Day: March 11, 2025

Mind the GAP…Great American Pushback—-Jim Acosta

Jim Acosta was a renowned CNN journalist for decades. He was a reporter in the style of Edward R. Morrow and Walter Cronkite. He presented truth and facts as he saw them, not as any politician wanted them to be. With the return of Donald Trump to the presidency and pressure from the upper echelons of CNN wanting a more both sides treatment of the news rather than a recitation of truth, Jim Acosta felt that it was time for him to resign. He was unwilling to provide viewers with a watered down company line rather than the facts on the ground. 

Since his departure from CNN Jim Acosta has joined Substack and continued his reporting with interviews of some to the best political minds of the world. He recently brought attention to the Great American Pushback, a concerted effort by Americans of multiple political beliefs to make their voices heard. In particular this movement is designed to keep Americans aware of the destruction that Trump and Musk are doing to our national institutions. Already there are lawsuits and protests cropping up all across the nation in the hopes of calling a halt to the often illegal damage being inflicted on our national security and important programs that work for the citizenry.

Acosta has suggested that each of us needs to stay fully aware of what is happening and then “Mind the GAP.” He takes this call from the message in the London tube to be careful about accidentally falling into the space between the landing and the safety of the cars. So too should we be aware that GAP is suggesting that if we are wary of the damage being inflicted on our democracy then we must be aware of those damaging spaces into which our freedoms may falll unless we are willing to let our voices be heard. 

it is well known that Donald Trump likes to be loved. He revels in attention and adulation. On the other hand he is ultra sensitive to any form of criticism. Right now he appears to be waffling back and forth with his ideas in response to the stock market and comments from the citizens who are angry about both DOGE and our country’s treatment of Canada, Mexico and Ukraine. He is demonstrating his reluctance to follow through with his initial plans because he is feeling the pushback.

We know that Hitler was able to destroy the democratic government of Germany in only 51 days. it has been about that much time since Trump was inaugurated and began his move fast and break things approach to redefining the way our government works. People have not been silent and so his success has not been as easy as he had believed it would be. There is feuding between his cabinet and DOGE. Lawsuits are mounting. it seems that there is a protest or demonstration every other day. Congressional town halls are filled with unhappy citizens. The White House and Congressional phones are ringing off the wall. The unemployment rate is rising and even Trump is now admitting that the price of eggs will probably not go down and we may have to endure a recession. As the pressure bears down more and more strongly on Trump he may well abandon the worst of his plans. He does after all want the love of his people and it is not being granted as effusively as it once was. 

A couple of weeks ago I was feeling incredibly worried about where all of this will lead. It seemed that the country that I have always loved was becoming almost unrecognizable. It felt stifling and downright authoritarian. It also made us look selfish and silly. I was saddened to a point of just wanting to turn the whole thing off. I believed that I would have to wait for four years to end before there would be any hope of having something left of our nation to rebuild. Happily I now see people from sea to shining sea keeping the fires of freedom alive. 

We Americans take great pride in being the land of the free. We feel best when we are on the pathway of morality, not just for ourselves, but for all people everywhere. We know full well that we have had to overcome imperfections in our history and we don’t mind talking openly about them. We have seen the power of our diversity. We have worked hard to insure equality even to people very unlike ourselves. We strived to include more and more people across the globe in the what is best about democracy. I should have known that we would never allow what we cherish to be destroyed without a word. 

The people of the United States will push back on evil, prejudice, and ignorance every single time. We work hard to be who our founders hoped we would be. We have repaired the cracks in our great experience time and again. We will rise to the challenge of being free once again. We will find courage in the wisdom of people like Jim Acosta, Steve Schmidt, Heather Cox Richardson, Jennifer Rubin, Aaron Parnas and a host of incredible patriots who are leading us on the paths that we must follow. We will indeed mind the GAP. We will save our liberties and restore confidence in our nation again.