Even in this ugly era of political divisiveness under "King Donald," some things remain bigger than partisan politics.

Travel deep into Southwest Texas to the Mexican border and you'll witness two powerful forces of political harmony in Big Bend National Park. First is the true majesty of nature — 1,200 square miles of high desert beauty, spectacular canyons, the Chisos Mountains' "sky islands," black bears and jaguars, ancient artifacts of native peoples, etc.

But you could also experience the marvelous rebellious spirit of today's Big Bend people who are battling the White House's ideological extremists. At issue is "The Wall," the xenophobic piece of nastiness pushed by Stephen Miller, the Trump government's tyrannical, anti-immigrant chief. Build a multi-billion-dollar, 30-foot-high steel wall atop the Rio Grande's fragile, thousand-foot-high cliffs, Miller maniacally commanded!

Hello — such a monstrous wall would destroy the cliffs, devastate the economic, cultural and other essential cross-border relationships that Big Bend communities rely on — and do nothing to stop desperate refugees. So, in a grassroots, non-partisan rebellion against such ideological bullstuff, a majority coalition of ranchers, environmentalists, local sheriffs, native Americans and just folks has momentarily stalled the scheme. As a longtime Republican resident puts it: "Those advocating for this insane project should ... acknowledge their nonsensical, aesthetically and environmentally quixotic conduct, so their names may be indelibly placed on that border wall and remembered forever in infamy."

This is Jim Hightower saying ... Trump is expected to push ahead, but the feisty grassroots champions are not intimidated. "We will be civil," says one leader, "but we don't have to be polite." Stay connected to them at nobigbendwall.org.

A GOVERNMENT OF, BY and FOR BILLIONAIRES?

Congress keeps churning out laws that the great majority of us have explicitly, consistently and loudly said "we do not want!" Are those lawmakers deaf?

No, their ears are stuffed with ever-increasing wads of political cash from corporations and the superrich, so our words can't reach their eardrums. Take Tim Sheehy, a Montana Republican elected two years ago to the U.S. Senate. He quickly proved to be a tail-wagging fetcher of more plutocratic tax giveaways and most anything else the billionaire class desires.

Why? Money. His campaign was launched and supercharged by such barons of Wall Street and Silicon Valley as Steve Schwarzman. Honcho of a private equity powerhouse, Schwarzman greased Sheehy's political skids with an $8 million check. A New York Times analysis later found that at least 63 other billionaire families bought a piece of the fledgling Montana senator that year.

He's not their only purchase, of course. The Times' tally found 300 billionaire families invested more than $3 billion in federal candidates in 2024.

Meanwhile, not only does Congress do what We the People don't want, but they also refuse to do what we do want. Most emphatically, that includes a huge, bipartisan majority who want all corporate money out of political races and solid limits on donations by the rich.

Big Money is a stark threat to America, says Marc Raciot, Montana's former Republican governor. It's turning our democratic republic into a place where a few wealthy people can legally spend millions to direct how the government runs. "Does any reasonable person on the planet think that's appropriate?" he asks.

To help assert a people's democracy over corporate plutocracy, go to EndCitizensUnited.org.

To find out more about Jim Hightower and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators webpage at www.creators.com.

Photo credit: Bernard Hermant at Unsplash