Unified Resistance to Tyranny – 1.20.26

I recently started a blog post, that when posted, would be titled “Another Civil War?”  In it I would detail how our current administration, by creating chaos, uncertainty and divisiveness through dangerous rhetoric, propaganda, and intimidation tactics using what can now only be called a paramilitary force could lead to something that might look like a civil war.  I would recall a conversation with one of my European friends before the 2024 election where he would mention a possible civil war if Trump lost, and I rolling my eyes in disbelief.  I am no longer rolling my eyes.

In the blog I would recall previous “civil wars” in our country, including what we refer to as “The American Revolution” and the “War between the States” and recall the turbulent 1960’s to add context to what is going on now.  And I would identify similar factors that have caused us to be in the state that we are in today.  However, as I went through draft after draft of that post, I grew weary. 

The takeaway was going to be that all of us, whether we are conservative, liberal, pro-current administration or anti-current administration, owe it to those who have fallen before us in the name of liberty and justice – and to ourselves and our neighbors – to make sure that the laws of our land, that were established by the Constitution, are not violated by anyone.  Alexander Hamilton, one of our country’s founding fathers, and who was in favor of a strong central government, was also concerned that, “An unprincipled man could mount a hobbyhorse of popularity and throw things into confusion.  In a government like ours, no one is above the law.”  

I was going to make an appeal to Every American Citizen – conservatives, liberals and moderates – to make sure that our mid-term elections will be open, transparent and fair, without coercion and intimidation. Our current leader has “made jokes” about cancelling the mid-term elections.  For those of you who have not been paying attention, those are not jokes.  They are trial balloons.  It is one of the many devices used to “normalize” actions and behaviors that all of us would normally find appalling.  I was also going to make an appeal to Every American Citizen to vote.  If you want to vote Republican, vote Republican.  If you want to vote Democratic, vote Democratic. But do vote.  And do everything that you can to ensure that every American Citizen has the opportunity to vote without intimidation.

One of the many sad ironies – and there are many – is that a Virginia conservative libertarian politician in one of his writings blamed the rise of Adolph Hitler in Germany on the lack of “unified resistance”, adding, “I have the sinking feeling that it could all happen again, quite easily”.  We cannot act like the frog in water that is being heated very slowly – not realizing that you are being boiled alive until it is too late.  Just because recent events in Minneapolis seem far away and seem of no consequence to you does not mean that they are inconsequential.  Precedent has been set.

As I was growing up, I noticed that my own mother saw the world as a scary place.  She rarely left the house and did not travel. In some ways, she was an alien in her own country. She was easily spooked.  Even though she had four children by the time she was 22, a tremendous responsibility, she did not learn to drive until she was 30 years old. I do not know what she would have done if masked men with guns had aggressively approached her.  I could easily see her panicking and trying to drive away.  And in her confusion, she may have even driven towards some of the men with masks. Believe me, if you knew my mom, that is not a far-fetched scenario.  And what would have been her fate?  A precedent has been set.