It’s our turn
When Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, the plight of the Ukrainian people appeared hopeless. Massively outnumbered and outgunned, how could they possibly resist? It seemed, at the time, a clear defeat for democracy and the free world.
And yet it wasn’t.
The Ukrainian people refused to surrender. Not only did their military rise to the occasion, so did civilians. Farmers, retirees, business people, drone hobbyists… The list of unrecognized heroes exceeds anything you or I could have predicted.
And they continue to fight.
Meanwhile, here in the United States, our government has fallen to the same sort of evil that rules Russia. Vindictive, cruel, faithless, interested only in its own wealth and power, the current administration acts without morality or restraint. It has revoked the legal status of over a million people, fired inspectors general, unconstitutionally dismantled multiple government agencies, issued executive orders to target vulnerable populations, and unleashed ICE on churches and schools.
Our critical health infrastructure, including the CDC and NIH, has been crippled by censorship and the insertion of unscientific ideology. Tariffs, unapproved by Congress, threaten both our economy and our standing with long-time allies.
Piece by piece, the government of the United States is being dismantled. The values we grew up with – freedom, honor, respect, compassion, and self-reliance – have been discarded. The country is abandoning its obligations, and with them, losing its reputation.
The safeguards built into our system have already failed. The Justice Department, once an independent agency that protected our rights, has been weaponized, and is being used to attack the administration’s enemies. Congress, whether through cowardice or complicity, is refusing to act. The Supreme Court has succumbed to bribery and influence-peddling, with the majority of its members believing the President should have near-total immunity. The press has proven itself unable to deal with the cacophony of lies and baseless accusations produced by the president’s supporters.
In short, it’s down to us, and while our conflict is less violent than the Ukrainians’, the enemy is the same, as are the consequences of losing. If we want to preserve our way of life, we’re going to have to stand up and take action.
The good news is that we are not alone. Across the country, legal teams are mounting defenses against the administration’s actions. Local politicians, like Illinois governor JB Prizker and Maine governor Janet Mills, are rising to the moment. Civilian movements are sprouting up across the country.
It’s important to understand that they won’t succeed without us.
Speak out, write your representatives, boycott corporations who support the administration, take part in demonstrations, join your local school board, do whatever it is you can do.
If the United States is going to be saved, it won’t be saved by the wealthy or the powerful. It will be saved by people like you and me.
To help get you started, here are a few groups worth investigating:
Some notes:
- The administration ended the protected status of 600,000 Venezuelans (it’s being fought in court: article)
- The administration is revoking the legal status of 530,000 people who were sponsored by Americans (article).
- Inspector generals fired: article.
- The DOJ, used as a political weapon against the mayor of New York: article.
- The Supreme Court gives the president near-total immunity: article.
- CDC retracts scientific papers, so they can be censored by the administration: article.
- The administration is not paying its bills: article.
- The Silencing Science Tracker: https://climate.law.columbia.edu/Silencing-Science-Tracker
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