For standing together against despair.
I don’t know when or how all this ends. I don’t know if the arc of history always bends toward justice. But I’ll do what I can to push it in that direction, and I’m glad to have all of you here with me, standing against despair.
On to Top Comments!
From Paul A:
This comment by Olephart I to Mark Sumner's post ‘3 percent’ is Trump's latest lie about immigration—and the justification for his horrid policy deserves recognition for naming the elephant in the room: It is our nation's misguided drug laws that create the problem in almost all immigration issues.
From Railfan:
Murfster35 creates what should instantly become the Democratic slogan for November in his post, An Executive Order won't fix this. The damage for November is already done.
Highlighted by Macchiavelli:
This comment by PissedGrunty, in Eihenetu’s diary Cohen is about to flip, resigns from the RNC, condemns trump’s child separation policy.
Highlighted by HLGEM 1:
This comment by ArtsBoz, making an essential point in First Amendment’s diary Businesses have made millions off Trump’s child separation policy, contracts signed through 2022.
Highlighted by Amaze:
This comment by jqjacobs lays out the painful historical parallels of Trump’s policies. In Jen Hayden’s diary Maddow broke down on live TV while conveying breaking news about baby detention centers.
Top mojo, courtesy of mik:
Picture quilt, courtesy of jotter: