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I wrote my Congressman and Senators the following letter on February 7th:
This letter is a follow-up to my phone conversation with one of your staff on February 6th, 2025.
Since the Trump inauguration, Elon Musk and his D.O.G.E. group have short circuited democratic and legal safeguards in order to gain unprecedented access to sensitive government systems using strong-arm tactics.
Without oversight or accountability, these private citizens are in the process of defunding and dismantling legitimate government organizations based on their whims, their personal preferences, and their desire to enrich themselves at the expense of the American people.
I am asking you, as my elected representative, to oppose this naked and aggressive grab for power by a small clique of billionaire would-be oligarchs.
Work with your caucus and your like-minded colleagues in both parties to visibly and consistently oppose this attempt to create a Potemkin village of our American democracy.
“The whole world is watching.”
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August Landmesser refusing to give the Nazi salute in 1936 - bit.ly/3Z40DgN
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For those who are shocked, appalled, disheartened, etc. by what happened on Nov 5th, please read “On Tyranny” by Timothy Snyder (https://snyder.substack.com/p/on-tyranny).
Published in 2016, it was a warning against what happened on Tuesday. But now that what we thought unthinkable has happened, this book provides hope and actions an individual can still take to slow the spread of autocratic oligarchical fascism.
- Do not obey in advance
- Defend institutions
- Beware the one-party state
- Take responsibility for the face of the world
- Remember professional ethics
- Be wary of paramilitaries
- Be reflective if you must be armed
- Stand out
- Be kind to our language
- Believe in truth
- Investigate
- Make eye contact and small talk
- Practice corporeal politics
- Establish a private life
- Contribute to good causes
- Learn from peers in other countries
- Listen for dangerous words
- Be calm when the unthinkable arrives
- Be a patriot
- Be as courageous as you can
The 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776 were not wild-eyed, rabble-rousers, but mostly soft-spoken men of means and education. They had security, but valued liberty more. Each one surely had more to lose from revolution than he had to gain by it. But they stood tall, and unwavering and pledged:
“For the support of this declaration, with firm reliance on the protection of the divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other, our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.”
We each should follow their example as best we can.
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Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.
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When I see this photo I’m reminded of a line from his uncle’s 1961 inaugural address - “…in the past, those who foolishly sought power by riding the back of the tiger ended up inside.”
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