The Daily Onslaught

We are facing more conflict and chaos. We can’t let it overwhelm us or break our confidence.

Photo by Maria Korneeva via Getty Images.

I started writing this post on Wednesday since I knew I would be traveling on Thursday and Friday. I always try to write the night before publishing Friday morning to both make the best decision I can on what to target and draw on the most up-to-date information. It’s a sign of the madness of our times that writing two days before publication feels precarious; the speed and volume of the daily onslaught is challenging to manage.

Take just the 24 hours between Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday afternoon. We learned that Russian drones invaded Polish airspace—what Poland’s leaders called a “large-scale provocation” that led to NATO fighters shooting them down—reminding us of the stakes of Donald Trump selling out Ukraine, undermining NATO, kowtowing to Vladimir Putin and reassuring the Kremlin’s boss that he can chase his dream of expanding the Russian empire. We learned that the Venezuelan boat traveling in the Caribbean and its 11 passengers who were killed by the U.S. military had turned around before the deadly attack, further undercutting the Trump regime’s weak claim that sinking the boat was justified because it was carrying drugs.

We also learned that Israel attacked Doha in Qatar, reportedly in an effort to strike Hamas leaders there. This happened without Trump’s knowledge, undermining U.S.-led talks to end the war in Gaza and underscoring Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s obvious belief that he need not be restrained by the Trump regime. Video also appeared Tuesday night of protestors confronting an alarmed-looking Trump at a Washington, D.C. restaurant, shouting, “Free D.C.! Free Palestine! Trump is the Hitler of our time!” Meanwhile, efforts to force the release of the Epstein files continued, with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer adding an amendment into a defense policy bill that will force senators to vote on whether they support the release.

And, just as I was typing the previous sentence, news broke that right-wing activist and fierce Trump supporter Charlie Kirk was shot in the neck and killed by a gunman’s single bullet at Utah Valley University. Once again we are faced with the rise of political violence and the reality of troubled individuals being triggered by extremist rhetoric. Almost immediately we heard more calls for gun ownership, including the cynical assertion that some shooting deaths are a necessary tradeoff to protect our 2nd Amendment rights (a view held by Kirk himself). Now we are faced with the probability that this reprehensible act will spur more gun violence and be exploited by the regime to attack the left and expand its federal police state.

See what I mean about the daily onslaught? And to think, this quick summary skips plenty of other horrors and outrages.

But here’s the thing: In saner times, we could count on political leadership with the competence and fundamental sense of responsibility to provide guidance to the public. Even if we disagreed on individual policies, we could assume that America’s president was committed to democracy, collaborated with democratic allies and surrounded himself with public servants possessing relevant knowledge and experience to perform the basic duties of governance. In recent decades, we could trust that our leaders wanted to help us manage whatever chaos we were facing.

Instead, the goal of the Trump regime is to break our confidence, overwhelm us and, in the process, subdue us. But I refuse to be overwhelmed and I will not be subdued.

Even on days when I struggle to decide where to focus my spotlight, I pledge to you that I will do the best I can to identify the stories and measure their meaning with all the energy and wit that I have. I remain convinced that knowledge is power and our collective power can overcome this hateful regime.

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