As we had all anticipated, the current administration is off to a tornado of activity, with a bewildering, haphazard, and indiscriminate flurry of executive orders that push the boundaries of the Constitution as far (and probably significantly farther) as can be pushed. The purveyors of Project 2025, with the support of the Republican Party’s true base (note - it’s not the American people), have begun their crusade to gut the Federal Government, hamstring the regulatory agencies of the Executive Branch, castrate the legislative branch, and bypass the Judiciary. It is a brazen attempt to aggregate power into a single, singular individual, who barely knows, and probably doesn’t even read, the outrageous executive orders he is signing on an hourly basis.
The onslaught of outrage is by design - it is designed to keep the opposition reeling, chasing the most recent outrage while anxiously anticipating the drop of the next shoe. It’s easy to feel disoriented amidst this onslaught - they want you to feel that way. But they will succeed only if we allow them to.
I, for one, refuse.
I’m going to list a few things that come to mind that may help us help navigate the next few months and translate anger into action. You can join us at 7 pm on Wednesday, February 5 at the Aberdeen Holiday Inn Express to meet fellow Democrats and learn about more ways to keep ourselves level during this chaotic time:
Focus on the things you can control - First and foremost, we can control how we respond to the series of outrages. They want us to despair; we will not. We may be angry, but can keep it a cold, calculating, and focused anger that motivates action. A start might be to make election denying, autocrat-coddling Rep. Andy Harris’ (R-MD1) Bel Air office phone ring off the hook. It’s 410-588-5670.
Recognize the small wins - Public outrage and pressure forced the administration to rescind the attempt to place a global hold on federal grants and contracts. More locally, a wave of public pressure against a local zoning ordinance that would have expanded the ability of local mining interests to blast near residents’ homes is forcing reconsideration of that measure. Public engagement still works, and our local Democratic officeholders need your support.
Build our Party locally - get out and organize the Democrats in your neighborhood. Talk to Independents and “Soft Republicans” who may be disillusioned with the direction their party has taken. We can help you do that with data, training, and advice. We also have several subcommittees that are open to wider membership, and we welcome your more involved work with the Party. In addition, we offer a number of ways for you to get involved, such as:
Attend Party meetings. It’s a great way to meet fellow Democrats and your local party leadership. Both groups also host elected officials and other special guests.
The Central Committee conducts its regular business meeting at 7pm on the 3rd Wednesday of each month, with rotating locations throughout the county. Look to our website for updates on location. Meetings are hybrid, so you may Zoom in if you can’t attend in person.
The Harford Democratic Club meets on the first Wednesday of each month at 7 pm at the Aberdeen Holiday Inn Express.
Hold a house party in your neighborhood. We can help you reach out to and engage your Democratic neighbors!
Help us conduct “deep canvassing” operations to contact Harford residents and help identify hot-button issues for our 2026 candidates
Write welcome postcards to newly registered Democrats in the County
Plan and staff Party events such as happy hours, parades, First Fridays, fundraisers, and booths at local festivals
Spread the word - share this post and others on your social media. Recruit your friends.
Suggest other ways to help people act in the comments!
Act as if you have hope, even if you feel like you’ve lost it - Hope is not a feeling. It is a gift to the world that we create through our actions. And we will act. The policy changes over the next few months will likely be wrenching and extremely damaging to many people on both sides of the aisle. Trump and his enablers ran on it, so shall it be done.
So let’s make them own it. Today’s Republican Party is drunk on Ayn Rand, billionaire PAC money, and its leader’s own limitless hubris. To paraphrase Sir Arthur Harris - they are now sowing the wind.
You can help ensure that they reap the whirlwind.
Congratulations to our new Secretary!
Rico Albacarys will assume the role of Secretary following our officer elections at the January meeting. We congratulate him and thank him for being willing to step into the role. We also thank Alicia Myers-Pope for her diligent work on maintaining our meeting records and as admin of our email system.