From Baltimore Sun
My friends, this is a dark hour. Intolerance, cruelty, racism, misogyny, xenophobia and environmental destruction have been let loose across the land.
Donald Trump controls the Republican Party, the Republican Party controls the House and Senate, and MR. Trump may soon control the Supreme Court.
But here's the thing. Only 27 percent of Americans identify themselves as Republicans, according to a Gallup poll.
Moreover, the vast majority of Americans disapprove of Mr. Trump. He lost the popular vote in 2016 by more than 2.8 million. Since then, his approval rating hasn't exceeded 45 percent.
The GOP itself is no longer a political party, anyway. It is now little more than Donald Trump, Fox News, a handful of billionaire funders and right-wing Christians who oppose a woman's right to choose, gay marriage and the Constitution's separation of church and state.
Yet Mr. Trump is about to make the second Supreme Court nomination of his presidency. And that second nominee -- like Mr. Trump's first, Neil Gorsuch -- is likely to be young enough to remain on the court for the next 40 years.
If confirmed, Mr. Trump's new justice would join four other Republican-appointed justices to form a majority that will interpret the U.S.Constitution and laws in ways inimical to the values of a majority of Americans.
For example, Mr. Trump's new justice is all but certain to join the four other Republican-appointed justices in overturning Roe v. Wade, a 1973 compromise on abortion that still has the support of two-thirds of Americans.
Mr. Trump's new justice is likely to do the same in revoking same-sex marriage, also now supported by about two-thirds of Americans.
I don't have to remind you that all this comes after Republicans essentially stole a Supreme Court seat by refusing to consider President Barack Obama's nominee, Merrick Garland.
In addition to everything I've noted above, Republicans also now control both chambers in 32 states (33 if you count Nebraska, with its single legislative chamber) and 33 governorships. In many of these states, they are entrenching their power by gerrymandering and arranging to suppress votes.
Enough. The question is: What are we -- the vast majority of Americans -- going to do about this?
I have seven modest suggestions.
First and most importantly, do not give up. That's what they would like us to do. Then they'd have no opposition at all. Powerlessness is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Please do not succumb to it.
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