Profiles in Compassion, Courage and Patriotism in standing up to Trump

The Resistance movement is building!

Convicted felon Donald Trump’s first week back as President sparked a mix of emotions from anger to fear to frustration. Some of the worst moments included Trump’s pardon of the Jan. 6 terrorists who brutally beat up police officers to his swath of executive orders that range from ending diversity programs to protect white supremacy to turning the clock back on addressing climate change.

But in those moments of darkness there were some beautiful glimmers of hope that need to be amplified. The individual actions from these profiles in courage, compassion and patriotism will hopefully serve as an inspiration to all of us to stand up to Trump and his despicable MAGA agenda.

First up there was a “Profile in Compassion and Courage” delivered by Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde who made headlines after she used her sermon on Tuesday at the National Cathedral prayer service to confront Trump to his face about his cruelty. Rev. Budde at the close of her sermon looked at Trump and stated, “Let me make one final plea, Mr. President." From there Budde declared, “In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now."

She continued to tell an obviously uncomfortable Trump that “there are gay, lesbian and transgender children…who fear for their lives." As to Trump’s vow of mass deportation, Budde pleaded that the undocumented immigrants “who pick our crops and clean our office buildings; who labor in poultry farms and meat packing plants” are “not criminals” but “good neighbors.”

Budde’s sermon triggered a swift backlash led by Trump who publicly slammed her for daring to speak of Christian values in a church. A GOP congressman even wrote on social media that the American-born Budde should be "added to the deportation list." Says a lot that a MAGA member of Congress openly called to deport a person for simply urging Trump to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ—but then again Trump and MAGA worship at the altar of cruelty and hate so this was like throwing holy water on the devil. (You can watch the key part of the sermon below.)

Budde’s comments conjured up for me the famous line during the McCarthy hearings of the 1950’s where GOP. Senator Joseph McCarthy destroyed people’s lives simply by alleging they were communists. The famous moment came when lawyer Joseph Welch confronted McCarthy in the middle of a hearing with the lines: “Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? …Have you left no sense of decency?”

Then there were “Profiles in Patriotism”—starting in an unlikely place: A Trump supporter convicted of crimes for Trump’s Jan. 6 attack. Pamela Hemphill, nicknamed the “Maga granny” on social media, had been a very vocal Trump supporter who believed Trump’s lies that 2020 election was stolen. That prompted her to post on social media a week before the Jan. 6 attack her intention to head to the Capitol, warning “It’s not going to be a FUN Trump Rally that is planned for January 6th, it’s a WAR!”

Hemphill entered the Capitol during the attack and later pled guilty to disorderly conduct and served 60 days in federal prison. But obviously her views on the event changed. That is why when Trump pardoned all Jan. 6 attackers-including Hemphill-she refused to accept the pardon.

She told the media this week, "We were wrong that day, we broke the law - there should be no pardons.” She continued, “I pleaded guilty because I was guilty, and accepting a pardon also would serve to contribute to their gaslighting and false narrative." Hemphill added powerfully, "Accepting a pardon would only insult the Capitol police officers, rule of law and, of course, our nation."

Hemphill showed more patriotism than countless Republican officeholders who pathetically cower to anything Trump wants.

Another inspiring “Profile in Patriotism” came from a Ronald Reagan appointed judge. That person was U.S. District Judge John Coughenour who on Thursday heard arguments in the lawsuit brought by various Democratic Attorney Generals to block Trump’s executive order that seeks to unilaterally rewrite the 14^th Amendment and end birthright citizenship. And let’s be clear-- because corporate media has chosen to downplay the threat posed by Trump’s birthright executive order —Trump was attempting by a stroke of pen to re-write our Constitution.

That explains why Judge Coughenour’s ruling was so blunt when he stated, “This is a blatantly unconstitutional order." The Judge noted as he put the order on hold, "I’ve been on the bench for over four decades. I can’t remember another case where the question presented is as clear as this one.”

However, this Republican judge was not done, declaring, "There are other times in world history where we look back and people of goodwill can say, 'Where were the judges? Where were the lawyers?!” He added, "Frankly, I have difficulty understanding how a member of the bar could state that this is constitutional."

Another “Profile in Courage” came this week from Federal Judge Tanya Chutkan—who had in the past received death threats from Trump supporters when she presided over Trump’s Jan. 6 criminal prosecution. Judge Chutkan refused to quietly dismiss the Jan. 6 charges in response to Trump’s pardon. Instead, she wrote an opinion knowing it would make press that began, "The historical record established by those proceedings must stand, unmoved by political winds, as a testament and as a warning."

She continued, that Trump’s pardons “cannot diminish the heroism of law enforcement officers…it cannot whitewash the blood, feces, and terror that the mob left in its wake. And it cannot repair the jagged breach in America’s sacred tradition of peacefully transitioning power.”

As Martin Luther King, Jr., famously declared, “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” These people all refused to be silent. Instead, they exhibited the type of courage, compassion and patriotism that we need more of in this time of Trump. The hope is that their action inspires others—especially Democrats in Congress—to follow their example by vocally and powerfully taking the fight to Trump and his dangerous, anti-American agenda.

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