by Mick Rhodes | editor@claremont-courier.com

I’m a big fan of democracy, and as such, tuned to President Trump’s 13-hour address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday.

“People are saying it was the best speech in the history of our beautiful country,” he may or may not have said afterward. “It was longer — much longer really — than anyone’s ever seen.”

Trump’s speech was actually “only” an hour and 40 minutes, still the longest of its kind in history. As expected, it was rife with chest pounding, game show pizazz (“You’ve been accepted to West Point!” “You’re a Secret Service agent!” “You get a car!”), racist asides, and outright lies. Y’know, the usual.

I endured this painful exercise with hope in my heart, eager to hear the opposition’s response to what promised to be a fact-checker’s nightmare, and counting on them to meet the moment.

I was hoping for signs of life.

We got signs alright. Those little paddles with “False,” “Elon Steals,” and “Stop it … or else!” were sure cute. Scattered moments of jeering and shouting were appreciated. We also saw some pink outfits, apparently in protest over Trump’s well documented Handmaid’s Tale-esque views on women.

Among the bright spots were a couple clever hand scrawled messages, including one from Representative Rashida Tlaib, D-MI, that read “Start by paying your taxes” as Trump yammered on about tax cuts. Rep. Melanie Stansbury, D-NM, held another, “This is not normal,” which Rep. Lance Gooden, R-Texas, promptly snatched from her hands like the big strong man he is.

Some Democrats got up and left, including Maxwell Frost of Florida and Jasmine Crockett of Texas. Others boycotted the whole thing.

And of course we saw 77-year-old Democratic Texas Representative Al Green’s protest earn him an ejection from the chamber by Congressional goons. In Green’s cane waving theater — performative or not — we saw a lawmaker who understood the gravity of the moment.

And that was about it for opposition outrage. Overall it turned out to be another limp, uncoordinated group eye blink. I was hoping for some coordinated defiance, something loud, clear, and on point. No dice.

Trump had the audacity Tuesday to claim he was a supporter of law enforcement. This is the guy who pardoned some 1,500 convicted January 6 insurrectionists, hundreds of whom assaulted Capitol police, leading the direct death of Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick and the indirect deaths by suicide of four other officers who were beaten, stabbed, and bludgeoned.

The Democrats gave that one a mild jeer and some eye rolls.

Trump went after the transgender community. Again. I wondered what the thousands of adolescent kids watching thought about him burbling on about how they need to just get with it and be a man or a woman already, how pronouns are a scourge, and counseling them about body dysmorphia is “child abuse.” He called on Congress to pass a bill “banning and criminalizing sex changes on children and forever ending the lie that any child is trapped in the wrong body,” then added, “This is a big lie. And our message to every child in America is that you are perfect, exactly the way God made you.” I’m sure his thoughtful, measured, and well-researched insights were a great relief to all the young people out there trying to negotiate the increasingly dangerous minefield of non-cisgender identity.

Democrats reacted with murmurs of displeasure, and more sign waving.

Much more will be needed going forward to counter the in-progress disassembly of our suddenly fragile democracy. It’s long past time for decorum. Sorry Michelle, but screw “When they go low, we go high.” That well-intentioned sentiment is from a different time. That highfalutin, honorable ship has sailed. We’re in too much trouble to worry about parliamentary procedure and propriety.

It’s time for some Good Trouble.

After being removed by the House sergeant at arms on Tuesday, Rep. Green spoke to reporters, who asked him why he did what he did.

“It is a desperate attempt to get across to a person who uses his incivility against our civility,” Green said. “He is a person who has consistently used incivility against civility. I’m willing to suffer whatever punishment is available to me. I didn’t say to anyone, ‘Don’t punish me.’ I said I’ll accept the punishment. But it’s worth it to let people know that there are some of us who are going to stand up against this president’s desire to cut Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security.”

Right on, counselor.

Green added, “This is the richest country in the world, and we have people who don’t have good healthcare. We’ve gotta do better. And now we’re about to cut Medicaid, which is for poor people. Healthcare has become ‘wealth care’ for many people, and we can’t afford to let that happen.”

Good on Green for speaking up, loudly.

Who’s next?