We were warned by Washington, Lincoln and others. Now we must oppose this authoritarian regime, firmly voice our commitment to the Constitution and rule of law—and assert what it means to be American.
I think this is one of your best essays. You’ve crystallized the feeling of dread and perfectly described the nightmarish crisis we are all experiencing, especially those of us who could not imagine that Trump would be given a second term. We were sure that memories of his catastrophic first term would linger; that his attempt to stage a coup would be enough to wipe him from the political slate for 2024, as would his status as a convicted felon. But alas….there were enough voters that thought electing an autocratic carnival barker, to quote “Citizen Kane”, “would be fun”. I awaken each morning with the entreaty, “Help!”…on my lips. And with this essay, and all your essays, you have. Thank you!
Block the road now. Too much is at risk to wait! Mobilize Blue state National Guards when threatened. Wait until then. The invasion of one state by another is a call to state Governors to mobilize their National Guards to resist an UNLAWFUL assault. The U.S. military should not accept UNLAWFUL orders. The sooner we get this over with, the better. This confrontation is coming. It is coming! We are stronger now than we will be tomorrow. The confrontation is not a battle or a war. It is a standoff at State borders. One state would be trying to invade another. One is the offender. The other, the defender. We know TACO.
Also, the gerrymander fight is on. There is a new playbook. The old rules have been struck down by the Supreme Court. We need to change the gears here as fast as possible for deadly PREEMPTIVE strikes. Newsom has moved out on this already. Who is next? Hochul. Where are you? NO EXCUSE! Change your state Constitution. Pritzker. What are you doing?
This is what it may come down to,Carl.."The U.S. military should not accept UNLAWFUL orders." Something dramatic has to occur to prevent what seems to be the inevitable.
A retired General wrote for VoteVets in strong exacting language of the violations the troops are forced? Coerced? To do and it’s wrong. Mikey Weinstein of MRFF (Military Religious Freedom Foundation) and a former JAG helps all in any service with mainly issues of forced religion lessons and services. He also takes on the causes of those being forced against their beliefs and the Constitution to act in contrary ways. And while DC weather has been moderate, being forced to take leaves and pick up trash seems demeaning.
You need to read more and find out exactly what Pritzker is doing. Start by showing up at the Great Lakes Naval Station to Protest Trump's staging the BLITZ into Chicago with his Southern Troops after Labor Day We could use some trees planted, mulch spread, pot-holes filled, speeders on Lake Shore Drive arrested -lots of things I assume gun-toting Southern Troops will gladly do. When you have time, please read how a Constitution of a State is changed, what forces will cause changes you don't ever want and the TIME it takes to VOTE by the PUBLIC to make any Changes. Illinois is not run by a dictator. We have RULES and LAWS that govern what a Governor may do. We have a Governor who will not act like Trump and the Supreme Court of the United States.
Would not be coming into my state, Mary. And I am not afraid to stand up to the bully. A bully has to be punched right in the face to stop the bullying, otherwise you lose your much money every frickin day.
A superb and very moving post, Stephen. God, you write well.
I choked up when I read the passage about the existential need to respect the rule of law. Under such toxic attack currently.
And since all of what you write about needs to be said over and over, it’s a gift to have a writer like you to do that with such inspiring passion, such an ability to move hearts and minds. Thank you.
I write my Senator every day to express my frustration. Today, I used your words to help me:
Senator Tills,
George Washington, as he left the presidency after 8 years, described the dangers of factionalism and the rise of “cunning, ambitious and unprincipled men [who] will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government, destroying afterwards the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion.” When a despot exploits the needs of people “to seek security and repose in the absolute power of an individual” and exploits the nation’s “disorders and miseries” for “the purposes of his own elevation, on the ruins of public liberty,” such a thing becomes possible.
Even realized?
And our first president (from Steven Beschloss), "who described his warning as the counsel “of an old and affectionate friend,” had a solution to ensure our beloved country did not reach such a tragic predicament. He urged that any “sincere friend” of free government would promote “as an object of primary importance, institutions for the general diffusion of knowledge.” He offered an equation: “In proportion as the structure of a government gives force to public opinion, it is essential that public opinion should be enlightened.” In other words, education and particularly civic education would provide the necessary antidote: An informed citizenry."
So, Senator Tillis, are you a sincere friend of free government and of an informed citizenry? Are any of you in the GOP sincere friends of free government? How about the Supreme Court, any sincere friends there? All I see and smell is insincerity.
You, your whole party, your Heritage Foundation and your Project 2025, are no friends of the United States of America. Only of each other. Come on, man, tell me I'm wrong and tell me how I'm wrong. Waiting with bated breath, but not holding it.
Sincerely,
P.S. -- Watched any good, fawning cabinet meetings lately? What a disgrace? What public servants? What pigs at the trough!
Robbie, thank you. I don’t write everyday but I should. I usually write when my blood boils which is often now. My senators are Moran and Marshall from Kansas, the latter has his head so far up Trumps ass it’s almost not worth the effort and I have probably been relegated to junk status. Again, thanks and we must all continue to fight!
This is a superb essay that touches all the important aspects of the challenges facing us today. Should we be amazed that Washington and Lincoln wrote such similar warnings? The linking thread is education. Teaching and learning history is an essential bulwark between losing our heritage and living up to it.
A villain is bad enough. A sycophantic villain is so dangerous. The unfortunate similarities of America now to the Roman empire then are striking. I think people have come to believe one has to appeal to the worst in people instead of the best. The founders believed people serving in government would be educated and moral, and would be serving--they would not be Visigoths, raping and pillaging. I have friends all over the country, and no one wants what we have. No one.
I think they know what they don't want--to be shamed and humiliated by Trump and his horrible minions. I don't think they want their districts left wanting after a tornado, flood, hurricane or other natural disaster. But, God help us, maybe you are right. I hope they are just scared, not evil.
I think our problem is too many state legislatures are just fine with many of these things which have long been GOP dreams. On the other hand, they don’t want to be responsible for doing it. Same story in Congress. Very few speak out against the actions of the president or his legislation. When they do their votes don’t match their words. They defend their votes with invisible tax cuts & push off the most harmful aspects until after election. Their own survival comes first. Because so many of them are wealthy, these bills are not harming them.
Despite their attempts Dems informed voters of what is coming. Voters see the president stampeding over their / their state’s rights. Joni Ernst in Iowa is going to announce she will not seek reelection. Recent polling showed her to be struggling or even behind her DEM opponent. A YouGov poll conducted in late July on attitudes about Trump‘s governing showed in all 5 of the states’ voters think he has gone too far. In Iowa it was 59%. Trump was underwater in Iowa on every issue except deporting people here illegally.
This is why there is a redistricting push mid-census from the WH. This is what Republicans put themselves in a box — a choice between being primaried by trump candidates or voters rebelling at the polls.
I'm in Georgia and the Republicans are in a scrum about who will face Ossoff. Derek Dooley is the son of a once beloved college football coach, but the coach is dead and gone. Yes, I'm working for him as best I can. Iowa needs Wahls.
Thanks, @Leakie, for working for Ossoff. Your current two Senators are great. My hope when Ossoff wins they will both be far more outspoken, more like Chris Murphy. Wahls MUST win in Iowa. Besides being great, he’s young and even among the Dems, too many old farts unwilling and for now unable to step aside. We need a good succession plan. If I live so long, I’d love to see the young Texan move up. Smart, unafraid, a former teacher. TX’s Crockett too - she speaks truth to power. A Barbara Jordan/Ann Richards TX woman!
Others tho are speaking up, staying in their jobs. Sherrod Brown is running again - support him. I’d like Al Franken & Kamala Harris to return. Bright. Sensible. Tough questioners.
States are the incubators for what we see happening. The right wing think tanks test them in willing states. A number of state legislators and governors have had little reluctance to harm their own constituents.
I agree. Most of the founders were well educated — and among the wealthiest. Almost half our founder were slave owners (although some were conflicted about it). Many were landowners, business owners & merchants. (In a Venn diagram the 2 groups would overlap.)
They were not blind to the fact that bad people rise to power. They placed obstacles in the path of an authoritarian taking power. For instance, the separation of powers for ‘checks and balances. A representative form of government instead of direct democracy. They wanted local and regional needs & alliances to counterbalance political parties. The founders included a path for impeachment and a Supreme Court. They did not include presidential immunity in the Constitution. The founders did not want to create a new monarchy. They were familiar with the sovereign immunity of monarchs so it wasn’t an accident.
We MUST modernize the 240 year old Constitution so that when we THE GOVERNED elect a person who proves to be threat to our democracy we can RECALL by petition and plebiscite and replace that person, VETO or AMEND all bad policies they adopted whi\le they are in office and not have to wait 4 years for the next scheduled election while they dismantle our democracy. Trying to fix the Constitution and re-establish our democracy one amendment at a time will take decades.
So many. The ERA came this <>close. DC statehood too. Will there be enough knowledge among young voters not being real history to be aware enough to act? I won’t live to see it. I hope it all changes.
Steven, this is a powerfully created masterpiece and expose contrasting the hopes, dreams and dedication to Democracy by the people - of our visionary leaders of the past
with
the current roiling corruption and dehumanizing galloping creeping of a level of cruelty in our country so forceful and widespread it will require almost superhuman efforts to quell.
Though very difficult to be reminded, we need these Truths of our plight to shake and pierce the still existing complacency of many of our citizens.
Excerpt from your article:
“The outcome of the 2024 election is not just about sustaining democracy. It's also a question of whether civilization as we know it will survive.”
We're are sleep-walking towards the edge of a cliff. There are sirens blaring but we refuse to let them rouse us.
Through indolence and inattention, we have installed a Russian asset in the White House, an amoral thug who is hellbent on destroying this nation and the world, regardless of the incalculable human suffering that he will leave in his wake. And all for what but the benefit of a handful of oligarchic fascists like Putin and himself.
Meanwhile, our leaders in Congress do little more than indulge in food-fights or stage stunts to attract a few passing minutes of press attention.
Here is my question, Steven: how do we organize a meaningful resistance, one with a united leadership that will bring this wretched nightmare to an end?
It’s the right question, Homi. I think there needs to be a catalyzing event where people say they’ve had enough and are willing to sacrifice their comfort. That hasn’t happened yet.
Here is the problem, Steven: we are suffering from creeping paralysis.
Trump has swept away habeas corpus by having armed thugs snatch people off our streets and spirit them away to foreign jails, but that was not enough to rouse us.
He has appointed moronic bigots to destroy our healthcare system and kill our children, but that was not enough to rouse us.
He has ridden roughshod over our educational systems and universities in order to destroy truth, research and learning, but that was not enough to rouse us.
He has brushed aside our traditional alliances with democratic nations in favor of supporting Russia, China and North Korea at the United Nations, but that was not enough to rouse us.
He has invited his boss, an indicted war criminal - with the blood of over a million people on his hands - to our shores so that he (Trump) could genuflect before him, but that was not enough to rouse us.
He has stopped foreign aid which has already resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousand of innocents, but that was not enough to rouse us.
He has ordered our own military onto our streets for no reason other than as a precursor to imposing martial law, but that was not enough to rouse us.
He shrugs when children are gunned down in our churches and schools, but that is not enough to rouse us.
I am typing in haste, but the list goes on and on. And on.
My great fear, when Trump imposes an event that would in normal times catalyze us into action, is that we will permit him to spread the lie that martial law is necessary under the circumstances and impose draconian rule. What happens then? Does the nation descend into bloody civil war? How will we pick up the pieces?
What we need now are leaders - congress people, governors, military and intelligence personnel, intellectuals, scholars, historians and writers - who will band together to form a united body to spearhead the charge against the existential evil that we face. Such a body would also be in place to provide the infrastructure for governance that will be needed once we prevail.
Is this too much to ask? Is this wishful thinking on my part?
Take a look at our Democratically elected Democratic Governors. They are speaking out and leading the charge. They have prepared legal filings, ready to file in courts within hours of those infamous, illegal executive orders. This resistance and countering to the evil empire wannabees takes time. I firmly believe Justice and responsibility will overcome these despots. I hope it happens within my lifetime. Keep up the good work, Steven and Homi.
Socially, culturally, and politically we are sleep-walking toward that cliff. Economically, we have already dashed madly over the edge and are now in that Wile E. Coyote moment where we have yet to realize that there is nothing holding us up. (I think it was Paul Krugman who made that analogy).
“Scholars and concerned citizens, including many of us, will spend the rest of our lives wondering exactly how and why we’ve descended so low.”
We already KNOW how and why we have descended so low. We also already know that we will continue this descent until we reach the depths that Nazi Germany reached in the 1930’s and 1940’s. The reason is the scourge of racism that is at the core of this nation and that has always been its fatal flaw. White Americans are so afraid of being in the minority that they chose a deranged and dangerous man with obvious early stage dementia because he holds out hope that whites can stay in the majority and stay in power. And he has allies in this effort who control Congress, the Supreme Court and the majority of state capitals. Racism is the motivating force behind every plan embedded in Project 2025. It is the motivating force behind mass deportations. It is the motivating force behind every attack on universities. It is the motivating force behind the decimation of the federal workforce (where so many of the Black middle class were employed). It is the motivating force behind Chief Justice Roberts’ efforts to dismantle the civil rights acts and decimate the voting rights act.
Please stop pretending that every single white person in this country does not already fully comprehend why we have descended so low. It’s because the majority of you have mistreated, abused and debased your Black, Brown and Asian fellow citizens for so long that the very notion of being in the minority terrifies you. And yes, some deluded minority group members also fell for the felon’s allure. Some people of color believed that only “criminal” Latinos would be rounded up and deported, even though nothing in the words “mass deportation” implied that there would be any limits on his attacks on Brown people. And some African Americans were too misogynistic to vote for a woman for POTUS. And some pro-Palestinian groups were too blinded over anger at Biden’s support for Netanyahu to recognize that staying home from the polls would result in the full scale ethnic cleansing of Gaza and the West Bank.
But those handful’s of minority votes could not have put the felon in the White House. They did not account for enough votes. The man was put in the White House (with the still un-investigated help of South African Elon Musk) by white voters who knew EXACTLY what he stood for. Many stood in opposition to this insanity, but far too many, including the vast majority of white men, embraced it. When he labeled Brown people vermin and called the native lands of Black people “shithole” countries, white people knew his full intent. Please stop pretending otherwise as it does not help anyone.
So now he’s building concentration camps in swamps and loosing armed military in blue cities under the paper thin guise of “crime fighting,” while simultaneously dismantling the liberal state upon which the majority of Americans depend.
Trump is this century’s Hitler, and just as Hitler’s targets were Europe’s marginalized groups, this felon’s targets are America’s marginalized groups: Black, Brown, Asian, LGBTQ. And that is precisely why he was put in power.
Sherry, I was about to write something similar. But you have done it much better than I. Hats off to you. This situation as been a long time coming, the reconning, if it actually comes, will not be painless. Thank you again.
Thank You Steven ...Yes we are supposed to be a nation of laws. I cannot watch any of them . I spend part of time trying to understand who these people are. I am a life long democrat but I can tell you it is country over party no matter what. I am going to share your essay with a couple of friends . I love this one. It calms me to know that I am not alone....thanks again ..lost in america.
This is clearly the best commentary ever on the malignant one. We have our marching orders: pass this along to all our contacts and friends and ask them to do the same. It’s the best history lesson one could give, and having any opportunity to share it is our foremost duty and obligation as citizens of this country.
Steven, so clearly thought-out and beautifully written. And terrifying. It is unfathomable to me that many millions of people voted to re-elect Trump, and I hold the millions more who were too lazy to vote at all responsible too. I don't understand how it came to this. I do know that social media is a huge problem. Specifically, Section 230 which absolves internet platforms of any legal responsibility (with very few exceptions) for the swill and filth they spread deserves much of the blame.
I hear people say that those who support Trump can't be held responsible because they get their "news" from different sources than we do. I suppose they do, but people choose what they'll read and believe. Saying these people aren't responsible is actually quite patronizing to them. How would we feel if someone said "You only believe your beliefs, because you don't get the right information." I fear that the reality is - this IS who many Americans truly are. People like to say "This is NOT who we are." I fear they are wrong. What kind of person stands in front of an "Alligator Alcatraz" sign and takes selfies? Fox news didn't make them so horrible.
I am quite frightened about the nation's future. I'm doing my best in various ways to be one of the people trying to help save the US. I call my Senators and Representatives, send postcards, and go to demonstrations. I donate as much money as I can afford to lawyers fighting Trump, like Democracy Forward and Marc Elias. I also donate selectively to candidates using the OATH voting website, which tells us where our dollars will make the biggest difference. Despite my pessimism, I cannot sit idly by.
I think this is one of your best essays. You’ve crystallized the feeling of dread and perfectly described the nightmarish crisis we are all experiencing, especially those of us who could not imagine that Trump would be given a second term. We were sure that memories of his catastrophic first term would linger; that his attempt to stage a coup would be enough to wipe him from the political slate for 2024, as would his status as a convicted felon. But alas….there were enough voters that thought electing an autocratic carnival barker, to quote “Citizen Kane”, “would be fun”. I awaken each morning with the entreaty, “Help!”…on my lips. And with this essay, and all your essays, you have. Thank you!
Thank you, Ellen. Glad to hear it helps.
Block the road now. Too much is at risk to wait! Mobilize Blue state National Guards when threatened. Wait until then. The invasion of one state by another is a call to state Governors to mobilize their National Guards to resist an UNLAWFUL assault. The U.S. military should not accept UNLAWFUL orders. The sooner we get this over with, the better. This confrontation is coming. It is coming! We are stronger now than we will be tomorrow. The confrontation is not a battle or a war. It is a standoff at State borders. One state would be trying to invade another. One is the offender. The other, the defender. We know TACO.
Also, the gerrymander fight is on. There is a new playbook. The old rules have been struck down by the Supreme Court. We need to change the gears here as fast as possible for deadly PREEMPTIVE strikes. Newsom has moved out on this already. Who is next? Hochul. Where are you? NO EXCUSE! Change your state Constitution. Pritzker. What are you doing?
https://hotbuttons.substack.com/p/gerrymander-fight?r=3m1bs
This is what it may come down to,Carl.."The U.S. military should not accept UNLAWFUL orders." Something dramatic has to occur to prevent what seems to be the inevitable.
A retired General wrote for VoteVets in strong exacting language of the violations the troops are forced? Coerced? To do and it’s wrong. Mikey Weinstein of MRFF (Military Religious Freedom Foundation) and a former JAG helps all in any service with mainly issues of forced religion lessons and services. He also takes on the causes of those being forced against their beliefs and the Constitution to act in contrary ways. And while DC weather has been moderate, being forced to take leaves and pick up trash seems demeaning.
You need to read more and find out exactly what Pritzker is doing. Start by showing up at the Great Lakes Naval Station to Protest Trump's staging the BLITZ into Chicago with his Southern Troops after Labor Day We could use some trees planted, mulch spread, pot-holes filled, speeders on Lake Shore Drive arrested -lots of things I assume gun-toting Southern Troops will gladly do. When you have time, please read how a Constitution of a State is changed, what forces will cause changes you don't ever want and the TIME it takes to VOTE by the PUBLIC to make any Changes. Illinois is not run by a dictator. We have RULES and LAWS that govern what a Governor may do. We have a Governor who will not act like Trump and the Supreme Court of the United States.
Would not be coming into my state, Mary. And I am not afraid to stand up to the bully. A bully has to be punched right in the face to stop the bullying, otherwise you lose your much money every frickin day.
A superb and very moving post, Stephen. God, you write well.
I choked up when I read the passage about the existential need to respect the rule of law. Under such toxic attack currently.
And since all of what you write about needs to be said over and over, it’s a gift to have a writer like you to do that with such inspiring passion, such an ability to move hearts and minds. Thank you.
Thank you, Genevieve. That’s very generous.
I write my Senator every day to express my frustration. Today, I used your words to help me:
Senator Tills,
George Washington, as he left the presidency after 8 years, described the dangers of factionalism and the rise of “cunning, ambitious and unprincipled men [who] will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government, destroying afterwards the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion.” When a despot exploits the needs of people “to seek security and repose in the absolute power of an individual” and exploits the nation’s “disorders and miseries” for “the purposes of his own elevation, on the ruins of public liberty,” such a thing becomes possible.
Even realized?
And our first president (from Steven Beschloss), "who described his warning as the counsel “of an old and affectionate friend,” had a solution to ensure our beloved country did not reach such a tragic predicament. He urged that any “sincere friend” of free government would promote “as an object of primary importance, institutions for the general diffusion of knowledge.” He offered an equation: “In proportion as the structure of a government gives force to public opinion, it is essential that public opinion should be enlightened.” In other words, education and particularly civic education would provide the necessary antidote: An informed citizenry."
So, Senator Tillis, are you a sincere friend of free government and of an informed citizenry? Are any of you in the GOP sincere friends of free government? How about the Supreme Court, any sincere friends there? All I see and smell is insincerity.
You, your whole party, your Heritage Foundation and your Project 2025, are no friends of the United States of America. Only of each other. Come on, man, tell me I'm wrong and tell me how I'm wrong. Waiting with bated breath, but not holding it.
Sincerely,
P.S. -- Watched any good, fawning cabinet meetings lately? What a disgrace? What public servants? What pigs at the trough!
This is great, can I use your words to scold my senators as well?
Of course. I would be honored. I write my senator (the one that I think has some sentience) every day.
Robbie, thank you. I don’t write everyday but I should. I usually write when my blood boils which is often now. My senators are Moran and Marshall from Kansas, the latter has his head so far up Trumps ass it’s almost not worth the effort and I have probably been relegated to junk status. Again, thanks and we must all continue to fight!
Mine are Tillis and Budd, and the latter is probably keeping things so clogged up Trump’s ass that Marshall can’t get through.
This is a superb essay that touches all the important aspects of the challenges facing us today. Should we be amazed that Washington and Lincoln wrote such similar warnings? The linking thread is education. Teaching and learning history is an essential bulwark between losing our heritage and living up to it.
Thank you. It’s so simple and obvious: Education and an informed citizenry.
A villain is bad enough. A sycophantic villain is so dangerous. The unfortunate similarities of America now to the Roman empire then are striking. I think people have come to believe one has to appeal to the worst in people instead of the best. The founders believed people serving in government would be educated and moral, and would be serving--they would not be Visigoths, raping and pillaging. I have friends all over the country, and no one wants what we have. No one.
Someone does….an entire Republican Congress does…
I think they know what they don't want--to be shamed and humiliated by Trump and his horrible minions. I don't think they want their districts left wanting after a tornado, flood, hurricane or other natural disaster. But, God help us, maybe you are right. I hope they are just scared, not evil.
I think our problem is too many state legislatures are just fine with many of these things which have long been GOP dreams. On the other hand, they don’t want to be responsible for doing it. Same story in Congress. Very few speak out against the actions of the president or his legislation. When they do their votes don’t match their words. They defend their votes with invisible tax cuts & push off the most harmful aspects until after election. Their own survival comes first. Because so many of them are wealthy, these bills are not harming them.
Despite their attempts Dems informed voters of what is coming. Voters see the president stampeding over their / their state’s rights. Joni Ernst in Iowa is going to announce she will not seek reelection. Recent polling showed her to be struggling or even behind her DEM opponent. A YouGov poll conducted in late July on attitudes about Trump‘s governing showed in all 5 of the states’ voters think he has gone too far. In Iowa it was 59%. Trump was underwater in Iowa on every issue except deporting people here illegally.
This is why there is a redistricting push mid-census from the WH. This is what Republicans put themselves in a box — a choice between being primaried by trump candidates or voters rebelling at the polls.
https://issueone.org/press/new-polling-support-checks-and-balances-and-limits-on-executive-power/
Iowa: I’ve been donating what I can to Zach Wahls.
Georgia: Jon Ossoff needs us.
And RIGHT now, Abigail Spanberger Dem for VA Governor needs support. If it’s not dollars, postcards, names on social media.
I'm in Georgia and the Republicans are in a scrum about who will face Ossoff. Derek Dooley is the son of a once beloved college football coach, but the coach is dead and gone. Yes, I'm working for him as best I can. Iowa needs Wahls.
Thanks, @Leakie, for working for Ossoff. Your current two Senators are great. My hope when Ossoff wins they will both be far more outspoken, more like Chris Murphy. Wahls MUST win in Iowa. Besides being great, he’s young and even among the Dems, too many old farts unwilling and for now unable to step aside. We need a good succession plan. If I live so long, I’d love to see the young Texan move up. Smart, unafraid, a former teacher. TX’s Crockett too - she speaks truth to power. A Barbara Jordan/Ann Richards TX woman!
How is Kerr County doing? Still waiting for help?
Others tho are speaking up, staying in their jobs. Sherrod Brown is running again - support him. I’d like Al Franken & Kamala Harris to return. Bright. Sensible. Tough questioners.
States are the incubators for what we see happening. The right wing think tanks test them in willing states. A number of state legislators and governors have had little reluctance to harm their own constituents.
I agree. Most of the founders were well educated — and among the wealthiest. Almost half our founder were slave owners (although some were conflicted about it). Many were landowners, business owners & merchants. (In a Venn diagram the 2 groups would overlap.)
They were not blind to the fact that bad people rise to power. They placed obstacles in the path of an authoritarian taking power. For instance, the separation of powers for ‘checks and balances. A representative form of government instead of direct democracy. They wanted local and regional needs & alliances to counterbalance political parties. The founders included a path for impeachment and a Supreme Court. They did not include presidential immunity in the Constitution. The founders did not want to create a new monarchy. They were familiar with the sovereign immunity of monarchs so it wasn’t an accident.
We MUST modernize the 240 year old Constitution so that when we THE GOVERNED elect a person who proves to be threat to our democracy we can RECALL by petition and plebiscite and replace that person, VETO or AMEND all bad policies they adopted whi\le they are in office and not have to wait 4 years for the next scheduled election while they dismantle our democracy. Trying to fix the Constitution and re-establish our democracy one amendment at a time will take decades.
So many. The ERA came this <>close. DC statehood too. Will there be enough knowledge among young voters not being real history to be aware enough to act? I won’t live to see it. I hope it all changes.
Steven, this is a powerfully created masterpiece and expose contrasting the hopes, dreams and dedication to Democracy by the people - of our visionary leaders of the past
with
the current roiling corruption and dehumanizing galloping creeping of a level of cruelty in our country so forceful and widespread it will require almost superhuman efforts to quell.
Though very difficult to be reminded, we need these Truths of our plight to shake and pierce the still existing complacency of many of our citizens.
Excerpt from your article:
“The outcome of the 2024 election is not just about sustaining democracy. It's also a question of whether civilization as we know it will survive.”
Painfully and Brilliantly written, thank you.
💙💙🇺🇸💙💙
Thank you.
We're are sleep-walking towards the edge of a cliff. There are sirens blaring but we refuse to let them rouse us.
Through indolence and inattention, we have installed a Russian asset in the White House, an amoral thug who is hellbent on destroying this nation and the world, regardless of the incalculable human suffering that he will leave in his wake. And all for what but the benefit of a handful of oligarchic fascists like Putin and himself.
Meanwhile, our leaders in Congress do little more than indulge in food-fights or stage stunts to attract a few passing minutes of press attention.
Here is my question, Steven: how do we organize a meaningful resistance, one with a united leadership that will bring this wretched nightmare to an end?
It’s the right question, Homi. I think there needs to be a catalyzing event where people say they’ve had enough and are willing to sacrifice their comfort. That hasn’t happened yet.
Here is the problem, Steven: we are suffering from creeping paralysis.
Trump has swept away habeas corpus by having armed thugs snatch people off our streets and spirit them away to foreign jails, but that was not enough to rouse us.
He has appointed moronic bigots to destroy our healthcare system and kill our children, but that was not enough to rouse us.
He has ridden roughshod over our educational systems and universities in order to destroy truth, research and learning, but that was not enough to rouse us.
He has brushed aside our traditional alliances with democratic nations in favor of supporting Russia, China and North Korea at the United Nations, but that was not enough to rouse us.
He has invited his boss, an indicted war criminal - with the blood of over a million people on his hands - to our shores so that he (Trump) could genuflect before him, but that was not enough to rouse us.
He has stopped foreign aid which has already resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousand of innocents, but that was not enough to rouse us.
He has ordered our own military onto our streets for no reason other than as a precursor to imposing martial law, but that was not enough to rouse us.
He shrugs when children are gunned down in our churches and schools, but that is not enough to rouse us.
I am typing in haste, but the list goes on and on. And on.
My great fear, when Trump imposes an event that would in normal times catalyze us into action, is that we will permit him to spread the lie that martial law is necessary under the circumstances and impose draconian rule. What happens then? Does the nation descend into bloody civil war? How will we pick up the pieces?
What we need now are leaders - congress people, governors, military and intelligence personnel, intellectuals, scholars, historians and writers - who will band together to form a united body to spearhead the charge against the existential evil that we face. Such a body would also be in place to provide the infrastructure for governance that will be needed once we prevail.
Is this too much to ask? Is this wishful thinking on my part?
Homi,
Take a look at our Democratically elected Democratic Governors. They are speaking out and leading the charge. They have prepared legal filings, ready to file in courts within hours of those infamous, illegal executive orders. This resistance and countering to the evil empire wannabees takes time. I firmly believe Justice and responsibility will overcome these despots. I hope it happens within my lifetime. Keep up the good work, Steven and Homi.
Thank you, Mrs S. We need every ounce of your goodwill and optimism.
Together, we will prevail.
Socially, culturally, and politically we are sleep-walking toward that cliff. Economically, we have already dashed madly over the edge and are now in that Wile E. Coyote moment where we have yet to realize that there is nothing holding us up. (I think it was Paul Krugman who made that analogy).
WOW‼️ TY for this - of course sharing.
Just one thing: Stephen, BE SAFE
Safety is my concern for all who speak out.
I don’t recall any other cabinet so addicted to sucking up and applause as this one.
Steven, you hit all the high notes with this column—well done! I’m even more inspired than before! Excellent and uplifting!
“Scholars and concerned citizens, including many of us, will spend the rest of our lives wondering exactly how and why we’ve descended so low.”
We already KNOW how and why we have descended so low. We also already know that we will continue this descent until we reach the depths that Nazi Germany reached in the 1930’s and 1940’s. The reason is the scourge of racism that is at the core of this nation and that has always been its fatal flaw. White Americans are so afraid of being in the minority that they chose a deranged and dangerous man with obvious early stage dementia because he holds out hope that whites can stay in the majority and stay in power. And he has allies in this effort who control Congress, the Supreme Court and the majority of state capitals. Racism is the motivating force behind every plan embedded in Project 2025. It is the motivating force behind mass deportations. It is the motivating force behind every attack on universities. It is the motivating force behind the decimation of the federal workforce (where so many of the Black middle class were employed). It is the motivating force behind Chief Justice Roberts’ efforts to dismantle the civil rights acts and decimate the voting rights act.
Please stop pretending that every single white person in this country does not already fully comprehend why we have descended so low. It’s because the majority of you have mistreated, abused and debased your Black, Brown and Asian fellow citizens for so long that the very notion of being in the minority terrifies you. And yes, some deluded minority group members also fell for the felon’s allure. Some people of color believed that only “criminal” Latinos would be rounded up and deported, even though nothing in the words “mass deportation” implied that there would be any limits on his attacks on Brown people. And some African Americans were too misogynistic to vote for a woman for POTUS. And some pro-Palestinian groups were too blinded over anger at Biden’s support for Netanyahu to recognize that staying home from the polls would result in the full scale ethnic cleansing of Gaza and the West Bank.
But those handful’s of minority votes could not have put the felon in the White House. They did not account for enough votes. The man was put in the White House (with the still un-investigated help of South African Elon Musk) by white voters who knew EXACTLY what he stood for. Many stood in opposition to this insanity, but far too many, including the vast majority of white men, embraced it. When he labeled Brown people vermin and called the native lands of Black people “shithole” countries, white people knew his full intent. Please stop pretending otherwise as it does not help anyone.
So now he’s building concentration camps in swamps and loosing armed military in blue cities under the paper thin guise of “crime fighting,” while simultaneously dismantling the liberal state upon which the majority of Americans depend.
Trump is this century’s Hitler, and just as Hitler’s targets were Europe’s marginalized groups, this felon’s targets are America’s marginalized groups: Black, Brown, Asian, LGBTQ. And that is precisely why he was put in power.
Sherry, I was about to write something similar. But you have done it much better than I. Hats off to you. This situation as been a long time coming, the reconning, if it actually comes, will not be painless. Thank you again.
Thank you. Unless we face the problem honestly there is no way to fix it. People need to stop fooling themselves.
Thank You Steven ...Yes we are supposed to be a nation of laws. I cannot watch any of them . I spend part of time trying to understand who these people are. I am a life long democrat but I can tell you it is country over party no matter what. I am going to share your essay with a couple of friends . I love this one. It calms me to know that I am not alone....thanks again ..lost in america.
This is clearly the best commentary ever on the malignant one. We have our marching orders: pass this along to all our contacts and friends and ask them to do the same. It’s the best history lesson one could give, and having any opportunity to share it is our foremost duty and obligation as citizens of this country.
That’s very kind. And thank you for sharing.
Let’s imagine something different.
https://albellenchia.substack.com/p/imagine?r=7wk5d
Steven, so clearly thought-out and beautifully written. And terrifying. It is unfathomable to me that many millions of people voted to re-elect Trump, and I hold the millions more who were too lazy to vote at all responsible too. I don't understand how it came to this. I do know that social media is a huge problem. Specifically, Section 230 which absolves internet platforms of any legal responsibility (with very few exceptions) for the swill and filth they spread deserves much of the blame.
I hear people say that those who support Trump can't be held responsible because they get their "news" from different sources than we do. I suppose they do, but people choose what they'll read and believe. Saying these people aren't responsible is actually quite patronizing to them. How would we feel if someone said "You only believe your beliefs, because you don't get the right information." I fear that the reality is - this IS who many Americans truly are. People like to say "This is NOT who we are." I fear they are wrong. What kind of person stands in front of an "Alligator Alcatraz" sign and takes selfies? Fox news didn't make them so horrible.
I am quite frightened about the nation's future. I'm doing my best in various ways to be one of the people trying to help save the US. I call my Senators and Representatives, send postcards, and go to demonstrations. I donate as much money as I can afford to lawyers fighting Trump, like Democracy Forward and Marc Elias. I also donate selectively to candidates using the OATH voting website, which tells us where our dollars will make the biggest difference. Despite my pessimism, I cannot sit idly by.
Thank you for not sitting idly by, Jan. It's important to do what you can...and we will find our way through this.