Authors Note: Sometimes I astonish myself. Before I wrote my last substack about Washington’s Crossing called Kneel. Pray. Win. I had written another one just in case things went South. That moment has come. The United States has voted for a dictatorship … and decisively. The Supreme Court will be lost for most of the century. Women will lose most of their reproductive rights and lives. And white people happily voted to impose tyranny over all other races and creeds. So what can you do that doesn’t involve the good Bourbon?
Let’s face it: America has fundamentally changed from what it was founded to be. It is now an autocracy ruled by the white tribe. Here is what I wrote a few weeks ago for that break-glass moment. Read it and Weep. Then get busy. We have work to do.
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Imagine that it is Christmas morning in 1776. You are with George Washington’s army. Midway through the crossing, the Marblehead sailors who are rowing hear something. Before they can say a word, cannons sound all along the New Jersey side of the river. Washington’s daring move is defeated before the boats touch dry land. Imagine British cannon fire raining down on them as surprise British troops had moved from Princeton in the night, and the Hessians were waiting to the south and raking them with gunfire. Now, picture the American experiment slowly drifting as a drowned failure under the ice of the Delaware River … and George Washington’s corpse is being paraded by German mercenaries.
My dear readers, if you are reading this, then the worst has happened. Donald Trump has been elected the 47th President of the United States.
You are likely filled with two feelings. Some will be the same as you felt in 2016. You feel shame and grief. But now add a complete collapse of understanding of how the Trump train hit you into the mix. Your wits are torn asunder. Your heart aches and is in deep throbbing pain. You likely feel as if a close loved one has died, and you will be correct.
Like Washington, we risked a bold and daring campaign and since you are reading this, we have failed. Benjamin Franklin’s words now ring true. We were a Republic if we could’ve kept it. We did not and it died today, so Welcome to America, the Tyranny!
The End of 248 Years of Experimenting
What is now dying is the American experiment itself. And as our Russian enemies learned long ago (and passed on to their right-wing extremist toadies) was that the fastest way to kill Democracy was to use Democracy as the very knife to slit its throat. We do not have a president; we now have a King with all the powers George III had at the time of the American Revolution.
In the Star Wars movie Revenge of the Sith, Queen Amidala summed it up neatly when she said, “So this is how Liberty Dies, to thunderous applause.” Our problem is there is no Jedi order full of mystical space wizards to save us. We did this to ourselves by popular demand.
A Trump presidency means the United States is about to get the government his sycophants voted for. You likely feel adrift as a voter of progress, goodwill, and true of heart. We are on a boat alone in a vast ocean filled with terrible storms. But as all mariners know, there is a way for a sinking ship to save its crew and, in some instances, get back aboard and salvage it. But you can’t do it when crying, even if it’s a crying shame.
I feared for America these last few weeks; I believed we would win, but I kept a reserve of 5% caution that this could end in tragedy. (Author’s note: My prediction was 100% correct, and Trump won in a landslide.)
You are most likely feeling fear, trepidation, anxiety, and a burning pain in the middle of your gut that says things are going to get nasty. You are correct in those emotions as well. So, I will give you till the end of this article to feel all of those things and then get with the program.
At the end, I want you to have a deep, sobbing cry. Then I want you to stand up, get a hot beverage, and commit yourself to not surrendering all that you presently feel hold in your heart.
Trust me, I'm a widower, and your psychological well-being demands it. Your family will look to you, and your friends will want to lean on you for the stalwartness you need to develop pronto.
You must Hold Fast! That’s a nautical term to ‘grip the rope more tightly, or disaster will strike a worse blow than the first.’ Hold Fast. To what you know is right and true, and that is not MAGA. So no matter what they send at you, Hold Fast.
But Malcolm, why not just give in?
It is easy to surrender in a storm, to pass under the waves, and slowly die inside. It is easier not to engage, go into isolation, or try comprehending the crisis that befell us. I understand it.
You may want to do what I do when the politics are at their worst. I turn on MTV and watch the vapid video show Ridiculousness, or I dial upMidsomer Murders or Poirot and binge for hours to cleanse my mind. But while I watch, I am also writing and formulating new ideas to help me with the predicament. I am constantly crafting new plans, whether for my house repairs, Christmas decorations, or memorial garden. Strategizing and adopting major projects is the highest form of grief management. Obsessively getting your affairs in order is something those of us who have lost immediate loved ones well understand.
However, one cannot – nay, must not surrender to the sweet, cold admission that it is hard to fight. It is hard to stand against outrages, insults, and arrogance. But those are your only choices on this day of days. You can surrender to an America that is dictatorial and fascistic and will grind into the day-to-day affairs of your life without any input from you, your friends, or your family. You can let other people dictate what your life will be. That’s why it’s called a dictatorship. Information will now be sent to you in any form of “truth” they want you to see.
Or you can commit to taking some time off between now and inauguration day and prepare yourself for the upcoming political battle. It will not be wedged with weapons of war, as many on the extreme right-wing lustfully imagine. In this struggle, you must become the ultimate ally of the true promise of the Constitution of the United States. And, like the oath, we swear in the Armed Forces that we will uphold, protect, and defend that sacred document. The time has come for you to do the same.
I don’t want you to do it in the cheesy Q-Anon, Mike Flynn way of standing in front of a video camera and taking a fake oath for TikTok. I want you to take the moment that hurts you the most, which will likely be high noon on January 20, 2025, and hold it in your heart. Swear to yourself that you will not let this abomination abide without your voice of opposition. Be it in op-ed commentary, Twitter responses, or calling into local radio shows, Facebook, whatever – Swear to make your voice heard because suppressing your voice is next up after suppressing your vote. In fact, they want you to suppress yourself.
Take in the words carved into the Thomas Jefferson memorial as a touchstone, “for I have sworn upon the altar of god eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.” That’s it. That’s your mission statement. Better memorize it because every form of tyranny over the mind of man is about to be imposed on you.
Remember Rockwell Too
Interestingly, the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, is one of my favorite places in the world. My greatest pleasure is walking into the hall of the Four Freedoms. It has Rockwell’s four iconic paintings facing each other, including the Thanksgiving dinner table themed Freedom from Want. Next is the chilling Freedom from Fear, with the father and mother tucking their sons into bed while reading a newspaper about men dying in the European war. Next is the beautiful Freedom of Worship with its multinational, multi-ethnic hands in prayer. However, the one that touches me the most is freedom of speech. I gasp every time I see it. You must embrace its meaning. You must stand up, even when afraid, and say what you mean and feel. Right now, you feel a miasma of grief and pain. But learn to stand up and say what you mean. Tell everyone what you think is right, honorable, and true … before it is illegal.
Tomorrow, you may feel anger and a desire for change. OK, Stand up and say it. Soon, you may have to choose if you will protest if and when America lurches into a complete dictatorship and/or civil war. But once you have stood up and said you intend to speak up, remember these immortal words at the end of the Declaration of Independence: "We mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor."
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You, the reader, must understand the stakes of what speaking up means if the nation is to be saved. You must become the most loyal and ardent defender of the founding principles at the risk of your life and fortune. If you cannot risk it for that foundational biscuit, then your voice will just become one of many that will be ignored -like drowning oarsmen in the alternate universe’s Delaware, where prideful British troops drink mulled wine and piss on your body. Nobody wants that.
Right now, your MAGA neighbors v will likely view you as a foreign enemy to be intimidated, detained, or destroyed.
Be sure that the next four years will be a time of turmoil, economic hardship, and possibly civil unrest. Before you can follow instructions on navigating through it, you must first organize. Get your lifeboats back together, tie your fortunes to each other, and move with a purpose in opposition to the storm threatening to scuttle your hopes, dreams, and families.
Today is the day to let go of the mourning and make the American Experiment work again.
Have a good cry. Spin on your heel, get a coffee, and Lets Fucking Go.
AUTHOR:
A career US Navy terrorism intelligence collector, code breaker, and interrogator with wide-ranging field and combat experience in the Middle East, South West Asia, and Africa, Mr. Nance is a counterterrorism analyst for MSNBC. He’s the author of The Terrorist Recognition Handbook, The Terrorists of Iraq: The Strategy and Tactics of the Iraq Insurgency, An End to al-Qaeda: Destroying Bin Laden’s Jihad and Restoring America’s Honor, and the New York Times best seller Defeating ISIS: Who They Are, How They Fight, What They Believe. Drawing on his experience as a thirty year veteran of the US intelligence community’s program on combating terrorism, he’s been a Middle East policy advisor to the US and international governments on special operations, homeland security, and intelligence.
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