Many people have had the experience of caring very much for someone but still recognizing that that person is deeply flawed, wanting to help him or her be better in some way but not quite knowing how.
That’s the way many of us feel about our country now. We’re embarrassed every time Donald Trump opens his mouth, ashamed that such a crude, cruel, ignorant, and self-centered person is leading our country.
Now he has taken us into another war in the Middle East, something he had specifically promised he would not do—remember his saying he would end wars rather than starting new ones?—and the Iran war is one he himself seems to have no idea of how to exit with honor.
The old adage that wars are much easier to get into than to get out of is proven true again. One day Trump says he has honorable people in Iran to negotiate with; the next day he’s calling Iran’s leaders “scum” and saying they’re impossible to deal with.
Which is it? It would be easy to think things are hopeless, that we can only watch the tragedy unfold. Maybe (so that theory goes) when Trump has done his worst, leaving our country’s unity, economy, reputation, and sense of accomplishment in tatters, then we can scrabble around and find bits and pieces of our country worth saving.
That’s not good enough. This is exactly the time when our nation most needs us.
Each of us must find actions we can take to resist Trump. Yes, this country is flawed. We should never have put him in office once, let alone twice, but he’s there now and we must deal with that fact.
What can one person do? We can become active in citizens groups and in our local political party, supporting candidates whose values align with our own.
We can attend protests (like the No Kings rallies, which have taken place recently in both cities and small towns, Durant included) and write Letters to the Editor of the local newspaper (if a town is lucky enough to still have one, which happily Durant is).
We can contact our senators and representatives to express our outrage at Trump’s lawlessness and urge them to oppose him however they can. They still have the “power of the purse,” so whenever he wants to expand the war, build new vanity projects celebrating himself, or otherwise waste this country’s precious resources, they can vote a resounding NO!
Don’t know how to contact those people who are charged with representing us in Congress? Information about each (mailing address and phone numbers both in Washington D.C. and in one or more Oklahoma offices) is readily available on each politician’s website.
If you don’t have a senator’s or representative’s specific phone number handy, you can also call the U. S. Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121) and ask to be connected to that politician’s office. When a staffer answers, provide your name, confirm that you’re a constituent, state the issue or bill you’re calling about, and briefly give your opinion.
My favorite way to contact either my representative (for Oklahoma Congressional District 2, it’s Josh Brecheen) or senators (for Oklahoma, they’re James Lankford and Alan Armstrong) is to use the contact form on that politician’s website. Just type in your name and other identifying information and your message, and an email will go to the pol you’re contacting.
This is no time to stay silent. Our nation may have its flaws, but I know I’m incredibly lucky to have been born an American.
I love my country, and I want to help it be its best self.