I will never forget where I was the day after Election Day 2016.
I was set to perform in a WWII themed USO show. It was an excellent show featuring acts that headlined during that time: Judy Garland, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers among so many others. My part was Ethel Merman as Annie Oakley. It was an excellent show and it was being put on for Veterans Day.
It’s hard to convey how sick we all felt as performers, that we must now perform for an audience which might include a large number of T*ump voters.
We went on and performed a spectacular show. That may have been the last time that the “two sides” converged and were congenial. No one talked about the election.
I have been engaged in direct protests beginning with the Women’s March 2017 and continuing with constant contact with elected representatives.
Ive been getting ever more urgent with my messages. Lately I’ve taken to saying that Donald Trump is a dangerous demagogue and that these people had to find a way to oppose him.
Today’s message: (around 1 pm):
“We have children in this country who are being harmed by the policies of the T*ump Administration, such as taking away funding for CHIP. But the most crucial issue continues to be the policy of separating families at the border. This is a horrific practice enacted by T*ump, Sessions and Nielson.
I don’t want this done in my name and I know that many others echo this sentiment. I had trouble getting through; the phone lines must be jammed. Good!
I want to know where the girls and the infants and toddlers are being held. I want to know what efforts are being made to keep data/ be able to reunify these families. I want to know who stands to profit from this sick enterprise.
This will not stop. I’ve said from the beginning that Congress was making a mistake in putting any trust in this president. *ump has a personality disorder and there will be no “dealing with him”. He is cozying up to dictators because he wants to be one. Things are going to get worse. Every senator and representative swore an oath to the Constitution. They are failing us. They must do everything in their power up to and including a halt on all work in the Congress, to put a check on this president. “
The staffer listened and then quietly said, “I agree.” I was floored because this is the first time any of them has said that!
And so I asked “Which part do you agree with?” He responded, “All of it.” I can’t decide whether he sounded frightened. But he was extremely polite and attentive. He said that he had taken notes on all of my remarks and would pass them on to the senator.
Tomorrow, I will follow up and demand answers and action.
I am a mom who breastfed all of my children. I watched as a NICU team performed Neonatal Advanced Life Support to my newborn and I literally felt my own life slipping away. I cared not for my own life, I just wanted my baby to live. My baby and I were fortunate then; we survived overwhelming odds. I now contrast that to how desperate these migrants who are fleeing gang violence must feel. And then to have their children, including breastfeeding infants, torn from their arms.
I was interested in the response. We are in the heart of T*ump County here.
Breaking news all day with Insane Clown President announcing an EO of ending the practice of separating families at the border but no plan to reunify families.
Thank you vigilant citizens and journalists who will not back down!
We have to keep energized in order to fight this evil.