Snapshot: "Nothing We Love Ever Comes Easily"
Retiring Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi urges "hope in the face of fear"
Several days ago, Nancy Pelosi announced that she will retire next year after a nearly four-decade career in Congress, including two terms as the first female Speaker of the House (2007-2011 and 2019-2023). A fierce advocate for democracy, the 85-year-old California representative summarized her current thinking in an essay for The Atlantic about the dangerous times gripping our nation and our responsibility as Americans.
Never one to give in to despair, Pelosi offers a compelling statement about the need to maintain hope and act with courage, even when the days are dark and treacherous. “It is easy to despair,” she writes.
I know this is the way millions of Americans feel now. Yet the story of this country is the story of patience in tribulation, and hope in the face of fear. What we choose to do in this hour of our history will determine the shape of America and the world for decades.
Noting the courage of America’s founders to declare independence and defeat “the strongest empire in the world,” as well as the times that demanded Abraham Lincoln to save our union, she sees the promise of our moment. “In our own lives, and in the life of our nation, great good can come from great trials,” she writes. “But we also know this: Nothing we love ever comes easily.”
Pelosi reflects on the values that can help Americans in this “moment of extraordinary difficulty” that, like in earlier times in our history, may “seem too strong to ever overcome.” She writes, “Those of us who believe in liberty and dignity, goodness and generosity, must never give in to the forces arrayed against the things we hold dearest. The battle can be exhausting, but it is a battle to which we are called by conscience and by love of country.”
While she never names either the man occupying our White House or the Republicans in power, she makes clear her rejection of the cruelty and hatefulness that has fueled the actions of so many of them. Her words may also speak to other Americans who have remained indifferent amid so much lawlessness and abuse.
“It amazes me that so many people can endure so much suffering of others while doing nothing to address their needs,” she writes, adding later, “Time and again, we have stepped up for our fellow Americans in times of need; expanded the definition of freedom to include more of us in it; and fended off tyrants seeking to take power away from the people.”
Perhaps nodding to last week’s elections, she notes, “Our democracy depends as much on casting a ballot as lending a hand to a neighbor in need.” But recalling the patriotism of the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, World War II and the civil rights movement, she declares, “we, too, must be patriots for our time.” That means “refusing to surrender the courageous spirit that inspired” earlier Americans who fought for our rights and freedoms.
“Generations past have always prevailed, and so shall we,” she optimistically concludes, buoyed by “our faith in the goodness of America, and our commitment to the freedom we owe to our children.”
There are dark days when this hopeful picture can be hard to see. This may be especially true if you live in immigrant communities or other neighborhoods where masked federal agents have been gleefully grabbing people off the streets without due process—or you’re one of tens of millions struggling to feed your children while the corrupt and self-serving White House occupant proudly fights to deny you food benefits.
For every American with eyes wide open, it’s clear, as Pelosi points out in referencing Thomas Paine, “The times have found us.” And for anyone who thinks democracy, human dignity and a more perfect union is worth fighting for, this is our time to prove who we are and what we value.
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I think all the current peril will give rise to a paradigm shift for democracy. Trump, DOGE, Project 2025 have laid to waste to what was once a strong, service-based but imperfect government. I believe that very hard economic times are ahead for most of us and that there will be misery and want. Out of that, like a green shoot sprouting after a drought, we can reimagine, restore what is good and reject what hasn't worked for the many. Rebuild America. I can feel that tide of history turning against Trump and MAGA. I am hopeful that the Democrats will shed themselves of the gerontocracy who have no clue, aren't able to lead and stand in the way of righteousness and progress. There are exciting, brilliant, capable and younger candidates out there. The old school must give way to the new if we are to move forward, break the fever dream of hate and disunity, find common ground with our fellow Americans and proceed into the next several decades with confidence because we survived the back-breaking stress of the regime. We will be bolder, stronger, better. Remember that when you evaluate candidates asking for your vote: "Do you have a plan and how will you implement it?" We will leave the hate and vengeance in the rear view mirror as we speed ahead toward the future.
Thank you, Mr. Beschloss. The longer the djt drama goes on, the more convinced I am that the vast majority of the maga/caucus and SCOTUS are 100% behind djt. They may not care for djt’s crude, rude and vulgar approach; but, they are as close to realizing their dreams as they have ever been.