More Profiles of Courage, Patriotism and Resistance in standing up to Trump

These are inspiring moments for us!

Rep. Ilhan Omar speaking at protest Monday outside USAID

If you just watched corporate news—and I sincerely hope you watch more than that—you would think Donald Trump is all powerful, all knowing and “all” just about everything. They are breathlessly covering Trump wall to wall and by doing so are by design trying to make him appear omnipotent, that “resistance is futile” and that he is winning in ways never seen before. Why? Simple, the corporate media executives want the tax cuts, less regulations and freedom to merge their companies as Trump has promised them.

But back in the real world, not only are we finally seeing organized resistance by a growing number of Democratic leaders, we are also seeing Trump losing over and over in the courts this week—with even a Trump appointed judge ruling against him.

Those standing up to Trump deserve far more coverage than the corrupt corporate media is providing them. That is why a little over a week ago I wrote my first article on the profiles in courage and resistance from Trump’s first week that included a religious leader, the MAGA grandma and more. My hope is that in the darkness of Trump, these increasingly bright spots of hope inspire people to keep fighting against Trump, Elon Musk and their anti-democratic agenda. Here are the latest profiles that deserve recognition:

1. Democratic members of Congress. Few have been harder on Democratic officials than I when it comes to their failure to take the fight to Trump. As I’ve written about and discussed on my SiriusXM show, Democratic leaders need to punch Trump in the face every day. By that I mean they must stop talking “common ground” with the convicted felon and instead come up with unique ways to grab headlines from him. This week we saw a few examples of that.

First were rallies organized outside both the offices of USAID—which Trump is trying to gut—and the U.S. Treasury. Finally, Democrats—after being pushed by grassroots groups and unions--were moving out from behind the podiums in the Capitol to taking the fight to Trump in a way that grabs some press. If you didn’t hear about these events, that is because corporate media was too busy covering all things Trump which is their mandate.

But these events did create some viral videos and coverage online. One of those viral moments came Monday from the rally outside USAID when Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) declared to the cheering crowd, “We are witnessing a constitutional crisis. We talked about Trump wanting to be a dictator on day one, and here we are. This is what the beginning of dictatorship looks like. When you gut the Constitution and you install yourself as the sole power, that is how dictators are made.” (You can watch the clip below.)

These words so upset Musk that he became unhinged. calling Omar “a major grifter who hates America.” And GOP Rep. Brandon Gill called for Omar—who is a US citizen—to be deported, prompting Omar to note accurately that Gill is a “dumbass.” But the point is Omar’s words and this rally got under MAGA’s thin, white skin. And Omar did not back down!

Second, on Tuesday, many Democratic members of Congress joined with hundreds of people outside the U.S. Treasury protesting Musk’s access to our private data. The best moment was when Rep. Dave Min spoke about Musk breaking the law—which promoted the crowd to organically and loudly chant about Musk, “Lock him up! Lock him up!” The anger towards Musk was palpable and people need to see that we don’t want to be ruled by the South African, apartheid loving Musk!

Below is the clip. The best part is the final seconds as the crowd chants about Musk:

2. Grassroots organizations. At Tuesday’s event outside the US Treasury, three groups organized the event and were responsible for the big turnout: Indivisible, Move On and the Working Families Party. These organizations and others like them are the lifeblood of the growing grassroots resistance. In the near future, we can expect to see massive street protests against Trump and it’s these smaller events that lay the seeds for that.

3. The Judges. The street actions are vitally important, but the judges have the power to actually stop Trump’s anti-American policies. And we saw numerous losses for Trump this week including a really big one at about 3AM on Saturday. Here are a few key decisions:

-On Monday, federal Judge Loren AliKhan extended the temporary ban on Trump’s efforts to stop trillions in funding that had been approved by Congress. As the judge wrote in her 30 page opinion, the Trump administrations “actions in this case potentially run roughshod over a ‘bulwark of the Constitution’ by interfering with Congress’s appropriation of federal funds.”

-On Thursday, federal Judge John Coughenour—who was appointed by Ronald Reagan—extended his earlier ban on Trump’s efforts to end birthright citizenship. The judge delivered these powerful words in rendering his decision, “It has become ever more apparent that to our president, the rule of law is but an impediment to his policy goals. The rule of law is, according to him, something to navigate around or simply ignore, whether that be for political or personal gain.” He added powerfully, “Nevertheless, in this courtroom and under my watch, the rule of law is a bright beacon which I intend to follow.”

-On Friday, federal Judge Carl Nichols ruled that he was temporarily barring Trump from putting thousands of employees of USAID on administrative leave. The best part is that Nicholas is a Trump appointed judge.

-Early Saturday morning, U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer blocked Musk and his henchmen from accessing records at the U.S. Treasury Dept that contain sensitive personal data such as Social Security and bank account numbers for millions of Americans. And very importantly, the judge ordered that Musk and his minions must immediately destroy all copies of material downloaded from Treasury Department systems. If Musk violates this order, he could be fined and even imprisoned for contempt of court. (A hearing is scheduled for Feb. 14.)

4. The people and organizations who brought the above lawsuits which range from a group of 19 Democratic Attorneys General to lawyers volunteering their time to unions representing their members. Many of them know that Trump—via his DOJ, IRS, etc.—will seek to punish them from opening investigations to freezing their funding. But still they refused to bend the knee.

These are challenging times. That is why it’s vitally important to amplify these profiles of resistance. They are breaking through the darkness. And with each new ray of light they shine, we move closer to the day that together we will drive out the darkness known as Trump.

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