Reflecting upon the events of the past two weeks, I have found myself both hopeful, yet also worrying that our country will continue its freefall downward from a democracy to an oligarchy - with strong fascist overtones. As someone who has experienced bipolar disorder, the situation of our country makes me think of what is called a “mixed state.” It is a period where one can experience both manic and depressive symptoms - alternating or simultaneously. It is feeling energized, then hopeless, then assertive, then dejected. In trying to gauge the state of the country, that is how it has felt almost every day since January 20th.
I put hope before despair in the subtitle - because that is what I am desperately trying to cling to in the face of our current situation. I had forgotten what hope felt like since the inauguration, but June 14th pleasantly surprised me. I was anxiously hoping that Trump’s military parade and the No Kings protests would not culminate in an atmosphere like a scene from The Purge. However, I was pleasantly surprised. It turned out to be exactly what I needed to maintain the hope that our country wasn’t completely doomed. I asked people if they were going to watch the parade, and they vehemently stated that they had absolutely no intention to - almost as if it would be an act of betrayal to do so; but I did tune in, and it was completely worth it.
There was alternating coverage of the parade and the No Kings Day protests, and I actually saw more coverage of the protests than the parade - because the sight of millions of people passionately protesting in over 2,000 events across the country was so much more exciting than the dismal parade that nobody wanted to watch. As disturbing as it has been, I have watched every event from the inauguration (which left me in tears), to the joint address to Congress (which left me livid), to watching this parade. Seeing the contrast between the protests and the parade in real-time is actually what restored some hope for me.
Whether people wanted it or not, the parade that was supposedly to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the military, was obviously a $40,000,000 birthday gift from the American people to Trump. However, I believe the most disappointed person in the country was the birthday boy himself. There was plenty of room to sit in the bleachers - and the cheering was so subdued that you could hear the squeaking wheels of the tanks as they rolled by. Trump’s sycophants who decided (or were forced) to attend looked bored out of their minds - and even Trump looked like a seething grumpy baby who was ready to go down for his nap.
It literally rained on Trump’s parade, and when he took the stage after J.D. Vance’s introduction to try to hype up the crowd, he didn’t seem to talk with the fervor he usually does. He was presented with the flag, as a gift, and everyone sang “Happy Birthday” to him. After administering the oath of enlistment to new recruits and welcoming them to the United States Army, he concluded with an anti-climactic, “Have a great life!” Have a great life? From a guy who says, “I know words. I have the best words,” these ones didn’t sound very inspired. Maybe by that time he had realized there may have been a subliminal message when Creedence Clearwater’s draft-dodging “Fortunate Son” played as soldiers marched by him…
We have been told that we will be greater and stronger than ever before, by the man who is weakening us. How and when will we be greater if we are being thrown into turmoil by one who claims that anyone who goes against him (not the American people) is labeled as hating our country? How does sicing the military on its own countrymen make America great? People exercising their First Amendment rights are being attacked - but those who support those actions do not seem to have any problem with proudly asserting their Second Amendment rights.
It has been ten years since Trump rode the golden escalator down and announced his bid for the presidency. It was funny - until it wasn’t. It became reality. Trump ran as a Republican, but he is not Republican. He is Trumpian. During his first presidency, there were “guardrails” that kept him in check, but the reality of Trump 2.0 is an outlaw with 34 felony counts under his belt running our country - alienating the world and dividing his own country so that he can conquer it.
Basing his candidacy for re-election largely upon the notion that he would stop “endless wars” - and the hallmark of his presidency would be peace - is one of the main policies his base voted for. It is what some of his most staunch supporters in Congress counted on him delivering. Those who voted for him because they thought he would uphold the promises and policies that he made, and are now regretting it, owe it to the rest of the country to do their best to make things “right” - in the true sense of the word…
The past two weeks have indeed held some hope amidst all the despair. The notion that most of us voted for this is being debunked. Thousands may have shown up for Trump on his day, but millions showed up for democracy on its day.
It was a surreal feeling when some of us found ourselves on the same side as Tucker Carlson and Marjorie Taylor Green in the past week - as she said that “Americans just want to have fun” and not get into wars, and Tucker Carlson challenged Ted Cruz over his lack of knowledge and humanity.
Is the split in the MAGA cohort a good thing? I hope so. I hope that Trump continues to lose support among his base, and that those in Congress who do not agree with even some of his policies will finally stand up for us. Also, I hope that in the next elections, the enthusiasm and passion for democracy on display June 14th will be as apparent at the polls as it was that day.
I hope that we can emerge from our mixed state - more on the side of hope and humanity than despair.