The time to act is NOW

 

Every day, web sites I read throw me videos, chats, short films. And every day I ignore them. I hate the turn to video -- it's slow and it seldom uses the medium particularly imaginatively. 

 

I'm a fossil; I like good writing and will put in the effort to read it.

 

Yet today I'm posting a powerful nine minute video from historian Heather Cox Richardson. She insists "We Cannot Wait for the Ballot Box in November 2026 | Explainer." 

... The administration is trying desperately to rig the 2026 elections so they don't have to face voters any more. ...

 

... it seems pretty clear that Trump is not in good shape ... these Epstein files that have come out are going to make Republicans look worse and worse ...

 

... As Trump increasingly weakens, you are going to see more and more frenzy to lock up the country because they think that we who believe in democracy don't really have a say in it ... they think we are polluting the country. ...

 

... We have the majority and we feel very strongly about it and we have on our side the great thinkers of the United States ... not the great thinkers of the Nazis [that] they are following ... we have James Madison, and we have Abraham Lincoln, and we have Fanny Lou Hamer ... [these Americans'] principles are very much more the principles of the majority than that a few rich guys ought to rule. ...

 

... It is not a question of waiting until November 2026 to cast a vote. By then the die will be cast. We will know what the future looks like ...

 

... The time to speak up is NOW. ... the time to make sure your neighbors understand what is going on is NOW. ...

 

... NOW is the time as Trump is weak and Republicans recognize that he is weakening to make sure they understand how profoundly unpopular this is ... 

 

... What this is going to look like on the other side, I don't know. Another generation is coming. But we won't have that generation unless we save it NOW. ...

 

... The thing to do is throw your weight in at the local level, the state level, the national lever, talking to people, making sure that individuals truly recognize what is going on ...

 

... The more noise people can make NOW, the better our chances of safeguarding the election in 2026  ... for all the anxiety that people are feeling, turn that anxiety into some kind of action, because sitting around worrying about what is going to come is not going to help you or anybody ... Find a friend ... find something to do ..

 

Trump is not popular ... he's crashing the economy ... think Herbert Hoover, not Mussolini.

 

... Trump only punches down ... the more we can stand up to him and his minions, the more likely they are to back down.

 

... if you can see what is happening, then you can see the pressure points to change what is happening ...

... If this is the world we got, we've got to find out ways to make it better and to preserve our democracy for the people who come after us. ...

The historian has become an organizer. I seldom offer a higher compliment. The moment demands that we all, in our own ways, become organizers for democracy.