This may turn out to be more deserving of a tweet than a post, but here goes:
Ever since Donald Trump lost the popular and electoral vote but nonetheless turned out millions of voters, the media has been running with “Trumpism” as the new reality. And they are probably right insofar as no matter where Donald Trump goes next (fingers crossed to prison), there is strong evidence that millions of people will continue to resonate with this ultra right white nationalist fever dream whoever peddles it.
The current White House occupant has spent his entire career putting his name on things. It appears to be most if not all of what he cares about. When your presidential legacy’s cornerstones are an accelerating decay of our democracy and 100s of thousands of needless deaths, what else can you focus on? I, for one, refuse to give him the satisfaction of naming a movement after him.
While I and others continue to address the very real conditions that make this dangerous insanity possible (increasing gap between rich and poor and weak social safety net), the trend may still accelerate for a while. One thing we can do however is to stop using the term above and maybe just stop talking about him period. How ’bout we talk instead about what we want: Medicare for All, affordable housing, universal college, universal child care.
