It is normal to want life to be normal, usual, each day bringing its own challenges without having to worry about losing our way of life as do the people of Ukraine or the hungry and sick in Sudan and other places.
But life is not normal here in the United States, and there is one reason and one reason only for it – Donald Trump.
Rachel Maddow recently commented that not only is Donald Trump trying to replace our democracy with authoritarianism, but that no serious person can even dispute that fact.
It’s happening in plain sight. Trump and his cohorts are not even trying to hide it. They are attacking every challenge to his authority and undermining any government institution that stands in the way.
Trump is the real national emergency we are facing as a country. Life is not going to be normal for any of us in America any time soon.
But the day that will signal we have a good chance to stop Trump is November 3, 2026. That will be the true day of our liberation from the current siege we are under as we vote to take control of the House and Senate from Republicans.
That must be the priority we focus on from now on as a sign that we understand that we are in control of our own destiny as a nation.
We cannot and will not influence what this administration does, influence people like Steven Miller, Pam Bondi, and Pete Hegseth.
They are under Trump’s complete control and there is nothing we can do about it because Republicans control the House and the Senate and they have proven they have no plans to exert the rightful role of governance the Constitution gives the Congress.
Nor can we influence the voters who blindly follow Trump as if they will not lose their freedoms if we lose ours. We know they would be screaming bloody murder if Joe Biden was doing what Trump is doing, but such hypocrisy doesn’t bother them in the least.
They are a lost cause.
But we can defeat the Republicans in Congress who are not only watching Trump bring about the national carnage he talked about in his first inaugural speech, but assisting him in every way they can.
To rip control from them is to save our democracy and that is what the mid-term elections are all about. As long as Republicans control Congress, Trump will control the nation.
Giving Democrats control of the House and Senate is the only national strategy we need to save our democracy. That has to be our major priority.
To anyone who says they don’t like Democrats or will never vote for one, I say, get over yourself. That’s to cut your nose off to spite your face.
Here’s reality. At this point, Democrats are the only alternative we have to Trump’s grab for power. Not supporting them in 2026 means supporting Trump, pure and simple.
Every vote cast for a Republican in 2026 will be a vote against American democracy. The only way we, the people, have available to us to stop Trump from successfully establishing his authoritarian government is to take control of Congress by electing people who will fight on our behalf.
Republicans will not do it. They have bowed down to Trump. Democrats and independents are the only hope left to us. The message is clear. Vote Republican and you’re voting to end our democracy.
That is not an exaggeration. Nor is it a liberal perspective. True conservatives are saying the same thing – Liz Cheney, Adam Kinzinger, the Bush family, retired judge Michael Luttig, David Frum, Rob Miller, Charlie Sykes, and former Republican Tea Party member, Joe Walsh, and on and on.
They see Trump for the threat he is, and at this point they are wise enough to know that voting for Democrats is the ONLY chance we have of being able to choose between the two parties in the future.
If Republican retain control of the House and the Senate, the ball game is over, democracy is done, the rule of law is gone, the only voice that will matter will be Trump’s.
That is what all of us who still believe in American democracy must realize. A national coup is happening in plain sight. That is why nothing is or can be normal again until we take control of the Congress. That must be the priority.
Sick and tired of Trump? Sick and tired of his incompetence, his rule by revenge, his toxic comments and divisive ways?
Then plan to join the resistance, join the work to put the breaks on him and do what only we can do, save ourselves from his tyranny.
A friend of mine calls it “Rise Up America.” I like that. It’s what we have to do, all of us. It’s the most patriotic thing we can do.
It’s the only way, only way, only way that we have any chance of returning to normalcy so that we might once again begin having the kind of political fights we used to have without worrying about losing our country.
Rise up, America, all of us who prefer our constitutional democracy to Trumpian authoritarianism. Be the patriots we believe ourselves to be.
It should be clear by now that Donald Trump is not our president. He is our enemy.
He calls law abiding protesters as “insurrectionists” only months after he pardoned convicted insurrectionists who were doing his bidding as he tried to overturn the 2020 election. His hypocrisy is stunning.
Donald Trump cannot and will not lead us to make America great, or great again. He is trying to break America, and every person who supports him is trying to do the same thing, and there will come a day when they will bear the shame of doing so.
Those of us who oppose him and them are the only people who can save us. We can do it, but it won’t happen if we expect someone else to do it.
We have to do it ourselves, we have to rise up, we have to take our country back from him, and that begins by taking power away from congressional Republicans.
That’s the critical flash point available to us as citizens. Protests help. Courts help. But it is using our power as voters that will save America, save our government that is of, by, and for the people.
linnposts.com 