So, uh. This weekend was wild.
Protests of the “DeploraBall.” “#DisruptJ20” activists preventing people from attending the inauguration. Someone clocking National Policy Institute founder Richard Spencer in the face. (All of the sweet, sweet remixes that came out of that well-placed elbow contacting Spencer’s temple.) Five times the number of people that attended the inauguration coming out in support of the Women’s March on Washington. Solidarity demonstrations of said march popping up all over the world — including Antarctica.
Pundits are calling this weekend one of the largest weekends of protest in recent history. And honestly? It’s taken some of the edge off what was generally a pretty awful weekend. Trump is still the president, but there’s still some hope left for a resistance and that’s a good goddamn thing.
But still. Trump’s team did remove the LGBTQ+ resources from the White House website, as well as any mention of climate change, disabilities or AIDS support. Trump’s HUD department did suspend the FHA mortgage insurance rate cut less than an hour after Trump took office and clear the way to repeal the Affordable Care Act. The Trump administration censured the Parks Department for retweeting a New York Times article on the inauguration numbers. And still, on Saturday, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer lied through his teeth in his first ever press briefing. If this is what we’re in for over these next four years, I don’t know what to say.
Here’s what I will say, though: I’ll be posting about things through thick and thin. The Trump era is going to require as many eyes and ears on the ground, watching power for signs of atrocities, as possible. In whatever way I can, I’ll be aiding in that.