Heerlen           After being hit on the head with a 2-by-4, it’s usual to be a little wobbling and to have some trouble getting up off the floor.  If you don’t personally know the feeling, then you’ve seen it in enough action movies to get a sense of what it would be like.  The recent election was at least metaphorically similar.  It seems like many are having trouble straightening up, dusting off, and getting up off the floor, although this isn’t the movie’s actually, and it makes sense perhaps to lie still for a minute and get our bearings before jumping up and letting too much blood rush to our heads.

I’ve seen some reports that have seemed to express surprise that no resistance has broken out after the recent election in opposition to Trump’s victory.  These reports have hinted at acquiescence or resignation about these unfolding events.  Just a reminder for short memories, the great women’s march was after Trump’s inauguration on January 21, 2017.  It was not after his election.  Biden is still president now, and Harris is vice-president, and they are still getting things done.  Why would the peoples’ forces be moving into action now?  Voices saying otherwise need to be ignored.

The Times reports that some donors and Democrats are questioning the fact that they raised billions for Harris and are wondering about the role of money in the campaign.  Is this buyer’s remorse or just the rich having to learn that money alone can’t buy an election, which is actually a good thing?  These days, you can’t run or win without money, and it’s always fair to question how it was spent, but we biscuit cookers at the bottom don’t need to waste time on these discussions.

I do raise my eyebrows at reports, hopefully premature, that unions are pulling back from organizing in preparation for Trump II.  One claimed that Shawn Fain and the UAW have said they are retreating from their massive efforts to organize the non-union Southern auto plants.  Their earlier defeats after a great strike would be more likely the reason for their dampening enthusiasm, perhaps.  Unions need to be preparing to step up, not step back.

Let’s just hope it’s not true, or at least that it’s premature.  Moving labor organizing to the back shelves when the national mood and politics is now focusing on workers and class, just seems wrong, no matter how bad the NLRB is about to be.  Community organizing should also be front and center now in low- and moderate-income communities, urban and rural.  This isn’t resistance.  This is seizing the time and making the most of the opportunity.

Now, if we could just get our hands on 10% of the money raised on either of these campaigns, we could show America and the world what working families really want and want now!  The one thing that we can’t do, once we shake it off, is concede the field.  There’s a battle coming, and we need to be in it with everything we’ve got.