First Thoughts: Republican Regime

I've kept this blog on a back burner for years now, never quite knowing what it should be. Recipes and cooking, while a passion, just weren't a great fit. But now that the political winds have shifted and we have our first Oompa Loompa as President, and a Republican-controlled Congress prepared to write over the will of the people, well, I think we have a winner.

I've been thinking quite a bit about who I am, how I'll react to the administration, and what I can do to fight so many fights that need fighting (without burning out). I am a woman, a feminist, an activist, smart, educated, informed, pro-choice, for birth control, for education, an atheist. I know that different people have different experiences, but that doesn't make those experiences any less valid or true than mine. I believe that Black Lives Matter, and we need to stop militarizing the police and stop systematically targeting people of color as criminals. I believe in indigenous people and their right to their lands and to sovereign government. I believe in protecting the planet, and am an environmentalist--fossil fuels are a dead-end fuel source that's killing the planet, climate change is a scientific fact, public lands belong in public hands. I believe in science.

In Republican terms, I'm a libtard traitor whore. That's great. I'll wear that title proudly, because it means I'm pissing off the right people. I am not a Republican. I do not believe in trickle-down economics, gerrymandering out those who disagree, that poor people aren't worthy of being treated with dignity and respect because they're lazy, that women who want to control over their reproductive systems are sluts, that women who are sexually assaulted or raped or abused were somehow asking for it or otherwise deserving of blame. I don't believe in "America First" when our planet is too small for that sort of small-mindedness. I'm not afraid of immigrants.

As far as how I'll fight and react, well, I think there's a place here for reaction and fighting. This gives me space to explain my beliefs, my positions, my reasons for those beliefs. Yes, I'll keep signal-boosting on Facebook and Twitter. Yes, I'll keep trolling the Republicans on Twitter through 140 character snarky comments. I'll keep monitoring Congress.gov and writing/emailing/calling my Congress critters to let them know where I stand. But we have to go further than that. I will march--for women, for science, for the release of Trump's tax returns, for Standing Rock and against the Keystone Pipeline and Dakota Access pipeline, for Planned Parenthood. I'm donating--the ACLU, Planned Parenthood, NARAL, Earth Justice, Freedom From Religion Foundation, and the local animal shelter for now, but more as I'm able. I'm voting in 2018 to clear the House, and to vote out the Republican Senators up for reelection--hopefully, in Wyoming, it's bye-bye Cheney and Barrasso, and a Democrat governor (current Governor Mead (R) maxes out term limits in 2018). I will campaign for whoever the opponent is, however I can: door knocking, phone banking, lawn signs, bumper stickers, etc. Desperate times call for action, big and small.

If I feel I'm burning out, I will reach out to my allies, to my friends, for support. Take a break if I need to. Travel. But I'm in this fight for the long haul. Welcome to Hippieland, bitches. We're in for a long ride.