Obviously, we can’t back down. We won’t retreat. The odds are too fright. The fate of the human species is at stake over the next several years. Literally. I don’t use that word lightly. We are in a tight spot that is getting tighter by the minute. With insane global tariffs tanking the stock markets and federal authorities terrorizing marginalized communities nationwide, over 5 million Americans rising up in all 50 states on Saturday to say enough is enough isn’t surprising.
The country is slowly shaking off the trauma of this absolute disaster of an administration making it back into the White House. We knew it would be bad, but lacked enough sadistic imagination to properly understand the threat to our nation and our way of life. We never could have guessed the damage would be so immediate and catastrophic to our most vulnerable citizens. Not that the pain at home wasn’t bad enough, but these guys are inflicting massive damage globally in places we spent decades leveraging soft power in the form of humanitarian aid and promoting democracy.
The last time the American people rose up to fight against injustice, it was the murder of George Floyd that provided the spark, though the kindling had started being stacked long before we even became a country. Though the protests that ensued throughout the summer and fall of 2020 were primarily against racist policing policies, they expanded to the more generalized feeling of angst and instability we all felt. Millions of Americans, many living paycheck to paycheck, were suddenly out of work and stuck in their homes for weeks on end. A powder keg waiting to explode.
This time we’re starting off much more peaceably and several magnitudes larger. We learned from the Black Lives Matter protests and the decided lack of change it engendered. For protests to be truly effective, they have to be every where and all at once. They need planning and coordination and be launched with military precision. They have to be sustained. They have to be inclusive of many viewpoints, not all of which will be totally aligned. They have to leave room for dissent among the various groups involved, while remaining laser-focused on the problem at hand.
The problem at hand is a president and an administration Hell bent on destroying every American norm built over the last century of hard lessons learned. Chaos incarnate. The living embodiment of every evil thing we ever did as a country, come back to destroy us. There is an almost poetic symmetry to this moment if you think about it. Our nation’s Ego and Id given a body and a voice and a “mandate” to eliminate every good thing We The People ever accidently or purposely accomplished by way of our imperfect union. We are at another inflection point in our history.
I remain confident that we are up the challenge. The more extreme they become in their policies and depredations, the more vigorous and animated the pushback. They are seriously underestimating the nation’s 22 million veterans, too, despite the large percentage of vets who voted for this shitshow. Likewise, many (if not most) active duty military are highly likely to refuse illegal orders demanding they assault and arrest American citizens on American soil. Posse Comitatus has been a tradition in the United States since the end of the Civil War. We’ve been here before.
All that being said, shit is going to get very real long before it gets even a little bit better. Buckle up for the long haul. We have staying power they simply can’t comprehend. The midterms will be here in the blink of an eye. Given the numbers from last week’s special election, republican incumbents in purple districts should be very afraid. I’m sure they’re sweating bullets of dread despite outward signs of business as usual. The GOP is fucked like the Whigs and they know it in their bones.
It’s on us to make sure their fall from grace doesn’t doom the Republic. We need independent centrists in red districts to register as republicans and primary their incumbent MAGA representatives. The midterm election math is very conducive to insurgent attacks. Even better if veterans in every one of those districts respond to this call to arms. Your oath didn’t expire on your EOS date. That’s something you swear for a lifetime. Your country needs you now more than ever. We are in a time of war like none we’ve seen. Tyrants took over the levers of power.
Good news is they are stupid as fuck. Nothing could be easier than using the same moribund systems that they did to seize control to take it back. The numbers don’t lie. We The People are a far greater force than the fascist government we allowed to emerge through inaction and indifference. The beatings will continue until moral improves. Moral appears to be improving. Cory Booker took the Senate floor for over 25 hours on March 31 and April 1 to destroy a segregationist’s record arguing against Civil Rights Act. That’s the good trouble We The People need to get into.
April 19th is the next chance to leverage our power as a people. I’ll be there with my kiddo after sitting the last one out for safety. Excited to see the signs that emerge! He is very aware of what is being said about members of his community. As are we. The community is acutely aware of being targeted. Another tactic that will fall flat with most Americans. Just like demonizing immigrants and snatching them off the street without due process. We The People understand that if they can be “deported” to a gulag in such a fashion then anyone can be. No fucking way this will stand in the fullness of time.
