- United States
- Pa.
- Letter
I just returned from my first international trip since President Trump was inaugurated and I want to report to you what I heard from people in Denmark. The conversations I had with locals in Copenhagen echoed precisely what I had heard from friends and academic collaborators abroad. People don’t recognize our country for the great nation it used to be. People report that the political systems in their own countries are being destabilized by what is happening in their U.S. Ultranationalism, racism, isolationism, misogyny, denial of science, anti-intellectualism, and other ugly monsters are on the rise. The Danes, in particular, expressed to me being terrified of the U.S. Inspiring fear in our allies around the world is not a projection of strength. Instead, it is the tearing down of the bonds of friendship that would protect us in times of international crises. We have stopped USAID. We have threatened to take Greenland from Denmark. We have turned our back on Ukraine. We have started a trade war with Canada and Mexico only to grow it further to encompass more and more countries every day. It is not strength that we are projecting, it is chaos and insanity. History will look back at this moment to see that Congress chose inaction in the face of this pivotal moment. History will see that Congress chose not to exercise its powers to reign in the abuses of a misguided Executive. History will remember your names in a hall of infamy as will we, the American people. Act. Speak out. Create resolutions that state our principles and that demand the Executive to change this catastrophic course of action. Do something. I have received letters from some of you stating that you are supporting this President’s mandate. That is not what you are doing. You are exempting yourselves from the responsibility to uphold the principles that have shaped this great nation. Are you sure you want to be remembered for your passivity, your lack of moral courage? The U.S. needs you to act and to stand up for what is moral.
