Resolve

It is the night before the second inauguration of Donald Trump as the President of the United States. I thought I would be agitated, but I am not. I am resolved. I feel a steely calm. I expect the coming Trump regime to be very bad, and I expect it will be worse than I can even anticipate. Yet I am as prepared for it as I can be: I fought hard as hell to avoid this, which means I have no regrets about my own role so far; I have been gathering as much reliable information as I can about what the Republican Fascists have in store for the country and the world; I have been slowly finding some organizations to follow and support because they seem to appreciate the gravity of the current moment and to be taking some concrete steps to fight back; I have been gathering my inner circle close to me and have been expanding my local activities and ties. I have also begun to figure out how to write some scholarship about legal topics without hiding or understating the precariousness of rule of law in the United States now and for the foreseeable future.

Tonight, I found myself remembering the hard times and serious challenges I have overcome in my own life, personal, professional, and political. This reminds me of my own values and the strength and courage I have to draw upon. I have also been thinking about those who have endured and struggled against dark political and social circumstances in the United States and elsewhere, historically and today. I am thankful for their examples and for a feeling of camaraderie and solidarity with them, across time and space.

I have never loved this country because it is my country or because it is the United States of America. When its government, its legal system, and its culture more generally have been more committed to achieving justice and to dealing in facts, I have valued this country. Tonight, I do not. I do not think I am going to like or admire the United States again for a long while, if ever. So be it. I will still work to improve it, not out of love for the country, but out of love for justice and truthfulness. The government of the country is about to change. My foundational commitments will not.