After a long hiatus from my hobby of photography, I took up my camera again when I began to hike. As a late-blooming hiker almost 15 years ago, I struggled to keep up and the trails often took me out of my comfort zone. But when I got to the top of an elevated trail, the view was magnificent. All the hard work getting there paid off in all the gorgeous scenery and the images I captured with my camera, something I totally would have missed if I had not pushed through my fear and persisted during my climb to the top.
Persistence and overcoming fear are required today. Since the recent inauguration, the “shock and awe” of all the executive orders leaves me feeling exhausted. Perhaps you are, too. Maybe, like me, you are worried and frightened about the near future and what it means for you, your family, friends, and neighbors. The speed at which this administration is moving to destroy democracy and the federal government is designed to exhaust and frighten its opponents into submission. This tactic is called resilience targeting, typically used during disasters, that intentionally overwhelms people with chaos to keep them vulnerable. While it might feel easier to pull the covers over our heads, we cannot roll over and give up our power.
One sliver of hope is knowing that this president won only 49.9% of the popular vote, meaning more voters voted for someone else other than for him. This clearly is not a landslide victory, despite his fabrications to the contrary, which means he does not have an overwhelming mandate to do whatever he wants. Even a survey by the conservative Wall Street Journal showed that 75% of Americans oppose mass deportations, a key campaign promise.
A recent AP poll found that only 12% of Americans believe the president should take policy advice from billionaires. Yet on January 20th at the Inauguration in the Capitol building’s rotunda, the richest men in the world were sitting comfortably inside while many of his base with their purchased inaugural tickets were left out in the cold. Literally. That scene speaks volumes for whom this regime plans to support. And it is clearly not the American people, not even his base.
Contrary to distancing themselves from it, this regime, marked by cruelty and loyalty, is using the draconian Project 2025 to remake the government into one controlled by an authoritarian dictator and owned by his buddies, the wealthy oligarchs. (An oligarchy is a government run by a few wealthy and powerful elite.)
While this regime tries to usher in a “Golden Age,” there are some parallels to the Gilded Age of the late 19th century which saw the rise of industrialization and with it, the oligarchs of the day, often referred to as “robber barons” or “industrialists.” Men like Andrew Carnegie, JP Morgan, and John D. Rockefeller gained their wealth by exploiting workers, eschewing business regulations, and by bending the government through corruption to further enrich themselves. Then, as now, there was great wealth inequality. The wealthiest 2% controlled more than a third of US wealth. Now, thanks to trickle-down “Reaganomics” from 1981 and forward, coupled with GOP tax cuts for the wealthy, $50 trillion in wealth has moved from the bottom 90% of Americans to the top 1% from 1981 to 2021 before “Bidenomics” began to reverse the trend. Today, the top 1% controls 30% of all US wealth.
What we are seeing today is the rise of a dictator, aided by his oligarchs, all of whom are in it for power and money at the expense of the American people. Divide and conquer is their strategy by scapegoating and dehumanizing immigrants and trans people as well as blaming the “deep state” in the federal government. They exploit us as we fight each other over their made-up culture wars, shifting more wealth and power to themselves under this smokescreen that they are just doing business as usual (à la robber barons). They hope we will not notice that they are getting richer while many Americans struggle to put food on the table.
Their goal is to destroy democracy and all the institutions that support it to solidify their control. They bankroll the religious extremists who want to impose their far-right agenda called Christian nationalism (which in no way resembles Jesus and His teachings, but rather is an ideology based on white supremacy and patriarchy). Our rights and freedoms are being taken from us in the name of religious freedom and is another way for them to consolidate power and control. All of this started on Day 1, the day he promised he would be a dictator, the day he began this new reality show with the flourish of his Sharpie to a blitz of executive orders.
What exactly is an executive order and who can issue one? The president has the sole power to issue executive orders which are directives for how the executive branch is to operate and how they are to enforce (or not) the law. Congress can counter an order by refusing to fund an initiative or by passing a law to override a particular order. The courts can deem an executive order unlawful or unconstitutional.
One noteworthy observation is that despite the blatant unconstitutionality of some of these orders, no lawyer in the Oval Office stopped the president from issuing them. The guardrails of his previous term in office are gone. Now he is surrounded only by people who are totally loyal to him and who will not challenge him. Term 2 is exponentially worse and more destructive than Term 1.
The decrees issued since January 20th provide a wrecking ball that is literally destroying the federal government. While we think our institutions are solid, we are seeing in real time their dismantling which allows the oligarchs to take control while profiting from its demise. It also enables the president to consolidate his power. Without a functioning government, this country will indeed become the “failing nation” this regime has been saying for months. While the US is not perfect, it definitely was not a failing nation before January 20th.
“Flooding the zone” with so many decrees is designed to overwhelm us, instill fear, and intimidate us. But more importantly, many of these decrees consolidate power into the office of the presidency by taking power from independent federal agencies like the CDC, by seeking to control departments like the Justice Department, or by usurping Congress’ power, especially their power to fund the government.
This regime and its oligarchs do not believe in democracy. Rather, they believe that a few people (themselves) should control everyone else. They view diversity, not as enriching our society, but rather as weakening it. By deporting immigrants, firing employees in DEI departments, and purging the federal workforce without just cause, they can increase their power by filling jobs with conservative straight white men whose only qualification is loyalty to them, not to democracy.
After the recent horrific plane and Army helicopter collision over the Potomac River, the president, rather than showing compassion to victims’ families, blamed DEI for the accident, insinuating that women, people of color, and people with disabilities were somehow responsible for these untimely deaths. The regime continues to use sexist, racist, and ableist rhetoric to divide us. This cruel and hateful blame game obfuscates the real issues in this particular instance of the lack of funding for more air traffic controllers (one decree froze federal hiring), the lack of oversight (one decree fired all members of the congressionally-mandated Aviation Security Advisory Committee), and the lack of leadership (one oligarch pressured the FAA head to resign on January 20th because his space enterprise company had been charged with safety violations and slapped with a fine).
It is impossible to cover all the executive orders issued since January 20th, but generally, these decrees instruct independent federal agencies to stop important work that keeps the public safe, like orders to the CDC forbidding it to communicate their reports and to coordinate with the World Health Organization (another decree removed the US from the WHO, a post-World War II pillar needed for global stability and security). Some decrees directly target federal employees, either by unjustly firing them or offering them a “buyout” to resign (which was accomplished via a Twitter-esque email sent to most federal employees). All DEI programs were dismantled and those workers were put on administrative leave which disenfranchises those who rely on their services and support groups, including disabled veterans.
Other decrees strip rights of transgender people, including declaring there are only two genders (in an attempt to erase trans people), barring trans people from serving in the military (there are at least 15,000 people in the military who identify as trans), limiting access to gender-affirming care for trans youth, and ordering federally incarcerated trans people to medically detransition and be housed in facilities corresponding with their sex at birth (which puts them at risk of physical danger).
Decrees related to immigration are designed to instill fear in both undocumented immigrants and those with legal status. Canceling the appointments asylum seekers made via the CBP One app for legal immigration means they are now stuck in limbo in Mexico. Raiding schools and churches to arrest immigrants instills fear in whole communities. The executive order to forbid birthright citizenship to babies born in the US (with caveats around their parents’ immigration status) is clearly unconstitutional but it will probably wind its way up to the nation’s top court which is not known for upholding precedent. Many of these executive orders are intentionally designed to test the limits of the Constitution.
Numerous orders have been met with lawsuits by nonprofits, states’ attorney generals, and individuals to push back on their legality and constitutionality. This was especially visible when one decree froze federal loans and grants to many federal programs, including Meals on Wheels and Head Start. Congress received a deluge of calls from constituents and impacted organizations. That pushback, coupled with lawsuits challenging the decree, caused the regime to backtrack and rescind it. There is power in our collective resistance.
In addition to the executive orders, the presidential pardons of more than 1,500 January 6th insurrectionists, including those who assaulted police officers, unleashes violent offenders into society and signals that any future violence done in the name of the regime can be done with impunity, making our communities less safe and creating a sense of lawlessness. This is ironic for the party of “law and order” and the president who claimed other countries were unleashing their criminals into the US.
The Right Reverend Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde’s sermon in a service at the Washington National Cathedral the day after the Inauguration gives me hope that there are courageous people who are willing to speak truth to power, in this case, from literally 40 feet away. Her example was a respectful reminder to the president that God is merciful and that we are called to treat each other with mercy, respect, and compassion, especially when we hold positions of power. I hope it emboldens other faith leaders to speak out.
Bishop Budde reminds me of how Jesus stood up to power on behalf of those being oppressed by the regime. She is a good example of how all of us can speak truth, with gentleness and kindness, and encourage others in our sphere of influence toward compassion and mercy.
We are at a “speak now or forever hold our peace” moment. We cannot sit on the sidelines while democracy crumbles. We must resist and persist. The mountain in front of us may look daunting, but together we can scale the obstacles to win back our democracy from this power-hungry authoritarian regime.
Like those who have come before us, whether colonists defeating a king for their freedom, soldiers fighting for democracy on foreign battlefields, or civil rights activists marching on Selma or Washington, we can prevail. This is our American heritage. The path will not be easy. But together we can make a difference. Our future and the future of those who come after us depend upon it.
WHAT WE CAN EACH DO:
1 – Take care of yourself. Do one thing every day that brings you joy. Create with art, crafts, and music. Learn something new.
2 - Support those who are engaged on the front line of litigation. Donating money to support the organizations that are filing these lawsuits will allow these nonprofits to pay their staff and to hire new attorneys. Their caseloads will be heavy. Give what you can to help them fight against this authoritarian regime. Even small amounts make a difference. Some notable organizations to donate to are: American Civil Liberties Union* (ACLU), ACLU Foundation, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, Brennan Center for Justice, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, Democracy Forward Foundation, GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD Law), Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, League of United Latin American Citizens* (LULAC), Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), and NAACP Legal Defense Fund.
*For the orgs above noted with an asterisk, contributions are not tax-deductible.
Just Security is an organization that is tracking the lawsuits against the current regime. Click here to learn more.
3 - Support local news media and independent media who are boldly proclaiming the facts. Find and support writers, journalists, and podcasters who are standing up to power through their words of truth. They, too, need financial support and words of encouragement. Some of my favorite media are: Associated Press, Axios, BBC, Bloomberg, NPR, Politico, ProPublica, Reuters, and The 19th. My favorite independent writers are all found on Substack: Heather Cox Richardson, Robert Reich, The Contrarian (with Jennifer Rubin and Norm Eisen), and The Convocation (with Diana Butler Bass, Kristen du Mez, Robert P. Jones, and Jemar Tisby).
Many of the above also provide news and opinions via podcasts and videos. Other informative podcasts include: Assembly Required with Stacey Abrams (episode “Cory Booker on Winning the Messaging War Against Trump with Radical Empathy” was especially helpful), Pod Save America, and What A Day.
4 - Get involved in local communities that are pushing back. Or create one. There are good grassroots-type organizations that are making a difference. Many have a national presence, too. Check out the League of Women Voters (disclaimer: I am a member; views expressed in this post are solely my own) and Red Wine and Blue.
5 – Immigrants have rights if they are approached by ICE but they may not know what those rights are. For example, they do not have to speak with an agent from ICE or let them into their home without a proper warrant. To help educate any immigrants in your sphere of influence, you can print down “red cards” that are translated into different languages and spell out their legal rights. Check out the Immigrant Legal Resource Center here. Consider making a tax-deductible contribution toward their work.
6 – Call your representatives in Congress to voice your opinion and to encourage them to do the right thing when voting on bills (House and Senate), Cabinet positions (Senate), and judicial appointments (Senate). The congressional switchboard number is (202) 224-3121. If that line is busy, call your representative at their DC or local office. Check their website for contact info.
5calls.org is a great resource when contacting your congressmember or senator. Current issues are listed on this website along with scripts to use in your conversation with your representative. Check out https://5calls.org/ and let your voice be heard!
7 – Read books on democracy, oligarchy, authoritarianism, and Christian nationalism. My recommendations are: Democracy Awakening by Heather Cox Richardson, The Hidden Roots of White Supremacy by Robert P. Jones, How Democracies Die by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt, Jesus and John Wayne by Kristen du Mez, Minority Rule by Ari Berman, On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder (this is a very short but informative book – I highly recommend!), Power Worshippers by Katherine Stewart, Shadow Network by Anne Nelson, and Tyranny of the Minority by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt. Money, Lies, and God: Inside the Movement to Destroy American Democracy by Katherine Stewart will be available on February 18.
8 – We all have a sphere of influence. Ensure you use yours to promote truth with compassion.
NOTE: Regarding immigration, the president signed into law on 1/29/25 the Laken Riley Act passed by Congress which now makes it possible for undocumented immigrants to be imprisoned or deported based merely on being accused, not convicted, of crimes, even petty crimes, like shoplifting. Immigrants’ rights to due process under the law are stripped away. This is a slippery slope to eliminating everyone’s due process rights. To see how your representatives in Congress voted, click here.
NOTE: If this post sounds alarmist, it is written to inform and to galvanize people to resist. My 9/4/24 post entitled, “Take Two”, might have sounded alarmist at the time regarding a possible second term for the now-president, but the horrific agenda outlined there in Project 2025 is now being implemented.
NOTE: If you need a refresher on Christian nationalism, check out my blogs entitled, “A Slippery Slope” (posted 10/4/23) and “Monsters, Inc.” (posted 11/1/23). Also relevant are my posts on how democracies die and what we can do to prevent it. See “Death of Democracy” (posted 1/3/24) and “Democracy Matters” (posted 2/7/24).
My blog posts can be accessed here.
FEBRUARY IS BLACK HISTORY MONTH – despite the Pentagon and the US State Department banning it this year!
Click here for a thoughtful article by Jemar Tisby on Black history month.
Also check out https://blackhistorymonth.gov/.
Text and photograph copyright © 2025 by Dawn Dailey. All rights reserved. Photo of Reine, Norway, in the Lofoten Islands.
Not a subscriber to the monthly blog posts? Click here to subscribe. Subscribers receive an email each month that includes the post with the lead photo as well as bonus photos not posted on the website. Email addresses are never sold or shared.
A NOTE ON SOCIAL JUSTICE:
Jesus says the greatest commandments are to love God and to love people (Matthew 22:37-40). The Christian faith boils down to these two precepts.
Social justice puts that love into action by helping individuals who are oppressed, mistreated, or suffering, and by pursuing ways to dismantle systems of oppression. How we treat others, particularly those less powerful in society than ourselves, matters (Matthew 25:31-46).
Racial justice is one aspect of social justice. Check out my web page on “Justice Matters” to find resources and to connect with organizations engaging in the cause of racial justice. Click here to learn more.
Persistence and overcoming fear are required today. Since the recent inauguration, the “shock and awe” of all the executive orders leaves me feeling exhausted. Perhaps you are, too. Maybe, like me, you are worried and frightened about the near future and what it means for you, your family, friends, and neighbors. The speed at which this administration is moving to destroy democracy and the federal government is designed to exhaust and frighten its opponents into submission. This tactic is called resilience targeting, typically used during disasters, that intentionally overwhelms people with chaos to keep them vulnerable. While it might feel easier to pull the covers over our heads, we cannot roll over and give up our power.
One sliver of hope is knowing that this president won only 49.9% of the popular vote, meaning more voters voted for someone else other than for him. This clearly is not a landslide victory, despite his fabrications to the contrary, which means he does not have an overwhelming mandate to do whatever he wants. Even a survey by the conservative Wall Street Journal showed that 75% of Americans oppose mass deportations, a key campaign promise.
A recent AP poll found that only 12% of Americans believe the president should take policy advice from billionaires. Yet on January 20th at the Inauguration in the Capitol building’s rotunda, the richest men in the world were sitting comfortably inside while many of his base with their purchased inaugural tickets were left out in the cold. Literally. That scene speaks volumes for whom this regime plans to support. And it is clearly not the American people, not even his base.
Contrary to distancing themselves from it, this regime, marked by cruelty and loyalty, is using the draconian Project 2025 to remake the government into one controlled by an authoritarian dictator and owned by his buddies, the wealthy oligarchs. (An oligarchy is a government run by a few wealthy and powerful elite.)
While this regime tries to usher in a “Golden Age,” there are some parallels to the Gilded Age of the late 19th century which saw the rise of industrialization and with it, the oligarchs of the day, often referred to as “robber barons” or “industrialists.” Men like Andrew Carnegie, JP Morgan, and John D. Rockefeller gained their wealth by exploiting workers, eschewing business regulations, and by bending the government through corruption to further enrich themselves. Then, as now, there was great wealth inequality. The wealthiest 2% controlled more than a third of US wealth. Now, thanks to trickle-down “Reaganomics” from 1981 and forward, coupled with GOP tax cuts for the wealthy, $50 trillion in wealth has moved from the bottom 90% of Americans to the top 1% from 1981 to 2021 before “Bidenomics” began to reverse the trend. Today, the top 1% controls 30% of all US wealth.
What we are seeing today is the rise of a dictator, aided by his oligarchs, all of whom are in it for power and money at the expense of the American people. Divide and conquer is their strategy by scapegoating and dehumanizing immigrants and trans people as well as blaming the “deep state” in the federal government. They exploit us as we fight each other over their made-up culture wars, shifting more wealth and power to themselves under this smokescreen that they are just doing business as usual (à la robber barons). They hope we will not notice that they are getting richer while many Americans struggle to put food on the table.
Their goal is to destroy democracy and all the institutions that support it to solidify their control. They bankroll the religious extremists who want to impose their far-right agenda called Christian nationalism (which in no way resembles Jesus and His teachings, but rather is an ideology based on white supremacy and patriarchy). Our rights and freedoms are being taken from us in the name of religious freedom and is another way for them to consolidate power and control. All of this started on Day 1, the day he promised he would be a dictator, the day he began this new reality show with the flourish of his Sharpie to a blitz of executive orders.
What exactly is an executive order and who can issue one? The president has the sole power to issue executive orders which are directives for how the executive branch is to operate and how they are to enforce (or not) the law. Congress can counter an order by refusing to fund an initiative or by passing a law to override a particular order. The courts can deem an executive order unlawful or unconstitutional.
One noteworthy observation is that despite the blatant unconstitutionality of some of these orders, no lawyer in the Oval Office stopped the president from issuing them. The guardrails of his previous term in office are gone. Now he is surrounded only by people who are totally loyal to him and who will not challenge him. Term 2 is exponentially worse and more destructive than Term 1.
The decrees issued since January 20th provide a wrecking ball that is literally destroying the federal government. While we think our institutions are solid, we are seeing in real time their dismantling which allows the oligarchs to take control while profiting from its demise. It also enables the president to consolidate his power. Without a functioning government, this country will indeed become the “failing nation” this regime has been saying for months. While the US is not perfect, it definitely was not a failing nation before January 20th.
“Flooding the zone” with so many decrees is designed to overwhelm us, instill fear, and intimidate us. But more importantly, many of these decrees consolidate power into the office of the presidency by taking power from independent federal agencies like the CDC, by seeking to control departments like the Justice Department, or by usurping Congress’ power, especially their power to fund the government.
This regime and its oligarchs do not believe in democracy. Rather, they believe that a few people (themselves) should control everyone else. They view diversity, not as enriching our society, but rather as weakening it. By deporting immigrants, firing employees in DEI departments, and purging the federal workforce without just cause, they can increase their power by filling jobs with conservative straight white men whose only qualification is loyalty to them, not to democracy.
After the recent horrific plane and Army helicopter collision over the Potomac River, the president, rather than showing compassion to victims’ families, blamed DEI for the accident, insinuating that women, people of color, and people with disabilities were somehow responsible for these untimely deaths. The regime continues to use sexist, racist, and ableist rhetoric to divide us. This cruel and hateful blame game obfuscates the real issues in this particular instance of the lack of funding for more air traffic controllers (one decree froze federal hiring), the lack of oversight (one decree fired all members of the congressionally-mandated Aviation Security Advisory Committee), and the lack of leadership (one oligarch pressured the FAA head to resign on January 20th because his space enterprise company had been charged with safety violations and slapped with a fine).
It is impossible to cover all the executive orders issued since January 20th, but generally, these decrees instruct independent federal agencies to stop important work that keeps the public safe, like orders to the CDC forbidding it to communicate their reports and to coordinate with the World Health Organization (another decree removed the US from the WHO, a post-World War II pillar needed for global stability and security). Some decrees directly target federal employees, either by unjustly firing them or offering them a “buyout” to resign (which was accomplished via a Twitter-esque email sent to most federal employees). All DEI programs were dismantled and those workers were put on administrative leave which disenfranchises those who rely on their services and support groups, including disabled veterans.
Other decrees strip rights of transgender people, including declaring there are only two genders (in an attempt to erase trans people), barring trans people from serving in the military (there are at least 15,000 people in the military who identify as trans), limiting access to gender-affirming care for trans youth, and ordering federally incarcerated trans people to medically detransition and be housed in facilities corresponding with their sex at birth (which puts them at risk of physical danger).
Decrees related to immigration are designed to instill fear in both undocumented immigrants and those with legal status. Canceling the appointments asylum seekers made via the CBP One app for legal immigration means they are now stuck in limbo in Mexico. Raiding schools and churches to arrest immigrants instills fear in whole communities. The executive order to forbid birthright citizenship to babies born in the US (with caveats around their parents’ immigration status) is clearly unconstitutional but it will probably wind its way up to the nation’s top court which is not known for upholding precedent. Many of these executive orders are intentionally designed to test the limits of the Constitution.
Numerous orders have been met with lawsuits by nonprofits, states’ attorney generals, and individuals to push back on their legality and constitutionality. This was especially visible when one decree froze federal loans and grants to many federal programs, including Meals on Wheels and Head Start. Congress received a deluge of calls from constituents and impacted organizations. That pushback, coupled with lawsuits challenging the decree, caused the regime to backtrack and rescind it. There is power in our collective resistance.
In addition to the executive orders, the presidential pardons of more than 1,500 January 6th insurrectionists, including those who assaulted police officers, unleashes violent offenders into society and signals that any future violence done in the name of the regime can be done with impunity, making our communities less safe and creating a sense of lawlessness. This is ironic for the party of “law and order” and the president who claimed other countries were unleashing their criminals into the US.
The Right Reverend Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde’s sermon in a service at the Washington National Cathedral the day after the Inauguration gives me hope that there are courageous people who are willing to speak truth to power, in this case, from literally 40 feet away. Her example was a respectful reminder to the president that God is merciful and that we are called to treat each other with mercy, respect, and compassion, especially when we hold positions of power. I hope it emboldens other faith leaders to speak out.
Bishop Budde reminds me of how Jesus stood up to power on behalf of those being oppressed by the regime. She is a good example of how all of us can speak truth, with gentleness and kindness, and encourage others in our sphere of influence toward compassion and mercy.
We are at a “speak now or forever hold our peace” moment. We cannot sit on the sidelines while democracy crumbles. We must resist and persist. The mountain in front of us may look daunting, but together we can scale the obstacles to win back our democracy from this power-hungry authoritarian regime.
Like those who have come before us, whether colonists defeating a king for their freedom, soldiers fighting for democracy on foreign battlefields, or civil rights activists marching on Selma or Washington, we can prevail. This is our American heritage. The path will not be easy. But together we can make a difference. Our future and the future of those who come after us depend upon it.
WHAT WE CAN EACH DO:
1 – Take care of yourself. Do one thing every day that brings you joy. Create with art, crafts, and music. Learn something new.
2 - Support those who are engaged on the front line of litigation. Donating money to support the organizations that are filing these lawsuits will allow these nonprofits to pay their staff and to hire new attorneys. Their caseloads will be heavy. Give what you can to help them fight against this authoritarian regime. Even small amounts make a difference. Some notable organizations to donate to are: American Civil Liberties Union* (ACLU), ACLU Foundation, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, Brennan Center for Justice, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, Democracy Forward Foundation, GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD Law), Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, League of United Latin American Citizens* (LULAC), Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), and NAACP Legal Defense Fund.
*For the orgs above noted with an asterisk, contributions are not tax-deductible.
Just Security is an organization that is tracking the lawsuits against the current regime. Click here to learn more.
3 - Support local news media and independent media who are boldly proclaiming the facts. Find and support writers, journalists, and podcasters who are standing up to power through their words of truth. They, too, need financial support and words of encouragement. Some of my favorite media are: Associated Press, Axios, BBC, Bloomberg, NPR, Politico, ProPublica, Reuters, and The 19th. My favorite independent writers are all found on Substack: Heather Cox Richardson, Robert Reich, The Contrarian (with Jennifer Rubin and Norm Eisen), and The Convocation (with Diana Butler Bass, Kristen du Mez, Robert P. Jones, and Jemar Tisby).
Many of the above also provide news and opinions via podcasts and videos. Other informative podcasts include: Assembly Required with Stacey Abrams (episode “Cory Booker on Winning the Messaging War Against Trump with Radical Empathy” was especially helpful), Pod Save America, and What A Day.
4 - Get involved in local communities that are pushing back. Or create one. There are good grassroots-type organizations that are making a difference. Many have a national presence, too. Check out the League of Women Voters (disclaimer: I am a member; views expressed in this post are solely my own) and Red Wine and Blue.
5 – Immigrants have rights if they are approached by ICE but they may not know what those rights are. For example, they do not have to speak with an agent from ICE or let them into their home without a proper warrant. To help educate any immigrants in your sphere of influence, you can print down “red cards” that are translated into different languages and spell out their legal rights. Check out the Immigrant Legal Resource Center here. Consider making a tax-deductible contribution toward their work.
6 – Call your representatives in Congress to voice your opinion and to encourage them to do the right thing when voting on bills (House and Senate), Cabinet positions (Senate), and judicial appointments (Senate). The congressional switchboard number is (202) 224-3121. If that line is busy, call your representative at their DC or local office. Check their website for contact info.
5calls.org is a great resource when contacting your congressmember or senator. Current issues are listed on this website along with scripts to use in your conversation with your representative. Check out https://5calls.org/ and let your voice be heard!
7 – Read books on democracy, oligarchy, authoritarianism, and Christian nationalism. My recommendations are: Democracy Awakening by Heather Cox Richardson, The Hidden Roots of White Supremacy by Robert P. Jones, How Democracies Die by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt, Jesus and John Wayne by Kristen du Mez, Minority Rule by Ari Berman, On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder (this is a very short but informative book – I highly recommend!), Power Worshippers by Katherine Stewart, Shadow Network by Anne Nelson, and Tyranny of the Minority by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt. Money, Lies, and God: Inside the Movement to Destroy American Democracy by Katherine Stewart will be available on February 18.
8 – We all have a sphere of influence. Ensure you use yours to promote truth with compassion.
NOTE: Regarding immigration, the president signed into law on 1/29/25 the Laken Riley Act passed by Congress which now makes it possible for undocumented immigrants to be imprisoned or deported based merely on being accused, not convicted, of crimes, even petty crimes, like shoplifting. Immigrants’ rights to due process under the law are stripped away. This is a slippery slope to eliminating everyone’s due process rights. To see how your representatives in Congress voted, click here.
NOTE: If this post sounds alarmist, it is written to inform and to galvanize people to resist. My 9/4/24 post entitled, “Take Two”, might have sounded alarmist at the time regarding a possible second term for the now-president, but the horrific agenda outlined there in Project 2025 is now being implemented.
NOTE: If you need a refresher on Christian nationalism, check out my blogs entitled, “A Slippery Slope” (posted 10/4/23) and “Monsters, Inc.” (posted 11/1/23). Also relevant are my posts on how democracies die and what we can do to prevent it. See “Death of Democracy” (posted 1/3/24) and “Democracy Matters” (posted 2/7/24).
My blog posts can be accessed here.
FEBRUARY IS BLACK HISTORY MONTH – despite the Pentagon and the US State Department banning it this year!
Click here for a thoughtful article by Jemar Tisby on Black history month.
Also check out https://blackhistorymonth.gov/.
Text and photograph copyright © 2025 by Dawn Dailey. All rights reserved. Photo of Reine, Norway, in the Lofoten Islands.
Not a subscriber to the monthly blog posts? Click here to subscribe. Subscribers receive an email each month that includes the post with the lead photo as well as bonus photos not posted on the website. Email addresses are never sold or shared.
A NOTE ON SOCIAL JUSTICE:
Jesus says the greatest commandments are to love God and to love people (Matthew 22:37-40). The Christian faith boils down to these two precepts.
Social justice puts that love into action by helping individuals who are oppressed, mistreated, or suffering, and by pursuing ways to dismantle systems of oppression. How we treat others, particularly those less powerful in society than ourselves, matters (Matthew 25:31-46).
Racial justice is one aspect of social justice. Check out my web page on “Justice Matters” to find resources and to connect with organizations engaging in the cause of racial justice. Click here to learn more.
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