2025 Life Logs, Day 51: Some Good ‘Bad’ News
Date: Thursday, February 20, 2025
Weather: Mostly Sunny and Cold, Some Snow Late Evening; High Temp 30, Low 19 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
In a democracy, the power of the people is greater than the power of the people in office. Tonight, I heard Senator Cory Booker say something to that effect. I might not have the quote just right, but you get the idea. And day by day, the Trump-Vance-Musk team is trying to destroy our democracy as fast as they can. They know that once all Americans understand what it is they are doing, they might be stopped. It appears that is the reason for their ‘pants on fire’ approach. But people are catching on. Yesterday and today, the results of the latest polls came out. I know, who can believe any poll these days? But if you look at 4 or 5 different polls and they are all going in the same direction, you have to think there might be some truth to their numbers. The good news is that those numbers are bad news for the Trump regime. According to polls, he came into office in January with the lowest approval rating of any president in the last 70 years. And now, after a month in office, his approval rating is slightly lower. In a CNN poll his approval rating is -5% at the end of this first month. In a Pew Research Center poll it is -4%. Reuters, -7%. In a Washington Post poll, Trump’s approval rating is -8% from a month ago. In the Washington Post poll, those who STONGLY SUPPORT Trump’s actions during month one is 27%, while those who STRONGLY OPPOSE his actions is 37%. And in the same poll, when asked who they want to control the next Congress, 54% say Democrats, to 41% who say Republicans. According to the Quinnipiac University poll, 14 % approved of Trump pardoning people convicted of violent crimes related to Jan 6, while 83% opposed. That is a 63-point difference. And according to the Reuters poll, only 32% approve of Trump’s performance on inflation to date. The wrecking ball approach to destroying our government doesn’t seem to be extremely popular.
Will these ratings make a difference in what Trump is doing in the short run? Probably not. But will it get the attention of Republicans in the House and Senate. Maybe. Something else that is getting the attention of Republicans in office is the response of their constituents during Town Halls across the country. I spent an hour of my afternoon attending on Zoom an Indivisible (national) weekly update with founders Leah Greenberg and Ezra Levin. They founded Indivisible after Trump’s first election. Greenberg and Levin, who happen to be married, along with others, wrote a guide that was free, giving any citizen a step-by-step guide on how to make their voices heard. They have an updated guide for 2025. During his first term, when Trump tried to take down the Affordable Care Act, citizen protests in the local Congressional offices all around the country, many of which were organized by local Indivisible chapters, certainly got the attention of our Representatives and Senators. We saved our health care system. Now we quickly need the same kind of grass roots protests and Indivisible is there to help us. I recommend that you Google Indivisible.org and check it out. You can download the new guide from the homepage. I have to believe that every little thing each of us does to resist really makes a difference. And Indivisible can help you find that ‘little thing’ you can do.
