Our weekly Movie Night Movie this week was Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. (Not to be confused with Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, the 1971 original film.)
And as we were sitting on the front porch last night talking about the movie, my husband summarized it well: “It’s all about boundaries.”
And do you know what? He’s totally right.
Distilled down to its most basic lessons, Willy Wonka is all about the boundaries that parents set (or don’t set) and that children try to break. It’s about the boundaries that society creates, and whether and how we can break them down. And it’s about the boundaries that we place on ourselves.
So it was a fitting movie to round out a week or two of public boundary setting – and boundary breaking.
(As an aside, I am also amused by how much Trump personally embodies the vices in Willy Wonka. Trump has the t.v. watching habits of Mike T.V., the impulse control and competitiveness of Violet Beaureguard, the gluttony of Augustus Gloop, and the greed and self-entitlement of Veruca Salt. I don’t think Roald Dahl could have created a more accurate adult version of those petulant kids.)
Just as with the “bad kids” in Willy Wonka, Trump will push and test boundaries constantly.
Case in point: the day after E. Jean Carroll prevailed in her defamation lawsuit against Donald Trump – and received a damage award of $5 million from the jury – Trump had his infamous CNN “town hall.” And right there, on t.v., he repeated some of the same defamatory statements that he had been punished for just the day before.
E. Jean Carroll’s lawyers wasted no time amending their complaint in a separate lawsuit to include these new defamatory statements, and noted that “Carroll filed this lawsuit … to demonstrate that even a man as powerful as Trump can be held accountable under the law.”
In an interview, Carroll’s lawyer explained further: “It makes a mockery of the jury verdict and our justice system if [Trump] can just keep on repeating the same defamatory statements over and over again.”
Indeed it does.
Trump will be testing the justice system over and over to see whether the boundaries that have been set are strong enough to keep him in check. I’ll be watching that closely. I hope you will, too.
But the importance of boundaries doesn’t start and end with Trump alone. Last week, 58-year-old Stewart Rhodes, the leader of the Oath Keepers, was sentenced to 18 years in prison for seditious conspiracy. Oath Keepers Florida chapter lead Kelly Meggs was sentenced to 12 years. Two other Oath Keepers who were not convicted of seditious conspiracy were sentenced to lesser, but still lengthy, sentences – 8 and 4 years.
Finally – some accountability for people who quite literally tried to overthrow the government.
But there’s a wee hiccup. Donald Trump has promised to pardon January 6 defendants if we wins.
That’s chilling, isn’t it?
He has already promised to pardon his revolutionaries. With the sweep of a sharpie, he’ll remove any boundaries that constrain them.
That should be disqualifying. That it’s not is pretty telling. Nobody on the Republican side is going to set or enforce boundaries on Trump.
That’s why we – you and I – need to set and enforce those boundaries ourselves.
Listen, I would love it if Trump were not the Republican nominee. But he is going to be the Republican nominee. And so we all need to work together to set the ultimate boundary: making sure that man’s sticky, ketchup-stained fingers don’t come anywhere near the nuclear codes again.
The courts can’t set and maintain boundaries fast enough. (And the Supreme Court is overstepping boundaries all on its own).
Congress just … won’t.
The media won’t, either. They actually seem … excited?
My point is simple, and it’s the same one we’ve been talking about for half a decade now.
It’s up to us. You and me.
Just plain old regular people – doing the heavy lifting of democracy in between trips to the grocery store and our 9-5 jobs.
Of course, that’s how it’s supposed to be, you know. In a democracy, we the people are supposed to be in charge. It’s just that – at least during my lifetime – we’ve never had leaders who would test and ignore every last boundary put in front of them.
It’s going to take all of us paying attention, and flexing our collective muscle, to keep Trump and his MAGA movement in check. I have no doubt we can set and enforce those boundaries, so long as we stay focused and work together.
Okay, friend. Let’s get to work.
Actions for the Week of May 30, 2023
Tonight: Call Dems in Ohio!
Whoa boy, if you’ve not heard what Republicans are up to in Ohio, let me just tell you… it’s a lot. The Republican state legislature is trying to change the threshold to pass citizen petitions from a simple majority to 60%. They pushed it through in an August special election … because the abortion citizen petition is going to be on the ballot in November.
I’ve been spending a lot of time and energy in Ohio, so I’m really excited that Field Team 6 is targeting it for voter registration phone banks. They’re having one today from 4-6pm eastern. You’ll be calling likely Dems – so this is a friendly audience. (Always fun!)
Remember, too, that Senator Sherod Brown is up this cycle – so it’s critical that we register Dems and turn them out in every corner of the state.
Join Field Team 6 at 4-6pm eastern. Sign up here: https://www.mobilize.us/ft6/event/557692/
Tonight: What Is “Gender Affirming Care”? Q&A Session
Red Wine & Blue is hosting this excellent event: “Politicians nationwide are pushing to ban gender affirming care not just for youth but for adults as well – but many people don’t even understand what that term means. Are you wondering what is involved in this type of care? Do you have questions about things you are seeing on social media? Let’s talk about it!! Join us to hear from Dane Menkin, CRNP, who has been providing gender affirming care for over a decade can give you the facts and explain why access to this care is so important!” Sign up HERE.
Set Boundaries for the Supreme Court
This week is all about boundaries, so let’s not leave SCOTUS out.
Both the Senate Finance Committee and the Senate Judiciary Committee are trying to set boundaries, too. After the “special relationship” between billionaire patron Harlan Crow and Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas came to light, both committees asked Thomas’s patron for more information. For decades, Crow has taken Thomas and his wife on luxury vacations aboard his super yacht to Greece, Indonesia, and New Zealand; he has let Thomas use his private jet; he paid for the private school tuition for a relative Thomas was raising “as a son” – up to $150k Crow if footed the bill for all four years. And finally, Crow purchased Thomas’ elderly mother’s home from Thomas, his mother, and his deceased brother’s estate for $133k. He also bought two vacant lots on the same street. And, soon after the purchase, Crow went to work improving Thomas’ mother’s house, with a new fence, a new roof, a new carport…
Of course, Mrs. Thomas still lives in the house that Crow has so generously renovated for her.
None of these gifts or transactions – vacations, tuition, real estate transactions – were reported on Thomas’ required annual disclosure forms. The high-priced lawyers representing Crow refused both committees’ request for information, of course.
Let the legal games begin. But it’s the start of some boundary setting, at least.
It’s a congressional flex.
We need more of that energy, and I applaud it.
So today, give a call to your senator and ask them to support S. 359, the Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency Act of 2023. This is especially important if your Senator is on the Senate Judiciary Committee (and Missouri folks – Josh Hawley is). Check to see if your Senator is on the committee here: https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/about/committee
WHEW! GO TEAM!
P.S.: Why don’t you make someone’s day and send this pep talk to a friend or two? I bet they need it.
If you’d like to sign up to get this pep talk and action list in your in-box each week, you can do that here. Welcome, friend!
P.P.S.: If you want to help support this work you can do so via Patreon at
https://www.patreon.com/smalldeedsdone or via paypal at https://www.paypal.me/smalldeeds
My deepest gratitude in advance.
Thank you for reading. Thank you for writing. I read and respond to every email! We’re in this together. Don’t you forget it.
Small Deeds Done 