Opinion | Rebellion is key in a time of political submission
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Commemorations like Black History Month and Women’s History Month are an act of rebellion now more than ever.
When diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs are under attack, these observances are a protest. When the right to abortion is being systematically stripped away from women, leaving them with little to no choices even in the face of major health risks, it turns from a celebration to a demonstration.
Those aren’t the only communities facing governmental oppression. Transgender athletes are being targeted, although they only represent a sliver of the population. People who have lived in this country for decades are being threatened with deportation.
In a country with a vehemently “anti-woke” government, prioritizing these groups becomes a lot harder. It may seem futile to even celebrate their accomplishments, as we see them stripped back day by day. However, it is vital to have dissent in an increasingly homogeneous political system.
Politicians from the U.S. Congress, all the way down to local city governments, are bowing down to the powers that be. With Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency attempting to take funding away from anything and everything, giving in to the pressure is becoming the norm.
Take Huntington Beach’s city council. They are installing a plaque at the city’s public library that says, “Magical Alluring Galvanizing Adventurous.” It’s a clear reference to President Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) slogan.
Former NFL punter Chris Kluwe railed against the decision, and MAGA in general, at a council meeting and was arrested for peaceful civil disobedience at the end of his speech. It has been made clear that if you don’t grovel at the feet of Trump, then expect punishments.
Nothing has highlighted this more than Trump’s recent social media tirade about protests on college campuses. According to him, federal funding will stop for colleges that allow “illegal” protests and anybody in those protests will either be expelled or deported.
That is an insane statement from the president of this country. It threatens the First Amendment's freedom of speech and is a wildly subjective phrase. To Trump, “illegal” could just mean a protest for something he doesn’t agree with. That is scary.
The bigger problem is that nobody close enough to the president to matter would ever think of going against his train of thought. If you voice even the slightest disagreement, you run the risk of losing your entire livelihood.
Politics in the U.S. are constantly described as polarized. This may be true when looking at the two-party system, but for Republicans the exact opposite is true. They are politically submissive and this has been a growing trend since Trump’s first term.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) were his biggest opponents in the 2016 primary. Even though they lost, those two were supposed to be the voices within the party that challenged the president moving forward. Rubio is now the secretary of state and Cruz always praises Trump, most recently for his State of the Union address.
How can you be opponents with somebody when sucking up to them puts you in a more favorable position?
Over the past decade, the right has very quickly become an echo-chamber for Trump’s ideologies. Politics in the U.S. used to be about people with differing opinions having debates, even in the same party, and then ultimately coming to a decision that is the best for the majority of people. Not anymore.
Politics should not be about fearing the president as if he were king. Except, that is exactly what Trump wants. He recently posted to the conservative website Truth Social, saying “LONG LIVE THE KING!” after trying to end congestion pricing in New York. The official White House social media accounts reposted his phrase, including an artificial intelligence-generated image of him wearing a crown.
With the looming danger of being fired, losing funding or being excommunicated from the GOP, people feel like they have to submit. The easiest way to get voted out of office as a Republican nowadays is to say anything slightly anti-MAGA, so why would you?
Journalists can’t even disagree with the president anymore, or they’ll be removed from White House events and replaced with Trump’s media buddies. The checks and balances system has been destroyed.
It’s a scary time. No democracy can stand when people at all levels, from local citizens all the way to Congress, are afraid of upsetting the president and his cronies. Protesting is vital to show the government that they can’t threaten you into submission.
Trump and his allies have shown no desire to play by the rules. To combat that, you cannot try to be civil and think within the normal societal boundaries. Fight back with some actual fervor, don’t just be performative.
When silence is the goal, noise is the only appropriate response.
