Sunday Thought: Gratitude

Friends,

I just got back from a long walk. At this moment, I’m feeling grateful.

I took the walk because I had to calm myself after listening to Trump this week and fuming about the lapdogs in his Cabinet, his sycophants in Congress, and the cynical ideologues in his Supreme Court majority.

My particular problem, if you want to call it that, is I’ve served in a president’s Cabinet, spent a great deal of time in the White House and on Capitol Hill, worked in the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission, and argued before the Supreme Court.

I know what it’s like to do these jobs. And I’m furious at people who are helping Trump trash these institutions.

Earlier this week I asked many of you who you believed to be the worst elected official in America, other than Trump. Of the 6,630 of you who chose from the four finalists I offered, 51 percent picked JD Vance; 20 percent picked Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton; 19 percent chose Texas Governor Greg Abbott; many of you in your comments picked Mitch McConnell.

What do all of them have in common? A cynical contempt for the people of the United States.

So, where does my gratitude come from today?

While on my walk, I thought about many of the public servants with whom I’ve had the privilege of working over the last fifty years. Among them, Teddy Kennedy, Paul Wellstone, Michael Pertschuk, Barack Obama, Nancy Kassebaum, Michael Dukakis, Judge Frank Coffin, Pat Moynihan, Gabby Giffords, Bernie Sanders, Bill Clinton, Alan Simpson, and my dedicated colleagues at the Labor Department and the FTC.

I remembered how hard they worked for this country. I didn’t agree with all of them all the time, but I admired their selfless dedication. I’m grateful to them all.

They provide a sharp contrast to the cynical ass-kissers, cowards, sadists, and bigots Trump has used to turn America into a place I barely recognize.

We will take this country back. There are far more of us than there are of them.

The great sleeping giant of America is waking up and seeing Trump for who he is — a dangerous sociopathic conman. If polls are to be believed, a strong majority of the public is thoroughly disgusted by him and his regime.

I also see a new generation of public servants waiting in the wings — people with integrity and humility, who possess the values and commitment America needs, who will rebuild the country from the rubble Trump has created, who will make America far better.

It may take a generation to undo the damage Trump and his lackeys have wrought, but it will be done. We will prevail.