WE CAN STOP TYRANNY IN AMERICA

WE CAN STOP TYRANNY IN AMERICA

In mid-2024 I read most of the gruesome 800-page document titled Project 2025. It was a truly horrible read but laid out exactly what a Trump Second Administration’s plan would bring to us. I began to think about tyranny and got nervous.

Tyranny is a cruel and oppressive government of rule, where an authoritarian leader maintains power by politicizing institutions, spreading disinformation, undermining checks and balances, punishing critics and fostering “us vs. them” divisions.

I recently posed this question to a U.S. Senator at a Town Hall Meeting: “Is there anyway the President could cancel or suspend an election?” The Senator responded that he was worried, even though elections are mandated by our Constitution and not subject to presidential approval. My nervousness is turning to fear. I must consider tyranny.

Then this last week I read a Trump quote from his interview with Reuters: “When you think about it, we shouldn’t even have an election”. The context is said to have been him boasting about his enormous accomplishments in 2025. What? Tyranny roared back into my brain.

So, what can we do to stop our country from rapidly sliding into tyrannical hands?

First, we decide to stand up as citizens. Educate ourselves. The fastest way I’m finding is to read. Learn what other countries did, and didn’t do, in similar circumstances. Let history be our teacher. I found Timothy Snyder’s little book On Tyranny – Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century to be easy to understand. And it offers tangible ideas for action.

Then we speak up. Start talking to others about our concerns and share action ideas.

We must believe in and speak truth. Be aware, this President doesn’t “joke”, but he does lie…a lot. Six times a day in 2017; sixteen a day in 2018; up to twenty-two in 2019, and a whopping twenty-seven per day in 2020. He’s going to say he’s joking, but that’s another lie.

Be a Patriot. But learn the difference between Nationalism and Patriotism. A Nationalist believes his nation is superior over others and is infallible. He tolerates no criticism. A Nationalist believes the lies and says tyranny can’t happen in America. A Patriot has a healthy love and devotion to his country, striving for its improvement and ideals, even encouraging criticism. A Patriot says tyranny could happen here, but we can stop it.

By being courageous, we can do this!

Janet Jeffery, Gold Beach

Attribution: VectorVoyager, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons