Last November, I said that we were going to take heavy losses for years to come. The Resistance has been resolute, standing in the way of Republicans' promises to destroy the government and loot what's left.
The past week, the dam broke. Despite public outcry from real people with real fear their eyes, the #GOPTaxScam went forward by means of a simple majority in our wrecked political process. Young and old will be affected: An estimated 13M people will lose health coverage and there is a $25B cut to Medicare in 2018. All so we can support generation after generation of the idle rich – a legion of oily Don Jr's who do nothing but inherit and extract.
Speak up about it? Just a week ago, we lost the protection of #NetNeutrality regulations, which coupled with packing the lower courts with ultra-right wing "judges" with lifetime appointments, will directly affect our right to free speech.
I suppose that I knew it would get this bad, but my suspicion is that this is only the beginning. A little momentum, with some weight behind it, starts to shift the balance. It's very hard to recover once it begins. They're going to restart the crusade against ACA in 2018, then come after Medicaid and even social security. They want to erase the sum of social gains of the 20th century.
This doesn't mean that I will stop talking, writing, marching, speaking up – and I hope you won't stop either. After all, THIS IS WHAT THEY WANT. I'm too stubborn to afford them the victory. But I am feeling pretty powerless right now, how about you?
This might help: Why Americans Feel So Powerless: What a Powerless Society Is and What the World Can Learn
Fair warning: It might not.
