Resumen Latinoamericano – North American Bureau
Editorial
January 21, 2017
Photo: Bill Hackwell
In the largest expression of opposition to an incoming president ever in U.S. history 4.5 million people protested Donald Trump’s inauguration for two days in the streets of this country. They stood tall against his agenda of hatred against all who are not filthy rich and white. Not only was this a strong and dramatic signal of things to come but also showed that people are disgusted and are losing confidence in the electoral process that took place in the presidential campaign.
Despite severe restrictions to access the inaugural parade route on January 20, thousands who came to Washington DC still made their way to Pennsylvania Avenue in opposition and were loud and visible all the way from Congress to the White House. Just an hour after being sworn in Trump fired back by signing his first executive order that would eliminate mortgage protection for millions of home owners.
It is hard to imagine an individual who is more misogynist than Donald Trump and he had no problem repeating his disgusting sexism at every chance he got along the presidential campaign trail. On Sunday women responded, No Way! to his message in a massive showing of strength and solidarity across the country. The demand for equality and women’s rights could be heard in marches and rallies in not just big cities but in small towns as well. All of these demonstrations exceeded everyone’s expectations. There were more than a half million women and men in Washington DC, another half million in New York City, another half million in Los Angeles, 200,000 in Denver and on and on. The streets of downtown Chicago became totally grid locked with over 250,000 people. Over 670 locations reported events including Augusta Maine, a small city of 30,000 where over 15,000 came out echoing the demand for equality and women’s rights. Meanwhile hundreds of thousands more protested the Trump agenda in over 100 cities around the world.
The attacks that the forming Trump Administration is planning on the working and poor can clearly be seen in the assembly of his cabinet that will hold power and vast influence on the Treasury of the U.S. Most have little or no experience for the position they are being nominated for but all come from shady and corrupt pasts. Take for example Secretary of Education nominee Betsy De Vos who is a billionaire Republican donor who never went to public schools or allowed her children to either and has instead spent her entire adulthood trying to destroy public education in the U.S. Then there is Andrew Puzder, Trump’s pick for Department of Labor who is a CEO for a fast food chain that has been cited for wage theft. Puzder is viciously anti union and opposes minimum wage laws and overtime pay. Climate change denier Scott Pruitt is up for head of the Environmental Protection Agency whose mission he adamantly opposes and during his hearings said he had no knowledge about the poisoning of the water of Flint Michigan. The rest are equally as bad and the only thing they all have in common is that they are all multi millionaires with connections to Wall Street and the banks whose nominations are either because they are business friends of Trump or he expects them to be in the future. Trump’s view moving forward is to pillage and privatize government operations at the expense of the great majority of people in the U.S.
In the congressional hearings taking place Democrats are asking angry “tough” questions about the qualifications of the nominees but in the end they, like they always do, will cave in and allow this rogue’s gallery to happen. There may be a few good honest members of Congress but they are a tiny minority. The vast majority of Democratic representatives are as rich as their Republican counterparts and are just as beholden to the corporate bandits that control and own everything. The Democrats as a political party cannot even defend themselves so how can we expect them to protect the interests of the great majority living in this country moving forward?
Under Obama we lived through 8 years of never ending war, more racism, a dramatic increase in police brutality, greater attacks on immigrant rights, a greater gap in the separation of wealth and we cannot forget any of that. All of the great energy of activism that we just witnessed cannot be channeled and led back to the democrats who always disappoint. This next period needs to be one of building a network of new activist organizations who are willing to stand up to the status quo. The fight back in the U.S. has now begun and it must be sustained and develop into a unified independent movement to be reckoned with.
Source: Resumen Latinoamericano