Progress Factory

Small things may be just that, but when they march forward at a steady pace, they get swept up in a powerful momentum fueled by strength in numbers. Collectively, a growing stream of small things can intensify into a juggernaut that wields great influence while remaining mostly out of the spotlight. The result may be welcome relief and delight or incessant grief and heartache, depending on your perspective.
After four years of major atrocities and ignominies, itโs fitting that Trumpโs single term, historic for its double impeachment, culminated in a final deadly showstopper. The Trump-inspired insurrectionist attack on the Capitol two weeks before Joe Bidenโs inauguration will no doubt jump off the pages of our grandchildrenโs history textbooks for its breathtaking perversity.
Thankfully, America has moved on. To borrow language from President Biden, we have moved past the malarkey and weโre building back better. This means the big things these days include items such as the passage of the American Rescue Plan that provides $1.9 trillion in desperately needed pandemic relief. The big things no longer involve racist walls, xenophobic immigration bans, environmental desecration, or other embarrassments that smack of a nation of warped values.
While Trump was President, a small time might pass between serious affronts to decency, dignity, or democracy. However, the small things were always present, swimming like slimy, dutiful fish garnering little attention thanks to the shockwaves of the big things and the shiny objects Trump tossed around like paper towel rolls after a devastating hurricane.
For four years, Trumpโs swamp produced a fetid stream of comparatively small thingsโanother rollback of a sensible environmental or banking regulation; a looser reinterpretation of language aimed at stopping ugly forms of discrimination; a further erosion of healthcare and protections for Americaโs most vulnerable populations. It was a stream mired with junk that translated into an unswerving current of pain and sorrow for the country.
Today, the small things continue to flow under the Biden administration, but they sail boldly in the opposite direction. Under Bidenโs leadership, the small things are about making people feel valued and offering the opportunity to live safely and thrive. Itโs the establishment of the White House Gender Policy Council earlier this month; itโs Thursdayโs triumphant return of references to the worldโs climate emergency on the EPAโs website; and itโs Fridayโs announced reinstatement of government accountability measures that Trump cheerfully ripped up as his failed term petered out.
Following a joke of a presidential transition, the Biden administration has been tackling Americaโs morass of problems methodically and expertly. The big things, such as the American Rescue Plan, will keep on coming. In the meantime, we can spend each day taking comfort in knowing that the small things are getting pumped out of the Democratsโ Progress Factory with uncanny skill and determination, not to mention that invaluable human trait known as empathy. Now is the time to climb as high as we possibly can.

Ron Leshnower is a lawyer and the author of several books, including President Trump’s Month