Last Tuesday was a good day for those opposing this Administration – people who cannot stomach MAGA policies, actions and goals… neighbors who reject President Trump’s leadership team and methods. The election made something important visible: it turns out we are not alone (even though this stretch of political history often leave us feeling we are).
In the face of so much power-grabbing and lawlessness, most days we are left feeling isolated and disempowered, not knowing what we can do. But when it came to election day, we were neither unclear nor paralyzed.. It was heartening to see so many other people feeling like one does.
Dissatisfaction with the President and his first 9 months was strong enough to drive people to the polls. It brought Trump voters from last November to the other side of the aisle. There was a significant shift in the Latino vote (perhaps sending troops on deportation missions into Latino neighborhoods has multiple, collateral effects?). And the pollsters are impressed how Mamdani’s campaign in NYC engaged not only young, but also disaffected voters. Equally good news, centrist Democrats, like Spannberger and Sherrill, can turn out majorities…with Trump not on the ballot but unavoidably part of everyone’s election decision-making.
The voting – across the whole country and all the way down to local school board races – is a good harbinger for the midterm elections a year from now. People register their dissent and dissatisfaction with their votes. Next year is when the power dynamics in Washington could finally alter – if the Republicans no longer control both houses of Congress, the White House and even the Supreme Court might feel more political presure to negotiate rather than dictate.
In a google search, every news source is deducing conclusions from last Tuesday’s elections – 4, 5, or as many as 12 takeaways. They are mostly about the politics of the moment and future prospects – the good and bad news for the Democrats and Republicans.
What really impressed me, however, wasn’t just the electoral success of the party that is out of power when both polls and news reports had all but pronounced the Dems dead and buried. What was even more remarkable was the significant emotional, maybe even spiritual uplift experienced by so many people who were being weighed down… held down by “the success” of this Administration. (I”m thinking of the yellow Gadsen flag of the “Don’t Tread on Me” Rattlesnake of the American Revolution!)
It’s as if we just needed to be reminded in some unmistakable, incarnate way that there are a whole lot of others who are as dissatisfied and disapproving as we are. We needed the reassurance that acting together at the ballot box, dissent can make a real difference in our electoral politics, even under Trump (so far). It’s nothing short of life-giving.
Norway’s paperclip resistance during World War II made that sort of solidarity visible daily. It was a grassroots, nonviolent protest against the Nazi occupation — at a time when it was dangerous to create ANY culture of resistance and illegal to display pro-Norway or anti-Nazi protest signs. So Norwegians wore paperclips to signify their stance against the Nazis.
The paperclip, a invention patented in Norway, became for students and teachers in Oslo in 1940 a subtle, but potent political symbol: Norwegians were “bound together” like paper, representing unity and resistance against the Nazis.This act of ‘holding things together’ meant that resisters and refuseniks could identify one another… feel each others’ presence and support in daily life. .
I have been invited to and will be attending a training (November 23, 1 to 5 pm) to consider how Philly might stand up to any future federal troop invasion. “Collective Noncooperation,” led by the Freedom Trainers, is about the tools of collective noncompliance and mass noncooperation. Often used by nonviolent movements around the world (think Dr. King and Mahatma Gandhi.). In a variety of disobedience practices – tax resistance, national strikes, work shut / slow-downs and other nonviolent mass noncompliance – populations find ways to demonstrate dissent and push back against authoritarianism. The training will engage participants in thinking how we might apply these lessons to our local context here in Philly. Would any of you like to join me for this training?
One of our common Affirmations of Faith begins: “We are not alone.” The mass protests remind us. Blue wave elections remind us. What else might help? What can we do to prevent an Administration deliberately acting to isolate and disempower us from doing so? How else can we up the solidarity and support – or at least make them more visible – for those of us who see ourselves as the patriotic dissent?
In faith and courage,
Michael
Rev. Michael Caine is Senior Pastor at Old First Reformed United Church of Christ in Philadelphia Pennsylvania, 4th and Race Street Philadelphia.
Published by Renaldo McKenzie, Editor-in-chief at The NeoLiberal