Put Out the Fire First

This feels different than anything I have experienced before. During Covid, the threat was external and there was at least some sense the government was trying to protect us even if imperfectly. Now the danger is coming from within from leaders actively dismantling rights, enabling authoritarianism, and targeting their own citizens. It is not just fear anymore. It is the deeper shock of betrayal, realizing the people in power are not failing to help, they are complicit in the harm.

It is also witnessing how Democrats have completely failed everyone in this moment. We thought they were going to fight back and only some are just now starting to. In the beginning, the movements seemed so much more united, but everything has become disorganized and convoluted. The infighting is relentless. People are waging purity tests against the very people who are still trying to fight back.

And I am not saying the concerns people have are unimportant. Maybe “purity test” is not even the right term, but that is how it comes across. If someone has made an anti-trans comment or holds a misinformed view on trans rights, women’s sports, or another issue, that absolutely needs to be addressed. They should be educated, challenged, and pushed to do better. But if that same person is also actively fighting against trump and the authoritarian regime, they are still an ally in the most urgent fight we have right now. We cannot have trans rights, queer rights, or any real progress on these issues if someone like trump is in power. The regime will not just stall progress, it will actively roll back everything we have fought for.

Take Gavin Newsom for example. People are rightfully angry at some of his anti-trans remarks. But he is also one of the only governors aggressively and publicly pushing back against trump. Other Democratic governors are doing their part, but he is the most outspoken. If we drive away every imperfect ally in this moment, we are doing the regime’s work for them. Once the regime falls, then we can actively work on these issues and educate lawmakers and governors like Newsom so they understand and support the rights of trans people, queer people, and every marginalized group.

It is like arguing over what color to paint the kitchen while the entire house is up in flames. We need to extinguish the fire now. Once the fire is extinguished and the house has been repaired from all the fire and smoke damage, then we can discuss what color to paint the kitchen.

Put out the fire first.

Then we can fix what needs fixing within our own walls.

And we also have to be honest that some of this infighting might not even be organic. We have seen this before. In 2016, Russian trolls and bots created entire fake Facebook accounts posing as real Americans with full profiles, photos, and posting histories. These accounts looked completely legitimate, but they did not actually belong to real people. They were designed to spread misinformation, pit Democrats and progressives against each other, and fracture the left so trump could win. We would be naive to think they are not doing it again now. Some of the loudest voices pushing division and attacking imperfect allies could be bad actors whose goal is to keep us fighting amongst ourselves instead of uniting against the real threat.

I do not understand why people are so quick to forget the past. It has only been ten years since that happened. How have we forgotten that so quickly? Did Covid really do that much of a number on our brains and our memories? We lived through an election where foreign actors used fake accounts to divide us and poison the conversation. We saw it work. And yet here we are, falling for the same tactics all over again.

And let’s be clear. This is not just about Republicans. The mainstream Democratic Party has been a huge problem as well. The moderate Democrats, the ones who play it safe and cater to big donors, are failing us in this moment. There is no clear leader for the opposition party. Just a scattered handful of people doing what they can in their own corners, but no one uniting us under a single, powerful front. What the Democratic Party needs to do right now is tell AIPAC to fuck off, endorse the candidates the people actually want, and start listening to their base. If they refuse, they should know they can be primaried in the midterms. We will elect those who actually stand for what the people want, not what a lobbying group or wealthy donors dictate.

This chaos, disorganization, and lack of unity is a big part of why I have not written anything for a while. It has been hard to even know where to start when the opposition party seems leaderless and the movements feel fractured. But I refuse to be a part of this fucking chaotic reality. We need to unite and do everything in our power to stop this chaos, this disorganization, and this disunity.

We must come together and defeat the fucking trump regime once and for all.

That is the goal.

That is Priority One.