Day One.

Deportation orders. A Nazi salute. A $500 billion investment into servers for AI. What a week it’s been. I’ve been scratching away, so this is a compilation of thoughts that I’ve had while keeping track of events. It’s a time capsule of sorts as I work on larger projects, and I wanted to invite you into my brain space. So here we go.

Most Americans have no idea what’s coming. But no one should be surprised. They wrote it all down. It was all contained within the text of the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025. The white nationalist manifesto came to life in the People’s House on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

The feigned outrage of the liberal media and ball-spiking celebrations on the right reflect their true interests: the ratings bonanza that is Donald J. Trump. The spectacle-in-chief is back and he delivered as usual in an inaugural address that was blood thirsty and divisive.

We’re taking back the Panama Canal from the Chinese apparently because so many Americans died there and they’re screwing us somehow. (Forget the fact that the Chinese don’t control it and that it’s located in Panama, or that the workers who perished during its construction were mostly from the West Indies. It’s ours!)

We’re renaming the Gulf of Mexico, because fuck it. Why not?

There are only two genders now.

We’re out of the Paris Climate Agreement again.

We’re going to “drill baby drill” even though we’re maximizing domestic oil and gas production currently and are already energy independent.

From half-truths to blatant lies, these are ethnonationalist populist rationales for delivering on the promise of oligarchy. That’s why obsequious tech billionaires were in attendance. And they’re all laughing at you. They’re laughing at the left for allowing them to get here. They’re laughing at those who voted for this for being so blind.

These are the headline distractions we talked about so Unf*ckers know the drill. The terrifying shit is happening elsewhere.

I’m not saying that these aren’t haunting and real. The normalization of anti-trans rhetoric, threats of military violence against our allies, leaving the Paris Climate Agreement. These are real and stupid and dangerous.

But life for millions of people is about to get scary. Trump’s border czar Tom Homan is a fucking maniac. The way he speaks so casually about rounding up migrants in sanctuary cities is positively chilling. The border is already officially closed. The CPB One app has been shut down, but the data to track these people is in Trump’s possession. The undocumented are to be hunted and deported and it will all be captured on television, rendering us bloodthirsty Hunger Games viewers in our respective districts. Even naturalized citizens, if they’ve been convicted of a crime, are going to be sent back to where they came from if Trump’s orders stand.

This is the beginning of everything Trump promised and then some. The disgusting civility that Joe Biden offered Donald and Melania was the ultimate performance as Biden’s last presidential act was to pardon his family members preemptively. But what of the others who defied our new king? Every person on the inauguration stage that isn’t part of Trump’s circle or Biden’s immediate family will be targeted by the new administration. This is Day One and it feels more like Ground Zero. We’re here.

The liberal establishment will tell you this is the time for resistance. But that’s why we’re here. Resistance. The very meaning of the world implies that you accept what’s in front of you and push back against it. That’s why we’re here in the first place. Ask Jack Smith and Merrick Garland how resistance is going. Ask Kamala Harris. The Democrats in the House and the Senate who find themselves in the minority again. The three liberal justices who write dissenting opinions and deliver them into the ether.

There was one example of brave resistance that should be highlighted and celebrated, however.

The Right Rev. Mariann Budde asked Donald Trump to show mercy on immigrants and members of the LGBTQ community and in doing so committed the first official cardinal sin of this new era. It was a bold act of defiance to our Dear Leader; one that will likely be met with a forceful rebuke. For if there is one man whom god has chosen above all others, it is Donald J. Trump. At this point, do we even need to question what the “J” now stands for?

Trump did, in fact, demand an apology from the Bishop. Because he’s a bitch. Watching the entire Trump family stare in disbelief at what they were witnessing was the only satisfying moment over these past several days. Against a backdrop of obsequious billionaires, GOP faithful and even Democrats on Capital Hill, Budde showed up. Kudos to her.

Right there out in the open, she challenged authority. But in the shadows of our urban centers, the quivering trans youth in our schools, and everyone online danger is now ever present. This unholy alliance of Big Tech and this new administration is the realization of the technofeudal era and the bridge toward science fiction.

My older daughter and her friends were buzzing Tuesday night as many of them discovered they were suddenly following Donald Trump and J.D. Vance across Meta’s platforms. Turns out, there was a “glitch” (according to Meta) that transferred the White House followers to Trump’s personal account in the transition. I’m not one for conspiracies so I’ll take them at their word, but it certainly underscores how blurred the lines are between our government and the oligarchs who control the flow of information to the population.

There is nowhere to hide. No safe place. The eyes of the government belong to Trump. The long arm of the law—and the ability to abuse it—is in his control. The level of retribution against those who opposed him will be shocking.

And because we’ve all accepted the terms and conditions of the major stalking apps on our phones, dissent will be monitored. As I mentioned, the CBP One app that asylum seekers in the immigration queue were encouraged to download has been shut down, but the data now belongs to Trump. The public square that is “X” is in the hands of a proven Nazi sympathizer and chief ally to Trump. Zuck’s products are in the pockets of 80% of all internet users, and he’s in Trump’s pocket.

Perhaps you’re not on Facebook or Instagram. Or you don’t use WhatsApp. Maybe you left X for Bluesky like me. Maybe you refuse to shop on Amazon. Search on DuckDuckGo instead of Google. You might even use a VPN to hide your IP address.

It doesn’t matter. If you’re on the internet in any way, they have you. Data privacy and protection is a myth. Your service provider, phone manufacturer, online bank and bill paying system, credit cards, EZPass…They have it all and they know what’s in your heart.

They will use this data in all the ways we’ve been warned against. Journalists will be targeted and speech will be chilled. The social media algorithms will promote the party line. Soon we’ll be sitting on the edge of our seats in Oceania wondering how we’re faring in the battle against Eurasia and Eastasia. Hopefully our Dear Leader will keep us safe.

That’s why the talk of resistance does indeed seem futile.

Nothing encapsulates this new cozy arrangement more than Trump’s new infrastructure announcement. Not bridges and roads. Not schools or climate resilience projects. A $500 billion dollar fund dedicated to building out the “compute” required to power American dominance in the AI space. Building on our recent AI Job Apocalypse essay, hopefully you can see how serious this is. This is a digital moat the powerful are building around the working class without regard for what happens to displaced workers. An investment of this scale into computer servers and energy sources to power them rather than ensuring food security for the children of this country is the most depraved act a wealthy country could perform. But don’t worry, food insecurity is just the result of bad parenting...according to Ben Shapiro:

"If there is a problem of children actually starving, that is a child endangerment scenario in which CPS needs to be called, if you're talking about actual child starvation. The truth is, it does not take that much money to feed a child. I know, I have three of them. You should be feeding your child before you feed yourself."

An oldie but a goodie from Shapiro to remind you of how fucking sick the right wing in this country is.

I cannot count the number of times people close to me have said, “I just don’t understand. How did this happen? How are we here again?” You know my answer: Forces of evil and anger prevail during times of economic precarity because people are afraid. You don’t beat back, or resist a cauldron of hateful policies and spiteful rhetoric when the people you purport to support are in crisis. You offer better solutions.

The architects of both Trump presidencies were seated alongside him today in succession like sentries of the establishment order. Clinton, Bush, Obama and Biden. Clinton was the pinnacle of neoliberal thinking. Bush mixed in neoconservatism. Obama put a sheen and gloss on it but changed nothing and Biden has the distinction of being the last guard of neoliberalism as it died on the stage today. That was the peaceful order of transition. The changing of the guard. The handing off of the baton from one order to another. The neoliberal order to corporate colonial state.

Trump came to power the first time because of Obama’s stubbornly slow neoliberal response and recovery to the financial disaster penned by Clinton’s deregulatory frenzy, and worsened by Bush’s utter mismanagement. The pandemic laid bare the incompetency of Trump the first time. No one was more surprised to find him in the Oval Office than Trump himself. He cobbled together a merry band of misfits who shared no vision and had no direction.

But as we’ve said, this time is different. They’ve had time to plan, and the people who crafted the agenda of this administration are going to shred the Constitution, hand the keys to the economy to the billionaire class, and destroy unions, the environment, the poor and working class, non-white citizens and non-citizens alike and generally anyone who stands in their way.

I don’t have to watch or listen to the pundit class to know what they’re saying. Most of the liberals will be talking about the lack of civility, how Joe Biden held his head high and Trump couldn’t bring himself to even acknowledge his predecessors. How Trump was callous, uncouth and uncivil. I know I’m right. I know that’s what they’re doing right now.

• 1.7 trillion dollars in student debt.
• A million unhoused people on the streets.
• Household debt at an all time high.
• A housing shortage.
• Persistent inflation.
• Threat of joblessness.
• Record bankruptcies due to medical costs.
• Worsening climate disasters.
• Insurance companies screwing policy holders.

These conditions are the direct result of neoliberal policies whether the average person knows to call it that. So let’s put it another way. This is class warfare. Fascists or wanna be fascists rise to power in times of economic precarity and fear even if they represent the very thing that is suppressing people. All they have to do is offer a vision and prey on these fears and conditions. That’s the failure of the Democratic Party ultimately. They have only themselves to blame for trying to hold the middle, play defense and “resist.”

This is a time of rebirth. It’s day one in more ways than one. It’s either Day One of giving in to corporate colonial forces or day one of a new plan. One that centers the working class and the planet. I don’t know who needs to hear this on the Democratic side of the aisle but Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and Joe Biden are not your friends. You need feel no sympathy for them as they are all part of the journey to this moment.

It’s Day One of building a new coalition of citizens who speak clearly, with one voice to demand certain non-negotiables of our future. Medicare for all, guaranteed work, guaranteed shelter, a livable planet and true democracy. You’ll notice none of these things were uttered aloud in the Capitol rotunda. Because you can bank on Trump for one courtesy. As full of shit as he is, he does not bullshit. He is not fucking around.

I don’t like speaking in absolutes but I’m willing to go on record to guarantee a few things right now.

I guarantee Trump will fuck this economy for the majority of us. Because it’s already on the way to happening; his tax cuts for the wealthy, punitive tariffs, saber rattling with our biggest trading partners, deregulation and gutting of the green investments in the IRA will hasten things. It will run hot before it runs cold but it will happen. It’s basic math.

You, I, everyone, will bear witness to gut wrenching scenes of deportation that will challenge your humanity.

Violence toward the LGBTQ+ community and Arab Muslim Americans will be visible and visceral.

The first sign of mass uprisings against the corporate class will be put down with ferocity not seen in this country since the 1970s.

If you want to talk resistance, I’m here for it. If it makes you feel better. But it can’t just be online or on social media. Can you channel the will of the Right Reverend? Will you stand up at a school board meeting to defend a trans youth in your school? Or stand up at a zoning board meeting in favor of a mosque being built in your community?

What about the big stuff? Will you resist deportation measures by hiding an immigrant family you know? Will you help pay for a young person you don’t even know to get an abortion? Those are acts of resistance. The ones that carry risk.

Can you do both? Can you commit to small or large acts of authentic resistance while speaking to your friends and neighbors, or family members about what the future of America could hold? A future where every American has a job, a bed and access to healthcare? Clean running water and an education that centers the child and teaches history not for profit institutions that teach Creationism?

Healthcare, shelter, a clean environment, public education, true democracy, a job. These are pillars of a left movement that the Democrats have ignored and Republicans call crazy and radical. Taking over Greenland, deporting millions of people, seizing the Panama Canal and renaming the Gulf of Mexico. These are radical acts that have been normalized by resistance without a plan.

Don’t wait for a new candidate to appear on the national stage. Just start the movement on your own by talking about it. I’ve offered my opening salvo in our five non-negotiables of the left because we need to start somewhere in a place of agreement and alignment. Leaders take hold of movements but the movement has to come first. Heroes emerge in times of crisis. Leaders rise in moments like this.

And please stop acting surprised by any of this. Trump is as inevitable as Thanos. He is our inevitability. Remember, they wrote it all down. They told us this would happen. And now it’s here. If you want to know what scares them, inauguration day offered the greatest reminder. I think it’s a glorious coincidence that the inauguration was held on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. I really do. Because in the comparison we see our reflection. And in his story we find the truth.

You see, Dr. King wasn’t silenced by the establishment because of his pursuit of non-violent justice. He wasn’t murdered because he had a dream. He was silenced because of his uncomfortable resistance to the Vietnam War. He was murdered for his radical movement the Poor People’s Campaign. The race reckoning was hundreds of years in the making and he was the right man for the moment. But when he took this celebrity and turned it against the white establishment in a way that challenged their economic hegemony, well, that was another matter entirely.

There are young people in this country who studied the I Have a Dream speech and little else of Dr. King’s life and work. But he was so much more. It’s time for us on the left to reacquaint ourselves with radical visions and real history. This is where the seeds of transformation lie.

It’s going to get worse before it gets better and the “getting better” part depends upon our ability to reconnect with our so-called radical roots to understand that the means of achieving justice, equity and prosperity might be radical but the ends are anything but.

Here endeth the rant.

P.S. Regarding Elon’s Nazi salute. Ask anyone who defends him doing this not once, but twice, and with vigor—on the heels of publishing an editorial in support of the German AfD Party—the actual heir of the Nazi Party—ask them to mimic his double salute at the next school board meeting, office meeting, playground, sporting event. See if anyone mistakes it for a heartfelt gesture then.

And if they push back and say that he’s a neurodivergent genius who makes awkward gestures sometimes, ask them to clarify the genius bit, because anyone with an iota of intelligence knows that this is the Nazi salute, modified from the Italian fascist salute, and ergo not Roman. So he’s either really fucking stupid or knew exactly what he was doing. I will accept either answer.