Tyranny requires your fear, silence, and compliance.  Democracy requires your courage.  I recently heard these words quoted by a cable news host; I think it was MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow.  I was struck by her words so I decided to use them in this article.  These words had an encouraging effect on me because, many times, I have been hesitant to write negative things about Trump even when it is blatantly obvious that he is wrong and knows it but is daring anyone to say that he is wrong.  I have had the same hesitancy in writing negative things about his sycophants, other powerful people, and institutions that he controls: other powerful people, many of whom are also sycophants, like senators and representatives, and institutions like the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS).  And although I will likely continue to experience these feelings of a buried fear to be silent and comply without encouraging all the American people to speak truth to power via this blog, I will continue to write and post.

I am one person.  I do not have the slightest idea of how many people read the articles that I post to this blog.  But if even one person reads them and is moved to stand and fight for democracy, even if they harbor fear, I have achieved success!  Why do I consider moving just one person to stand and fight for democracy success?  Because the American democracy is right now involved in a battle to the death.  It is an existential battle and it needs all hands on deck if it is to have any chance to survive!  That means that every American; every one person, must grab their one bucket of water and contribute to containing this 5-alarm democracy fire until we the people can put it out…permanently.  Then, and only then, will we be able to get back to reasonable discourse among reasonable people, govern, and do the business of America for the American people.

All United States senators and representatives swore the following oath before they took office:

“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely; without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God.”

After having read this oath, does it appear to you, the reader, that it is what U.S. Republican senators and representatives are adhering to?!  I assume that your answer is no.  Common sense demands it!  It seems that their oaths are anathema to them because honoring it would require that they put country above Party; honoring it would prevent them from giving Trump everything that he wants!  This is reflected in how they are allowing The Donald J. Trump of the United States of America to run roughshod over them and the American people while showing little to no respect for the Constitution or the law of the land.  While they express anger and concern in private about the things that Trump is doing, in public they smile and express strong support of him.  Many of these congresspersons then return to their home districts and lie to their constituents about what is happening to America.

Trump is moving forward at lightening speed in destroying many of the things that it has taken America more than two centuries to build.  And he is doing it literally via executive orders, many of which he has immediately rescinded each time, and as soon as, the American people have mounted protests in objection to them.  It is important that all Americans realize that even when Trump rescinds these orders, they still do great damage.  Although the damage might not be as great as that done by those executive orders that are left standing, both destroy the very fiber of American society and will require years to repair.  Some of this damage may never be fully repaired.

As of the posting of this article, Trump has been in office a little more than a month.  During that time, he has cozied up to Russian President Putin, alienated all our allies and thrown Ukraine under the bus while appearing to have changed sides in the middle of the war that Russia started with Ukraine.  Most of what Trump is doing is wrong and a slap in the face of the American people.  Yet, far too many Americans are waiting in hope that Trump is not who he has shown the world that he is all his life before they decide to fight back against him and the tyrannical things he is doing.  Why wait and hope?  Trump has already said that he would be a dictator, but only on day one of his current term as president.  He told the world what he would do if he was elected to a second term as president…and he is doing it.  As to whether he will be true to his word that he would be a dictator only on day one, remains to be seen.  But with the way that things have gone so far, he has continued to show the world that he is exactly who he has shown the world that he is all his life.  What are these Americans waiting for?!  What more proof do they need!

Let me be clear, the paragraph immediately above is not meant to suggest that people cannot or should not have any differences of opinion.  America is a melting pot; of course, her people are going to have differences of opinion.  What it is meant to suggest, however, is that only when we can get back to reasonable discourse among reasonable people will we be able to govern and do the business of America for the American people.  Trump, his sycophants, and the other powerful people that he controls are not conducive to returning to civil discourse.  Neither Trump nor his enablers who are trying to destroy the American democracy should ever be allowed the privilege to govern America again: they should all be voted out of office.

But herein lies the rub.  Who am I to say that all these politicians should be voted out of office and never allowed to govern America again, that any reasonable and responsible American would feel this way, and then be the soul individual to determine that this will be the case?  But that is my opinion and I have every right to have it; and you have every right to have yours!  That is why we must have reasonable people who can have reasonable discourse to solve our differences of opinion; to find common ground!  Again, Trump, his sycophants, and the other powerful people that he controls are not conducive to finding these kinds of people.  We can end this conundrum that we find ourselves in with our vote.  Let’s do that.

So always remember, whether you are a Democrat, Republican, or Independent, your vote is the most important one of all…unless you don’t use it!

Eulus Dennis – author, M2: Street Cop To Top Cop, Operation Rubik’s Cube, and Living Between The Line

Democracy is now under a full-frontal attack.  All Americans should be wary of this.  We must not assume that democracy in America is invincible, wink at this attack, and assume that our elected officials will straighten things out after they have given Trump and the Trump Republican Party time to publicly make fools of themselves, tire of their antics and, at least, try to govern.  We cannot depend on our elected officials to fight for democracy and work to rein in Trump and his Party because far too many of them are more focused on keeping their jobs than they are on keeping the American democracy.  This includes some Democrats.  I agree with MSNBC contributor and former Republican David Jolly when he says that Democrats are being blamed for the current Constitutional crisis but should not be: That they are not to blame for the Republicans’ lawlessness.  However, I do blame Democrats for being caught completely flatfooted in this situation!

Donald Trump told Democrats and the world before his election to his current term exactly what he was going to do.  And as for Republicans in congress, they have been showing Democrats for years who they are!  Republicans can read Democrats like a book.  They know exactly what Democrats are going to do and depend upon them to do it no matter how shameless and lawless Republicans are.  Democrats must stop being so goody-two-shoes and play by the same rules that Republicans play by!  E.g., Senators Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins.  Take note of how they have voted on Trump’s cabinet nominees, especially those who are obviously unqualified!  They know better!  It is shameful and they know it; their oath of office is meaningless to them.  It seems that they place their left hand on the bible, lift their right hand and simply repeat the obligatory words to keep their jobs.

I recently heard an MSNBC contributor say “some people say that Republicans are shameless, but Democrats are spineless.”  It matters whether Democrats are spineless because the American people need them to get engaged and remain engaged in the fight to save democracy.  Without a spine, this task would be impossible for them.  What matters just as much though, is that many working-class Americans believe that the Democratic Party is no longer fighting for them and so is no longer their Party.  Hypothetically speaking – since we are all aware that I am referring to a political spine, even if x-rays could reveal that Democrats do have political spines, it would not matter if their constituents, even after viewing these x-rays, still do not believe that they do.  Perception!  Perception is extremely important!

So, if working-class Americans perceive that the Democratic Party is no longer their Party, then it does not matter whether they have a spine because perception counts!  Under the current circumstances, this cannot be overemphasized.  Democrats must demonstrate to working-class Americans and convince them that they are still fighting for them!  At the speed that Trump is inundating the system with trumped-up executive orders and obtaining confirmations for his unqualified cabinet nominees, whose only real requirement is that they be unquestionably loyal to him, it is obvious that Democrats are not keeping up.  Notwithstanding the reason as to why they are not keeping up, they are not convincing working-class Americans that they are up to the task and, therefore, deserve their continued loyalty and support.  If what Democrats are doing thus far is the best that they can do, then democracy and the American people are in dire circumstances!

Having said that, we the people must do our part too to save democracy and, by extension, ourselves.  We, too, must do everything that we can, short of violence, to prevent Trump and his enablers from achieving any of their lawless and antidemocratic goals; or barring that, as few of those goals as possible.  Since Trump took office on January 20, 2025, he has signed more than 60 executive orders, some of which blatantly ignore the law and are obviously illegal.  Despite this, no one in the Republican Party has shown outrage, protested, and strongly pushed back on this.  Trump has made outrageous statements suggesting that Canada become the 51^st state, taking back the Panama Canal, purchasing Greenland, taking over and owning the Gaza Strip, and more.  Still, all these Republican House members and senators, many of whom were once held in high esteem, continue to enable Trump and remain loyal to him.  Trump is loving it!  Cloaked in the presidential immunity of his Supreme Court, he is taking a wrecking ball to American institutions with the aid of his billionaire friends.  He has also questioned the authority of judges and the White House is placing blame for any Constitutional crisis on the Judicial Branch.  This should even make his Supreme Court a bit jittery.

Trump is a convicted felon.  And as such, he seems to be bound-and-determined to fill his cabinet with people who will do whatever he asks of them so that he can run the American government, the peoples’ government, as he sees fit.  He has placed Elon Musk, who was not elected by anybody to do anything, in charge of his new made-up agency called the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).  In this capacity, Musk and his team of young assistants have gained access to the records of many government departments that are crucial to running America and serving the American people.  Chief among those departments is the Treasury Department which houses The Bureau of the Fiscal Service which, in turn, oversees a payment system known as the nation’s checkbook.  Checks paid from the nation’s checkbook include tax refunds, payments to contractors, Social Security Payments and more.  An American kleptocracy government might be unwanted by Americans but with the superrich having such power and such proximity to this president, it is neither inconceivable nor a stretch to find ourselves as victims of one.

Even if it is not intended, Musk is doing a lot of damage to departments and systems that are vital to keeping the government running and some of what he is doing is negatively impacting America’s national security. During his 2025 presidential campaign, Trump disavowed Project 2025 saying that he did not know anything about it and did not want to know anything about it.  Yet, since he became president again his agenda seems to be closely following what was laid out in Project 2025.  And although during his presidential campaign he disavowed it, he has made Russell Vought, an author of Project 2025, a member of his cabinet by getting him confirmed as Director of the Office of Management and Budget.  If Americans become fatigued and decide to disengage, this is exactly what Trump wants and that is why he is flooding the zone with executive orders, it becomes easier to allow for manufactured excuses: excuses like, the good billionaires will help the government to stave off a kleptocracy until the next presidential election.

This is Flawed thinking.  The cavalry is not coming to rescue the American people because it no longer exists.  It has been decimated by Trump, his Republican Party, and his Supreme Court.  No one knows how many American institutions, or people, have been taken over by Trump and are now under his control.  This should behoove all of us to be wary of categorizing the previously mentioned superrich folks as billionaires and “good billionaires.”  Although SCOTUS Chief Justice John Roberts has warned Americans about the potential of court orders being ignored and the consequences that Americans would face if court orders are ignored, his warning should not be taken out of context.  When Chief Justice Roberts gave this warning, he gave it in reaction to how Americans were reacting to court rulings that Americans did not like or agree with, including the SCOTUS’s presidential immunity ruling.  So, Americans should not automatically assume that he feels the same way about Trump and the Trump administration’s recent negative remarks about judges’ rulings that relate to unconstitutional actions that Trump is taking.  They should not take comfort from this and think that this SCOTUS will automatically stand up for the rule of law!

The Republican Party has collapsed on itself so, in essence, the congress has collapsed as a check-and-balance on the executive branch of government.  That leaves only the courts as a check-and-balance on Trump.  The lower courts are trying to hold the executive branch accountable and prevent it from running roughshod over the Constitution and the rule of law.  These rulings against the executive branch are bound to make their way to the SCOTUS.  Under the current circumstances, Americans cannot be confident as to how the SCOTUS will rule: will it rule without fear or favor and based on the rule of law?!  Only time will tell.  Regardless of how the SCOTUS will rule, at this point, the Judicial branch is the last line of defense in trying to ensure that no one is above the law.  Of course, as previously mentioned, we the people – short of violence, must do our part too to assure that America remains a land that operates based on laws.  In the meantime, we must be sure to get out and vote in the 2026 midterm and 2028 presidential elections.

So always remember, whether you are a Democrat, Republican, or Independent, your vote is the most important one of all…unless you don’t use it!  Make your voices heard.  It is not too late…yet.

Eulus Dennis – author, M2: Street Cop To Top Cop, Operation Rubik’s Cube, and Living Between The Line