We Must Defeat Them All
First Take: The Grotesque Orwellian “Big Beautiful Bill” Crosses a Red Line
I will always be proud of the years of work I did supporting the efforts of Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) to pass meaningful climate legislation starting in 2003 in the form of the McCain-Lieberman Climate Stewardship Act (and subsequent iterations). We worked with Sen. McCain’s staff, as well as Sen. Lieberman’s (D-CT), to create a bill we could support wholeheartedly. Sen. McCain was a true patriot.
Sadly, the days of Sen. McCain are long gone. Mr. Trump and MAGA have destroyed that version of the Republican Party.
But today Republicans have done more than destroy the integrity of their party. They have crossed a red line when it comes to overcoming climate change.
The Trump Administration and all of their actions to date against efforts to address climate change, and the Republicans in this Congress who voted for the Orwellian “Big Beautiful Bill” and its immoral opposition to climate action (among other immoral aspects), have made one thing crystal clear to the Climate Movement and Climate Action Supporters in the United States. They are actively trying to destroy the future we are trying to create.
We must defeat them all.
None of them should ever hold political power again.
But we must go further. We must not forget what they’ve done, nor should we let them forget. If they reenter the public arena, if they become pundits, if they are interviewed in the media, if they make public presentations on any topic anywhere, we must let them know of our disapproval.
And then we must go even further. Henceforth we must assume that we must defeat all Republicans.
Until this immoral opposition to climate action, this denial of reality, this attack on truth and democracy and the rule of law, is completely and utterly exercised from the Republican Party, our working assumption must be that all of its elected officials and future candidates must be defeated. They simply cannot be trusted with political power. This includes those who simply went along with what Trump/MAGA has done. Obviously they can’t be trusted to stand up and do what’s right.
How will we defeat them all and prevent Republicans from recovering political power in the future?
One of the key reasons why those of us in the US must, can, and will become the greatest and most long-lasting social change movement in the history of our country is to overcome political opposition to climate action at the speed and scale required.
This is the greatest cause of freedom of our time. To be in the Climate Movement, to be a Climate Action Supporter, is a supreme act of patriotism.
To join the Climate Movement all you have to do is make a sustained commitment to collective action over time to overcome climate change. That’s it. This is a commitment you must make to all you hold dear.
We must become big enough and broad enough and active enough so that we have the political power necessary to defeat all Republicans.
This also applies to any Democrats who aren’t with us. We are not beholden to any political party. In the US we aren’t an adjunct to the Democratic Party. We are beholden to our commitment and our vision, purpose, and Major Goal.
Growing and improving the Climate Movement is the most strategic thing we can be doing right now. The time for small steps and weak and inconsistent leadership is over. Building our people-power, becoming the greatest and most long-lasting social change movement in the history of our country and the world, is how we will be able to play our part.
In this call for the defeat of all Republicans, where’s the hope, you may ask.
We are the hope. We are the hope we’ve been waiting for.
But isn’t hope, well, nice? Isn’t it positive? Is defeating people in keeping with the tenor of hope?
Our hope isn’t “nice” if that means “don’t rock the boat.” Our hope isn’t weak in the face of power that seeks to destroy climate action.
Our hope is muscular. Our hope is courageous. If someone’s version of being positive and hopeful means we don’t confront injustice, well from our perspective, that isn’t truly positive or hopeful. Because injustice is never positive or hopeful. Quite the opposite. And climate impacts are one of the greatest injustices in the history of humanity. Climate impacts aren’t positive. Climate impacts are the opposite of hope.
Our hope is strong. Our hope is bold. Our hope is audacious. Our hope stands up for justice. On all our fields of action our hope overcomes opponents arrayed against climate action at the speed and scale necessary. Such overcoming begets more hope. Standing up and challenging agents of injustice and opponents of climate action is hope incarnate.
As I stated in my previous post, our vision, purpose, and Major Goal is to overcome climate change by creating a just and prosperous sustainability for everyone and everything. Working towards this vision creates hope.
The Trump/MAGA Orwellian “Big Beautiful Bill,” which is in fact a grotesque national abomination, is the opposite of justice. It is a hope-stealing monstrosity. It is an anti-vision.
We are working to make our hope-filled future come faster. But they are not trying to make our future come slower; they don’t want our future to come at all.
Until the Republican Party has been completely reformed and strongly supportive of bold climate action at the speed and scale necessary, their defeat will be a major source of hope.
Climate Movement Members and Climate Action Supporters must play a key role in their defeat.
Join us!