Lessons From The Road

My wife and I managed to miss the cold snap last week by being in New Mexico for both work and play. New Mexico is one of our favorite places to visit, its beauty on display from every direction.

What I hadn’t anticipated was how much of our stay would have me confronted by national and international affairs. My bachelor’s degree in political science has given me a lifelong interest in politics and governments, but I might have expected New Mexico’s food, culture, and rich history to put me into a non-political state of mind.

Sometimes, however, national and international events won’t be ignored, and that was the case a week ago Monday. Arriving at Santa Fe’s stunning plaza on Monday, we found ourselves in the middle of a thousand people carrying signs and chanting pro-Ukraine and anti-Trump-Musk slogans. I learned later that similar protests were occurring that day across the country, which I viewed as a healthy sign that the opposition to Trump’s initial moves to disrupt the world were no longer going to be watched in silence. I wish the Democratic leadership—where are they?—were as riled up as the protestors in Santa Fe.

Why the protest? Let’s start with Trump meeting with Putin in Saudi Arabia to find an end to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It only makes sense that all parties to the conflict should be at the table, but Trump snubbed NATO nations, those closest to Ukraine and potential targets of further Russian aggression. It would only make sense that the US, the bastion of democracy, would be there to protect the right of Ukraine to live in peace, but Trump has slandered Ukraine and seems intent on playing global Monopoly with Putin. “If I give you Ukrainian Park Place, what do I get in return—Greenland, Panama Canal, Canada?”

It is hard to believe that those who voted for Trump in November agree with his betrayal of Ukraine, NATO, and democracy.

A few days after the protest, I was in Taos, New Mexico, offering writing workshops for beginning writers. One of the participants was a dignified tribal leader from one of New Mexico’s Pueblos, a man who has testified before Congress on Native American rights and has met at least one American President. Politics wasn’t on my agenda for the workshops, but at one point the tribal leader shared his sorrow at the devastating effects on Native American children that will result with the loss of the Department of Education. He talked about essential programs that, without funding, would be forced to close.

Once again, I thought of the word “betrayal,” and, once again, it is hard for me to believe that those who voted for Trump want to damage the life prospects of our country’s children—especially the children of the marginalized.

I thought of the “Monopoly” parallel again when I heard Trump float the idea of our country taking over Gaza and turning it into a Mediterranean resort site. That would mean the “removal” of the Palestinians, both Palestinian Muslims and Palestinian Christians. Several times, our older son has worked in the West Bank and Gaza and knows that Gaza in particular is a region long devastated by neglect, poverty, and insecurity. Yet Gaza is ancestral home to the Palestinian people, not a piece of property on a global Monopoly board to be bought or traded by a New York realtor who happens to be in the White House.

It might sound as if “betrayal” is the common underlying theme in Trump’s second term, but I would suggest that “home” is another commonality. Ukraine isn’t property to be sold; it is home to Ukrainians, a people who’ve demonstrated in fair elections that they do not want to be part of Russia.

Gaza also is not property, but the home of Palestinians, a people who should be granted the same UN rights as people anywhere to livable conditions. The last thing the troubled Middle East needs is a Trump resort; the region needs livable conditions for everyone.

And the sense of “home” is threatened by Trump’s attack on essential educational programs. An attack on education is an attack on the home, a place where children should feel secure and where hope in the future should be celebrated and nurtured.

Put simply, our country and the world deserves better that what this administration is offering.