“Stand Up. Fight Back. Freedom Isn't Free.”
I can't point to just one moment that made me realize something was wrong. It wasn't a single event, a speech, or a policy change. It was the overwhelming flood of executive orders, reckless statements, and outright lies in the first few days of this new Trump administration. That's what shell shocked me out of my complacency.
I had never been what I'd call 'political.' In fact, I had stopped watching the news years ago, tired of the endless cycle of bad news, bias, and hidden agendas. It all felt like noise, so I tuned it out and just tried to live my life.
But this time, something was different. Trump had always been polarizing, but what I saw unfolding in those first few days wasn't just politics as usual. This wasn't the same Trump from 2016. This was something else. Something none of us can afford to ignore.
Regardless of party, regardless of class, color, or gender, we all feel it – the shift. We are no longer just debating policies. This moment is reshaping families, friendships, and the very fabric of our country.
I still struggle with the fact that we are all witnessing the same events unfold, but experiencing them in vastly different ways. Some welcome this change. They cheer on the rhetoric, the posturing, and the chainsaw approach being taken to dismantle our government. They see it as long overdue reform.
Meanwhile, government workers, many of them experts in their fields, are being illegally fired under the pretense that they are unqualified or unnecessary. There is no waste, fraud, or abuse here. These are not incompetent bureaucrats being removed to make government run more efficiently. This purge does the exact opposite. So I have to ask,why?
Others feel fear and disillusionment as they watch facts being disregarded and history rewritten in real time. The lie that the election was stolen still persists, despite all evidence to the contrary. January 6th, the storming of the Capitol is being re-framed as patriotism. People died that day. And to this administration, that fact is barely a footnote.
It should have been a warning to all of us. A cautionary tale to ensure that it never happens again. Instead, it's being turned into a rallying cry.
For many, this moment feels overwhelming. The relentless daily onslaught of news, the open hostility toward our closest allies, Canada and Mexico, and the unhinged statements about taking Gaza, Greenland, and the Panama Canal, as if these are simply prizes to be seized. These are not just reckless words. They are thinly veiled declarations of war against nations that have done nothing to us. And they are coming from a president who campaigned on bringing peace.
Then there's the tariff war, a self inflicted economic wound that economists overwhelmingly agree is dragging us into a recession. Yet a large percentage of this country still believes that foreign nations pay these tariffs and that somehow, they will make us rich. We are being gaslit at every turn.
And now, DEIA initiatives are under attack. The claim? That they promote reverse discrimination, lower standards, and reinforce division. The reality? DEIA was never about disadvantaging anyone. It's goal is to create more diverse, representative workplaces by opening doors for women,minorities, and disabled individuals who were historically denied access to education, jobs, and leadership positions. It is about expanding opportunity, not replacing merit. Eliminating DEIA doesn't “drain the swamp” it drains the talent pool. To our detriment.
One of the reasons I'm writing this is because I can't even talk about it, not with the people closest to me. Not because they support Trump, they don't, but because the reality is so uncomfortable that it's easier to avoid than to confront it. That silence made everything worse. The more I saw, the more I felt overwhelmed. Trapped in my own thoughts, unable to express what was building inside me. It reached a breaking point where I had so much anxiety built up that I needed an outlet.
And I wonder, how many others are experiencing this? How many are sitting with that same unease, knowing something is wrong but feeling like they cant talk about it?
This has been my revelation. I was asleep. This is my awakening. The illusion of the world I thought I knew is shattering piece by piece, press conference by press conference, executive order by executive order. And yet,even now, I still hear people ridiculing Trump, calling him an idiot, failing to see the bigger picture. They don't realize that while they laugh, he is expanding presidential power in ways that are unprecedented and dangerous. That our status on the world stage has diminished.
The never ending news cycles seem to be a tool of distraction keeping our attention on the latest scandal. While behind the scenes, DOGE is gutting the government, and Elon Musk is dismantling institutions in ways we may never recover from. An unelected billionaire bureaucrat has his hands on the levers of power. He openly says that Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security should be eliminated. Republicans in Congress sit on their hands, pretending not to hear him. Democrats have no effective response.
And that is infuriating.
The system of government the founding fathers created relies on an active, informed, and engaged citizenry. They were brilliant yet flawed men. They declared that all men are created equal while owning slaves that were considered 3/5 of a person and that is deplorable. But the Constitution has held this democracy together for over 200 years and look how far we have come since that time.
Great men have ushered in real, lasting change for the better. Abraham Lincoln abolished slavery, securing freedom for millions and shaping the future of America. Franklin D. Roosevelt introduced Social Security, a safety net that has protected generations of Americans. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement transformed a grassroots cry for justice into a wave of change that secured freedoms we all benefit from today.
Great men have a habit of showing up when needed.
But Donald Trump is not that man.
His policies will reverse course, undoing the hard won victories that people across this nation have fought for, and we have taken them for granted for too long. I think of the quote from Julius Malema “ we stand on the shoulders of the giants who confronted the establishment with their very lives, and we are willing to follow in their footsteps”
This moment isn't just about leaders, it's about all of us. Democracy doesn't survive without action. Call your representatives. Speak out, even when it's uncomfortable. Join protests. Organize. Demand accountability. This is how we honor those who came before us and fought for our rights, but did not live long enough to enjoy them.
No one can afford to sit on the sidelines. We must forgive our errant brothers and sisters who sincerely regret voting against their own interests and ours. The stakes are too high. We must drown out the noise with a new chant.
Stand up. Fight back. Freedom isn't free No Musk. No Trump. This is our Democracy
Silent Sentinel
> “The watchman has spoken. Let the sleeper awaken.”
> Clarity is the beginning of resistance.
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