As a woman who is active in Indivisible and has protested the decisions of our government
since the inauguration, I find myself waking each day thinking, “What can I do? What should I
do?”
As a citizen of this country, a country that is of, by, and for the people, I wonder what we as
citizens can do to keep our democracy, as every day I hear more evidence of President Trump
pushing for “unitary executive authority.”
In America, the unitary executive theory is a Constitutional law theory that makes the president
the sole authority of the executive branch with aims to centralize control of the government in
the White House. President Trump has demonstrated this by overriding Congressional budget
authority and ignoring court orders. We are waiting to see if he complies with the recent
Supreme Court denial of his withholding payments to USAID contractors; an action that is not
within his rights as president. This is only one example of how he has exercised unconstitutional
power over the Congress.
We, the concerned citizens of the United States, the citizens who don’t want authoritarian rule,
ask our representatives in Washington “What are you doing? What are you doing to temper this
abuse of power in the White House? Why have you approved this cabinet, many of whom are
without experience and aligned with the President in his abuse of the office?”
Here in North Carolina, we know part of the reason. Our own Senator Tillis was told by the FBI
that there was a credible threat against his life as he considered voting against Pete Hegseth for Secretary of Defense. Did that affect his vote?
President Trump doesn’t need the military on his side. He has an army of White Supremacists
who are eager and willing to remove any obstacles in his path. We may not know the final goal
but looking at Project 2025 it is not difficult to discern the desired outcome. I know from my
reading that there is no room for me as a woman, as a senior citizen, or as a grandmother to be
a contributing member of the country they are creating in this moment. Any respect for women’s
minds or their rights, for their achievements or their contributions, will evaporate as we are
reduced to being stay-at-home wives and mothers.
I was raised in a patriarchal system and spent my life fighting against it. Having been told there
was no reason, or money, to support my college education, I chose a different path, attending a
three-year nursing school. It ensured I would be debt free and able to support myself, never
knowing what the future would hold. I worked hard and ultimately achieved independence,
mainly because I lived in a time where women fought, and succeeded, to have choices. Instead
of joining in celebrating women’s achievements many men have expressed dismay at their
successes. We are now living with the consequences of this disapproval.
It is time to stand up for women, women’s rights, women’s work and women’s achievements,
that have contributed to making this country what it is, while it still is this country and not an
imitation of Russia or Hungary. I encourage you to look around and choose one thing to stand
up for in this time. Join a group like Indivisible, Common Cause, Carolina Forward or one of
many others that are bringing people together to fight back against unconstitutional changes
that are not in our best interests, but in those of an oligarchy of billionaires. This is the time and
we the people, women and men, were made for it. I hope.
Margaret Pickett, Highlands