Dear Democrats:
I have sat and wondered how to put into words what I am feeling. I have spoken with several of you who are also going through the emotional roller coaster of doubt and hope. As much as I want to encourage you to be patient and tolerant, I cannot do that myself, so I certainly cannot ask you to.
Our nation is facing a terror that we have never faced in our history. This is not a terrorist from the Middle East. This is not another country making threats to our democracy. This is our own president. This is happening within the borders of our own beloved America.
America. The very sound of the word sends visions of the beauty of our land. The breathtaking blue waters of the Outer Banks of North Carolina to the tops of the snow covered mountains of Utah. The farmlands of the Mid West and the cotton fields and tobacco fields of the South. All of which has made us America the Beautiful.
Most of all, it’s “we the people” who have made our country beautiful. The melting pot of all the different faces from across the globe who came here on those ships to Staten Island and looked into the face of the Statue of Liberty. These meaningful words written by Emma Lazarus on November 2, 1883, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free. The wretched refuse of your teeming shore, send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door.” President Barack Obama said “Unless you are a Native American, someone brought you here.”
We heard the hate filled words of the candidate Donald Trump and while some of us took him seriously, too many of us did not. “Oh he can’t do that”: “Oh he won’t do that” and ignored the great possibility that he would. We talked about Project 2025, and pointed out all of the dangers of what was coming. We watched as the people cheered at his rallys when he spoke of building a wall and deporting millions of people out of our country. Many of whom are hard working, law abiding and tax paying people who came here to make a better life for themselves and their families. No, not all are “good people” but not all of us are good people either.
It’s hard to believe that in America, a little child is afraid to go to school. Workers are afraid to go to the fields and Mothers are afraid to open their doors. We can look at what is happening in our country today and see the striking comparison of Nazi Germany.
We hear the words out of Donald Trump’s mouth that speak of his “loyal” people and the pressure that he puts on the members of Congress by demanding that they go along with him even if he is violating our Constitution. Those who do not are threatened by our president. This is the same strategy used by Adolf Hitler. He commanded the loyalty oath from the German people. The Nazi Party obtained and legitimised power through its initial revolutionary activities, then through manipulation of legal mechanisms, the use of police powers, and by taking control of the state and federal institutions. This is the same thing we are seeing Trump do in our country today.
The Democrats in Congress have vowed to fight this with “all of our being.” Sadly, unless we can pull some Republicans across the aisle, they have the majority to do what they want. Congress is limited in its ability to check specific excesses of power by a president and, with a Republican majority in the House and the Senate, seems unlikely to pass new laws to restrict Trump’s actions. It will take four Republican senators to join the 47 Democrats to stand up to Trump. It is hard to identify who they might be, and even harder to identify the Republican House members who might vote to impose restrictions on him. So far, the resistance of his intolerable dictatorship actions have gone uncontested by the Republican majority.
Never in our history have we witnessed a president who has vowed to “get even” with the people in our legal system who were doing their job in prosecuting Trump for his many illegal actions. Mr. Trump feels unconstrained about punishing the disloyal. He is potentially willing to go further against his enemies than he had pledged on the campaign trail and that there will be a price for any opposition to come.
Trump has made no secret that his target is immigration. Yes, we need more discipline at our borders but to focus on immigrants who have made our country their home, had their children, work and pay taxes, and abide by our laws are subject to the same ramifications as those who have abused our generosity.
The crackdown on immigration could drive up inflation and hurt a wide range of businesses. The reduction in labor could likely drive up food prices. Immigrants account for about 20% of the agriculture’s overall workforce. Harvesting delicate fruits is more labor intensive than growing oat, wheat and barley.
Construction companies that also include renovations and landscaping would most likely face a labor shortage. Restaurants and food service would be at a large risk. This shortage of workers would include small eating places to raise their wages to attract new workers that would mean hikes in menu prices. This would drive away a lot of customers. Have the American people who have supported Trump’s massive deportation plan really thought this through?
Lynda Kirkpatrick