Every morning, before I leave for work, I do a quick check whether I have my wallet, keys, phone, chapstick and hanky. It is a habit that has become second nature. In girding for the Trump Administration, it seems to me we need a similar kind of system so that we can keep track of -- and not neglect -- every offensive and horrifying aspect of his presidency. This also should become second nature.
But it won't be easy. Trump's strategy seems to be to bombard us with so much craziness that it is virtually impossible to focus on any one thing. Governing by whack-a-mole. As soon as the public zeroes in on one outrage, he moves on to another and then another, so that the first one is forgotten. Case in point: when was the last time you heard politicians or pundits evince concern over Trump's selection of Steve Bannon, a white nationalist, as his chief advisor. That was so last month. With the more recent cascade of horrifying appointments, financial entanglements with foreign governments, bullying tweets and revelations about Russia, Trump's racism is receding from the public discourse.
But we can't let it. We can't normalize the madness. We can't lose sight of what unprecedented and dangerous territory we are in. Every day we should be asking each of the following questions:
(1) what has Trump done that is racist (including maintaining a white nationalist advisors) or undermines the rights and dignity of people of color;
(2) what has Trump done that is misogynist or that undermines the rights and dignity of women -- including reproductive health and privacy;
(3) what has Trump done that is homophobic or that undermines the rights and dignity of the LGBT community;
(4) what has Trump done that is anti-Islam or anti-Semitic or that undermines the rights and dignity of non-Christians;
(5) what has Trump done to undermine efforts to combat climate change and promote environmental health;
(6) what has Trump done to offend our allies or antagonize our adversaries;
(7) what has Trump done to quell dissent, threaten the media or bully individuals or organizations that question his policies or express negative views about him;
(8) what has Trump done to enrich himself or his family;
(9) what has Trump not done to address his myriad conflict of interests and financial entanglements;
(10) what has Trump done that is ignorant or deranged or evidence that he is unqualified to hold public office;
(11) what has Trump done to consolidate power and undermine government and civic institutions
(12) what has Trump done that is treasonous, violates the Constitution or the Bill of Rights or basic human rights or that otherwise veers towards demagoguery and fascism.
This is, sadly, a work in progress. What have I missed?
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