Choosing courage

Today was tough. Too many Democratic Senators caved, enabling the passage of a truly horrible six month spending bill favored by the Republicans. While that was unfolding on the Senate floor, Donald Trump personally visited the Justice Department and singled out individual U.S. lawyers by name, putting targets on the backs of Norm Eisen and Marc Elias, two attorneys who have had great success litigating against the Trump regimes, among many other achievements in their outstanding careers. Then, to cap off the day, Trump targeted another law firm for retaliation, this time yanking the security clearances of attorneys at Paul, Weiss.

I've included Marc Elias before when listing those whose bravery in standing up to Trump inspires. I encourage you to listen to this clip of Marc commenting on Trump's name-checking him today. Once again Marc displays his courage. No bravado, just firm and realistic resolve. Norm too makes it clear that he's not backing down, writing "Here’s my response to Donald Trump lashing out at me today at the DOJ: Me & my colleagues at @sddfund.bsky.social are going to litigate & win even more!"

We also saw bravery from some in the fight to stop the Republican spending bill. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, Hakeem Jeffries, and Nancy Pelosi all made strong statements against the Republican bill, breaking ranks with Senator Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and the other Senate Democrats who refused to fight. On the Senate side, numerous Senate Democrats did fight. But Norm and Marc - I know them both slightly - are private citizens taking on a vindictive, criminal President of the United States, thereby showing a distinctive kind of courage. We, their fellow private citizens, can see ourselves in them. They make us realize what we too are capable of.

Both Norm and Marc have been practicing courage for a long time. They have both fought hard fights, winning many and losing some. They have cultivated their resilience and their determination. We can all follow their lead. Each day, find a way to do at least one thing in opposition to Republican Fascism. You can get involved with the Musk or Us March Recess effort sponsored by Indivisible, a great grassroots organization fighting for progressivism and democracy in the United States. You can become a member of Democracy Docket, founded by Marc Elias, and a great source of news and information about the pro-democracy movement in the United States. You can get on Mastodon, a social media platform where I, along with many others, regularly organize to fight for rule of law, progressivism, and constitutional democracy in the U.S. There or elsewhere, make it a habit to speak up regularly and publicly against Trump and other Republican Fascists. Join a Tesla Takedown protest. These are just some of the ways you can build your own courage. Getting in the habit of acting bravely is the surest route to being courageous when courageous action is absolutely required.