Opinion: Will We Stop the Coup?

Love, Justice, and Climate Change

There is a coup underway in our country. We are in danger of losing our democracy. This is not the traditional coup of armed rebel militants taking over the executive and legislative buildings and the radio stations. This is a coup where a corrupt elected President has put often incompetent and morally compromised billionaires in charge;  has, often illegally, dismissed inspectors general, the experienced leadership of the FBI, attorneys at the Justice Department, key figures in many departments, and countless government workers–experienced and dedicated public servants; and made it impossible for many important agencies to serve the public effectively.

Musk Is out of Control
The richest man in the world, Elon Musk, endorsed by Donald Trump, has taken over the government’s payment system and immense amounts of data about all of us. He has inserted staff and caused turmoil throughout the government. He shuttered the USAID and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). This is a bureau that has obtained more than $21 billion in relief for wronged consumers. All of the 11 agencies already investigating complaints against Musk’s private businesses have been derailed.

Immigrants are being detained and deported. The administration has targeted transgender people. It has moved to eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion work throughout the government and consistently depicted people of color as lacking intelligence, being unqualified for their jobs, and to blame for everything from a plane crash to being un-American. The administration has disrupted the economy with tariffs and is now talking about dismantling Medicaid to pay for tax cuts for the rich.

Protests Are Growing
Initially the opposition to all this seemed slow, small, and muted. Recently Democratic officeholders have gotten louder and bolder in their objections, lawsuits, and non-cooperation. All across the county people are showing up at rallies and showing increasingly vociferous anger at the Musk/MAGA/Trump actions. More and more protestors’ signs say “Stop the Coup.”

However, the public response is still meager and grossly inadequate. I can’t tell if it is because people don’t understand how bad this is, can’t figure out what to do, or are just too scared to look.

No one is coming to save us. The Republican party is not going to come to its senses. The courts have rendered some good decisions, but the MAGA leadership has already ignored court orders. Musk, Trump, and VP Vance have made it clear that they don’t think they have to obey court orders.

This is a Classic Example of Tyrants destroying a democracy
Everything I read and hear from those who have studied the collapse of other democracies is that Trump/Musk/MAGA are following the traditional playbook of other tyrants who have overthrown democracies, except that they are moving much faster.

The only thing that can stop this disaster is a vastly larger, louder, determined, persistent uproar of objection from everyone who objects. We need hundreds and thousands of people repeatedly showing up in the streets  and making it clear that we will never accept this power grab by the wealthy elite, the crooks, the unjust, and the cruel.

Our nation is now engaged in a great struggle to determine its future: the power-hungry, wealthy, self-serving autocrats vs. “Team Democracy.” We need everyone on Team Democracy taking some action. I hesitate to be so blunt about it, but if you are doing nothing, you are complicit with the autocratic takeover. They want us to stay silent and inactive. If we do, Trump, Musk, and their cronies will win.

What Can Team Democracy Do?
So what can we on Team Democracy do? The first answer is “everything, everywhere all at once” and all the time. We need to bombard our political leaders with phone calls; go to every rally we possibly can, even if we have to travel some to get to them; get trained in rapid response and supporting immigrants; get trained in civil disobedience and/or in supporting those who are engaged in non-violent direct action; donate to organizations challenging the administration in court; and talk to everyone we know about the idea of everyone on Team Democracy taking some action every week.

I’m sure over time we will figure out more things to do. A good start is the website “5 Calls” which helps you make 5 calls to legislators quickly and helps you with what to say if you need that. Some people are now doing this every day for 5 -10 minutes per day You could join them.

I recommend you sign up with “Indivisible” for notifications about local rallies, meetings, and other actions.

Apparently, it is surprisingly useful to call even the most progressive legislators–to thank them and to urge them to be bolder. I was in a crowd of about 100 outside of the office of very progressive Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey a few weeks ago. When I asked his progressive legislative aide what we should be doing, he replied, “More of this.”  He meant more rallies, with more people.

Lincoln During the Civil War
In his Gettysburg Address in 1863, Lincoln said it was a time of testing whether a nation “conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all [people] are created equal … can long endure.” He urged his audience to “take increased devotion to the cause” of seeing “that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” Now it is our turn.

Russ Vernon-Jones was principal of Fort River School 1990-2008 and is currently a member of the Steering Committee of Climate Action Now-Western Massachusetts. He blogs regularly on climate justice at www.russvernonjones.org.