It’s been a long, cold winter, even for those of us in warm, sunny Santa Barbara.

National treasures like public radio and national parks — the lifeblood of America’s greatness — have been eliminated or seen their budgets slashed.

Black and brown people are being swept off the streets without regard to legal status.

Federal programs have lost their most senior employees and with them, decades of institutional knowledge.

That’s the tip of the iceberg in our country. Around the world, citizens of Canada, Venezuela, Greenland and others fear the antics of a foreign leader — ours! Our president seems to relish the chaos.

The question for the rest of us is: Are we stepping back or standing up?

Most now grasp that we must act in whatever ways we can, consistent with the moral and ethical values to which we still aspire. Young and old are realizing we can’t just wait out this presidency.

Many of my friends are holding signs and marching, arthritis notwithstanding. Other friends are writing letters, arthritis notwithstanding.

Santa Barbara real estate agent Beth Goodman was pepper-sprayed in the face confronting ICE on the Eastside.

The 805 Undocufund, SB Resiste, and UCSB Associated Students have hosted collaborative training in support of immigrant communities. They provide resources and empower them with knowledge about their rights. The Fund’s community calendar showcases events supportive of the democratic process.
 
The Society of Fearless Grandmothers (SOFG), led locally by Irene Cooke, is a superb example of stepping up. Cooke’s busy fingers are knitting together community members, emailing alerts to marches, protests, and no-buy days.

Speaking of knitting, Minnesotans are knitting “Melt the Ice” hats based on a 1940s Norwegian knitting pattern protesting the Nazi occupation of Norway.

My granddaughter joined many in her middle school in Los Angeles, walking out to protest ICE actions. Calling the night before, she was, “excited but a little scared.” Around 200 students participated, by her estimation. She was “glad that so many cared.”

Many in government are standing up, at significant risk to their careers — and even their safety.

One of California’s U.S. senators, Alex Padilla, was thrown to the ground by federal agents after walking into a Department of Homeland Security press conference in Los Angeles.

California Secretary of State Shirley Weber successfully contested a Justice Department lawsuit demanding California’s voter rolls and other sensitive voter information.

“We’re prepared to do whatever we have to do in California,” she said, to keep state elections from being nationalized.
 
Federal Judge Fred Biery, from Texas’ Western District, freed Minnesotans Liam Conejos Ramos, age 5, and his father from a Texas detention center. In his ruling he quoted Thomas Jefferson’s complaints against King George.



A group of New Jersey elected officials on an official tour of a detention center were harassed with one arrest and one indictment. The New York City comptroller accompanying an immigrant to court was arrested for obstructing immigration agents.

What decency demands now is more from the president’s own party standing up for democracy. They have some GOP role models.

Brad Raffensperger is the Republican secretary of state for Georgia who refused to “find enough votes to flip the state’s results” in the 2020 presidential election.

Even now, Raffensperger is fighting attempts by Georgia’s GOP to supply sensitive voter data to the Trump administration. (He told them, “Hell, no.”)

Other Republicans who have stood up for democracy against their own party leaders include Liz Cheney, Adam Kinzinger, and Mitt Romney. All have paid for raising the president’s ire.

These brave and committed individuals are just a tiny sample gleaned from my inbox. The anecdotes are not comprehensive, nor even necessarily the most important events. They demonstrate how we can make “standing up” part of our daily lives.

Each of us can email, text, phone call, march, and make good consumer choices. We can find the bitter spot for ourselves among this administration’s dirty deeds. Then we can find our sweet spot of action.

Don’t let bullying subvert our democracy.