The expression “jumped the shark” derives from a 1977 Happy Days episode in which Fonzie jumped over a shark while water skiing. The expression marks an inflection point when something—be it a TV series or a presidency—has passed its prime and entered a period of stark decline. While Trump has almost three years left to his term in office, there are reasons to believe the power of his office is waning as it often does for lame duck presidents. (I deeply apologize to readers for an opening paragraph that includes both a shark and a duck metaphor.)
The signs of his administration’s decline are everywhere: He has gotten himself into an unwinnable war without public support, and into a one-down position vis-à-vis Iran where he is unable to pull off even the illusion of a satisfying “deal.” His popularity is hitting the lowest recorded levels in polling history. His Vice President failed to protect Viktor Orban from a landslide defeat in Hungary. Virginia just gerrymandered its congressional districts to make it harder for Republicans to win elections. Formerly supportive personalities like Tucker Carlson, Joe Rogan, and Marjorie Taylor Greene are like rats abandoning ship (a third animal metaphor!). Cabinet members like Pam Bondi, Kristi Noem, and Lori Chavez-DeRemer are out, and others like Kash Patel and Tulsi Gabbard will soon follow. Apple shareholders rejected an anti-DEI provision this February, and this week SUNY’s Chancellor reaffirmed SUNY’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. As we approach the mid-terms, Republicans are preparing to lose their House majority and even the Senate may be in play. All of Trump’s attempts to use the Department of Justice to punish his enemies have failed (so far). The Supreme Court has limited his powers to set tariffs or deploy the National Guard, and is about to deny his attempt to eliminate birthright citizenship. House and Senate Democrats have blocked additional dollars for ICE funding. While Republicans will probably restore that funding through reconciliation, the Democrats’ willingness to stand up suggests they may be finally developing something that resembles a backbone. These are all signs that Trump’s authoritarian breakthrough is failing badly.
It is failing because average Americans continue to stand up and be counted. Approximately 8,000,000 of us participated in the last No Kings Day, and the next event on our resistance calendar will be May 1st. On that day, Americans are being asked to stay home from work, stay home from school, and refrain from shopping. Indivisible sees this as a test of how many Americans are willing to engage in a mini national strike. If enough people participate, Indivisible and its allies will be emboldend to call for a multi-day national strike if Trump attempts to delay, cancel, or otherwise interfere with the midterm elections.
May Day is, in effect, a practice drill—a test of our organizational capacities and our resolve. Please take it seriously. In addition to no work, no school, and no shopping, local Indivisible chapters are sponsoring demonstrations in thousands of locations around the United States. You can find the demonstration nearest you at https://www.mobilize.us
We are also asking Buddhist Coalition for Democracy members to email us at buddhistcoalitionfordemocracy@gmail.com and let us know whether and how they participated. This will allow us to gauge the degree of our membership’s participation.
I suppose we should be grateful that Trump is grossly incompetent. His grandiosity blinds him to his limitations and the myriad ways the world cannot be bent to his will. Trump inherited a post-pandemic recovering economy that could have made him popular had he just left it alone; instead, he imposed inflationary tariffs and initiated an inflationary war. He could have just tightened the Mexican border, which would have been popular with many beyond his hard-core base; instead, he pursued his largely unpopular policy of mass deportation. He could have been the president who “kept us out of war;” instead he devoted his energies to and squandered American wealth in military adventures abroad. He could have been the president who made NATO allies pay their fair share; instead he trashed our alliances irreparably.
The good news is that we can now realistically imagine an end to this tragic period in American history.
The bad news is it will take generations to fix the damage done.
And some things, of course, can never be fixed. For those who have been deported, incarcerated, or killed, and for those whose lives have been crippled and stifled, there can only be grief and, in the end, if we are lucky, accountability and justice.