by Congressman Maxwell Frost (FL-10)
Since January, some politicians and pundits have been fixated on calling every outrageous thing Trump does as a “distraction.”
When they call something a “distraction,” they are implying that we shouldn't pay attention to it—that we should pay attention to that other thing instead.
Right now, some folks want us to believe that there's really two different things going on. But these aren’t two separate stories. It’s all part of the same story.
On one side, we saw Republicans pass their Big Ugly Law—the largest transfer of wealth from the working class to billionaires in history. They’re gutting Medicaid, slashing nutritional assistance, and leaving families drowning under rising cost of living.
On the other side, we see the federal government occupying our cities, masked ICE agents terrorizing our communities and kidnapping people and deporting families, and Republicans redrawing Congressional districts across the country and attacking our right to vote.
These aren’t two different things. It’s the same damn thing.
Because the only way they can pass something like the Big Ugly Law and feel like they won't see any political repercussions is by doing things like deploying the military to our streets, scaring people with ICE, and trying to redraw maps to favor Republicans in every red state.
These aren't acts intended to distract from each other. These are acts that are meant to enable each other.
It’s all part of one story, a story that a lot of us are familiar with: the billionaires getting richer and working people getting poorer.
Let me give you an example:
The first time I went to the Everglades “Alligator Alcatraz” detention facility in Florida, I saw two private planes on the tarmac. I asked “who do those private planes belong to?” They didn’t look like official government planes to me.
The answer I got? “Oh, they're executives from two of the biggest corporations that are running the place.”
This one facility—part of the national campaign of intimidation and fear against immigrant communities—is also a source of $450 million of Florida taxpayer money going to billionaires and mega corporations. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
It's the same story that we’ve seen for decades. Corrupt politicians and billionaires taking resources away from working people so they can grow even richer. Our democracy being stripped away all so they can keep getting away with it with no accountability.
But we can fight back—and we can beat them. It will take all of us finding strength in each other, organizing together, and building the kind of political power for working people that can’t be ignored.
I have seen you speaking Truth to Power on the floor of Congress. I am grateful for your efforts. The statements that you make here are important.
Unfortunately, a few people are talking and numerous people are asking for money. When it was Kamala Harris, I made four donations and it was a sacrifice because I am a retired person. Meanwhile , Republicans were busy tampering with voting machines, intimidating potential voters and trashing votes.
When George W. Bush was elected with the “hanging chad” maneuver, we let it slide. When he sent us to an undeclared war, we were complicit. And while we donated to ACT BLUE, President Biden was the best that the Democratic Party could come up with as a follow up to Donald Trump the first time.
Don’t get me wrong, I think Joe Biden is a brilliant man. I think he did an excellent job. But we should have known that the job was too tough for an elderly man who plays by the rules. Cancer loves stress. President Biden is paying the price for his service to our country.
Vice president Harris would have made a great president. But she was the easy and obvious choice. The Democratic Party has done nothing to groom candidates for a long time.
I can’t help wondering where all the donations are going. We aren’t able to secure our elections, we aren’t able to groom candidates, and though the people have voted for campaign spending limits, nothing has been done about it.
You may say that the Republican majority is responsible. It is responsible in part. President Obama was able to pass a healthcare bill which presidents on both side sides of the aisle have been trying to pass for years. He was working with a hostile Congress. He never asked me for money.
The current situation is bitter and frustrating. We are constantly being asked to donate usually as an appendix to a video full of terrifying threats. There is a criminal in the White House and we let it stand. not only that, but we are standing by watching that criminal destroy our democracy, make a joke out of our system of law, and establish concentration camps. I am grateful to the judges, who, in spite of threats, are standing by their principles and their duty. Likewise, I am grateful to senator Adam Schiff who is being prosecuted on some phony baloney charge charge in an attempt to neutralize him.
The time for playing politics is over. The time for talk is long passed. There is strength in numbers. We must all move out of our comfort zone.
Morality is not a luxury. But it is going to come with a permanent change. In the way we do things. We have to be more forward looking. We have to expect the worst. Sometimes we will have to fight dirty. It will have to be done within the confines of the law. Because we know what it looks like to be lawless.
It is difficult to motivate people who have such a great benefit package. If I were told that my healthcare was guaranteed and that I would receive an excellent stipend for the rest of my life because of the job that I did, it would be difficult for me to risk that.
I was a critical care nurse for 41 years. I relied on my government. Social Security is not a gift. I paid into it. It is outrageous that anyone could threaten this system. It is outrageous. That benefits have been stripped from those in need many of whom are innocent children, not to mention people who have served our country either in government offices or in the military , is an obscenity.
Waiting for the midterm elections is a fool hearty philosophy. Begin with accountability. If you want me to donate I need to know exactly what the money is being used for. Voting records need to be published. Members of Congress might consider appearing at protests. We must anticipate the future. This means organizing and anticipating future criminal activities on the part of Donald Trump and his cabinet.
You know better than I do what this means. I am counting on your fire.
Respectfully
Bingo.