I'm really hopeful about the activism that's been happening against Trump's ICE. Considering that Trump's ICE is only worse than Obama's by a matter of degree (a large degree, perhaps, but it's not a difference in kind), i wonder if having a bogeyman like Trump to unite against is at least a silver lining to his getting elected. Trump is revealing not just what the Republican party looks like with the mask off, but what the entire system really is. On the other hand, considering that everyone hated Bush's drone program and then forgot about it when Obama got elected, it may be that this is only temporary. What gives me hope is that the left nowadays has a larger infrastructure; e.g., the direct action against ICE has been led by groups like the DSA (see here, here) and is already more separated from the Democratic party than, say, the 2003 era blogosphere, which turned out to be largely partisan. But i don't think the left should become too separated from the Democratic party. Contra some in the DSA, i think it helps to have members challenging incumbent Democrats electorally (Donate to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez!) because that's the only kind of pressure they care about.

But anyway, thanks to Trump for being so cartoonishly evil that we can all unite against you for now.