The Audacity Space

online salon for art, news, essays, and organizing action

Category: Perspectives

  • We Mainers need to talk more about Angus King

    We Mainers need to talk more about Angus King

    Nancy Galland

    I received this from Becca Glaser, the original author, who told me she wants us to pass it on. — Nancy Galland

     

    Scroll down to sign on to register for King’s virtual Town Hall on April 9, TOMORROW – and when you do, there will be a form to fill out with your questions.  

    We Mainers need to talk more about Angus King, and the fact that he may not be the “Maine treasure” many Democrats still seem to believe he is. 

    King is taking part in a carefully curated virtual Zoom Town Hall this Wednesday, April 9th at 5PM hosted by Cumberland County Indivisible. 

    It’s time that people start focusing on the ways King has failed us, question why so many Democrats are still giving him the benefit of the doubt, and start giving him a much harder time for his pro-Trump votes. 

    He’s been making strong-sounding speeches on the one hand, while on the other, voting for 1/3 of Trump’s 2025 Cabinet members and standing out FOR being one of only two non-Republicans who voted for the recent Republican continuing budget resolution which stripped hundreds of millions of dollars for Maine projects, beefed up ICE and the military, and gave more power to Trump/DOGE.


    CALL HIM OUT AT TOMORROW’S TOWN HALL (IF THEY LET YOU…).
    TOWN HALLwith Senator King WEDNESDAY, APRIL 9TH @ 5 PM­ – ONLINE REGISTRATION REQUIRED Register here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSenM4FFJ5GszlLG2_wT9wNCa2L4T9t2MI0VuVrnJseoknr0Jg/viewform

    I routinely see LOTS of emphasis on Susan Collins—At a recent anti-Trump Rockland protest, someone was handing out “Where’s Susan?” flyers. But when I asked him about Angus’ recent vote FOR the Republican continuing budget resolution, he was unaware. At this weekend’s giant Hands Off protest in Augusta, I saw plenty of “Susan, Speak Up” and “Susan, Grow a Spine” signs, but not a single one calling out Angus King. Why the different treatment? 

    Susan Collins, after all, IS a Republican. That is her party. Why would we expect anything more from her? Her values align with them most of the time. Despite saying she would not support Trump, and despite taking a few mostly-performative votes against the Trump agenda, she never left the party. That’s what she stands for. We should still keep pushing her to do better, but be aware in the end, that is who she is, despite the media’s constant refrain about her supposedly being a “moderate” Republican.

    But what about Angus King? Why do I see posts like this one: “Angus is a treasure and we’re lucky to have him on our side.” Another: “Angus is an amazing human. We in Maine are especially lucky to have him…”Or, after King’s outlier vote for the Republican CR budget, someone saying, “Angus is always so reasoned and smart. This makes us wonder if there is a good reason for his vote.” 

    I ask you, the next time you think about giving King the benefit of the doubt like this, ask yourself, “Why am I giving him the benefit of the doubt? Why when he and Susan Collins vote the same, do you give King a pass? Is there a chance it could be because he is MALE? WHITE? Speaks in a CLEAR, WHITE, RICH, MALE “REASONED”-SOUNDING VOICE that we have been trained to associate with rationality and caring? How about how wealthy he is? Do we really think he is in touch with what most Mainers are going through, and will go through? Should we keep letting him off the hook?”

    A FEW FACTS ABOUT ANGUS KING’S RECENT PRO-TRUMP ACTIONS:
    He is one of only TWO non-Republicans to VOTE FOR the Republicans’ recent continuing resolution budget. ABC News: “Sen. Angus King, an independent who caucuses with the Democrats, and Sen. Jeanne Shaheen voted in favor of the bill. All other Democrats voted against it.” Let me be clear. He voted NOT just to move the bill forward, but FOR the Republican budget itself. He is one of the ten non-Republican Senators who, along with Sen. Schumer’s about-face on the Republicans’ continuing budget resolution, to vote to move the bill forward, in order to make a Democratic-filibuster impossible. The Republicans’ continuing budget resolution which King went OUT OF HIS WAY to vote for, heavily beefed up the military and ICE even more, it gave MORE power to Trump/DOGE to further control congressional spending, which they have otherwise been illegally usurping, AND it broke trust with the House Democrats, who had had an agreement with the Senators to filibuster and therefore be able to negotiate at least something or other from the Republicans.

    The budget King voted for REMOVED hundreds of millions of dollars for incredibly important projects that had previously been earmarked. SOME OF WHAT MAINE LOST WITH KING & COLLINS’ VOTE FOR THE REPUBLICAN BUDGET RESOLUTION (focused on Midcoast Maine):
    • Rockland Marine Access Improvements: To upgrade access related to Rockland’s working waterfront and public pier. $5,100,000
    • The Landing Place: To construct a new building to accommodate youth programming. $600,000.00
    • Penobscot Bay YMCA: To repair and replace the critical infrastructure of the Rockport YMCA branch. $906,000.00
    • Matinicus Island Plantation: To publicly acquire the Matinicus Island Airstrip and rights of way from private ownership. $90,000.00
    • City of Rockland: To renovate the Fire Station and to build an addition to the existing building for the Police Department. $3,012,000.00
    • City of Belfast: To fund the construction of the superstructure (above ground portion) of a new City of Belfast Public Safety Building. $3,965,000.00
    • Town of Northport: To construct an upgraded, energy-efficient town office and community center. $1,750,000.00
    • City of Belfast: To retrofit and upgrade the Waldo County Court House building’s exterior and interior. $1,870,000.00
    • Healthy Acadia: To purchase and upgrade a property in Machias to be the Safe Harbor Recovery Residence for Women and Children. $421,000.00
    • Island Institute: To support microgrid deployment in Maine’s coastal and rural communities. $995,000.00
    • Midcoast Youth Center & Skatepark: To support the renovation and expansion of Midcoast Youth Center. $1,500,000.00
    • Town of Friendship: To demolish, dispose of and reconstruct the town Wharf. $975,000.00
    • William A. Farnsworth Art Museum and Library: To reopen and preserve the historical Olson House in Cushing, ME. $1,094,000.00
    • South Thomaston Library and Community Center: To build a modern, energy efficient facility to house a Library and Community Center. $2,595,000.00
    • Regional School Unit 13: To construct a Performing Arts Center. $1,513,000.00
    • Northport Community Center and Town Office: To construct a consolidated facility to house the town office and community center, which would also serve as an emergency shelter. $2,325,000
    • Owls Head STEM Community Center: To construct a STEM community center and public spaces for educational and professional programming. $1,533,000
    • Maine Veterans’ Homes Facility and Equipment Upgrades For facilities upgrades and equipment to support care for aging veterans. $2,946,000
    • Vassalboro Sanitary District for Wastewater Infrastructure Improvements To upgrade wastewater infrastructure in Vassalboro. $363,000
    • St. George CTE Makerspace Building To purchase equipment and tools for the Career and Technical Education Makerspace Building. $272,000
    • Town of Waldoboro Ambulance: To purchase a new ambulance $306,000
    • Searsmont Storage Upgrades: To construct a salt and sand storage facility. $950,000
    • Maternal Delivery and New Infant Project: To replace and modernize equipment across hospitals with labor and delivery units. $1,555,000
    • Gulf of Maine Ocean Observation System: To expand the ocean observation system in the Gulf of Maine, which is used by the maritime industry. $8,000,000
    • FOR THE ENTIRE LIST, LOOK THROUGH THIS BANGOR DAILY NEWS ARTICLE: https://www.bangordailynews.com/2025/03/12/politics/washington/congress-may-cut-millions-in-maine-earmarks-to-avert-shutdown-joam40zk0w/

    King voted to APPROVE SEVEN of Trump’s 2025 Cabinet Members (that’s a 1/3 support rate). Sure, the ones he supported don’t have the same flashy name recognition as some of the worst we all worked so hard to stop, but can anyone plausibly argue that ANY of Trump’s 2025 appointees are not explicitly part of a horrific fascist agenda? A vote for ANY of these sickos is too many. Seven means that King is trying to still play the fascists’ game. Or could it be he just doesn’t have the same values we like to think he does? Our Maine federal representatives (except Chellie Pingree, though she needs to do so much more) are completely and utterly shameful and causing tremendous harm. I for one am completely despondent about how little our supposed reps are protecting us. Once again, it comes down to US. So, please take really good care of yourselves right now, and reach out when you need support.

    <3, Becca

    TOWN HALLwith Senator King ­WEDNESDAY, APRIL 9TH @ 5 PM­ONLINE REGISTRATION REQUIRED ­REGISTER NOW!On April 9th, Senator King will be in Washington DC, but has agreed to meet with Indivisible Cumberland County via Zoom. Given the anticipated interest in the event, we are moving to a fully online format. In order to participate, you will need to register. We are asking for questions ahead of time (they can be submitted through the registration form).

  • Fighting For Democracy

    Molly Mulhern

    I was introduced to the Holocaust as a middle schooler. As any child would, I had a hard time fathoming the mass murder of so many people. I am not sure I was taught of the slippage of democratic norms, the years of capitulation and fear. I remember asking my mother why no one tried to stop it.  She had vague answers, about it being far away, with it being hard to tell what was going on. Needless to say, the question lingered.

    I kept that question with me while touring our nation’s Holocaust Memorial Museum in DC more than two decades ago. I stood for many minutes in the room dedicated to America’s response, reading NYTimes articles from the late 30s, finding vague information, a lack of clarity,  and what I perceived as a lack of alarm.

    I worry we Americans are now in the same place of inaction and vague, unfocused alarm, even though hate, racism, and an authoritarian regime are plainly amongst us. No ocean separates us from this horror. Not one location in the USA has been spared the change in our method of governance.

    You and I—all the American people, no matter who we voted for, or even if we voted (a third of the electorate didn’t)—have been gut-punched and rolled. We no longer live in a democracy. The administration is on a path to an autocratic regime in which dissent, rule of law, peaceable, and non-corrupt behavior is replaced by lies, intimidation, corruption, violent destruction of institutions, and disregard for the courts—replaced by the whims of the new leaders. 

    The new administration has fundamentally altered the way our country is governed. This is not a time to pretend this will solve itself, or go away. It won’t. 

    We, the American people, are the ones who’ll change what’s happening. 

    We are now at war, and we, the American people are the troops. (According to the Oxford Dictionary, war is “any active hostility or struggle between living beings; a conflict between opposing forces and principles.”)

    Now’s the time to fight. These are your weapons:

    • your emotionally regulated self that does not quiver in fear or dive back under the covers (or get lost in doom-scrolling);
    • your attention and understanding of context and big picture—this is not a singular shift, it’s part of a global trend—read Autocracy, Inc.; On Tyranny; How Democracies Die;
    • your voice—it’s time to be loud, and get used to speaking up for democracy;
    • your words—talk to others about what you’re seeing and feeling. Write. There is certain to be several negative comments made at the bottom of this essay. Our best work is to ignore them. Your energy is precious. Instead of taking the bait from those who are gullible enough to believe that they’re actually safer, or that their eviscerated autocratic government is now more efficient, use your words and energy to chat with your neighbors, call a friend, gather at one of the many democracy meetings being held (visit indivisible.org  or jointheunion.us to search for a group near you);
    • your imagination—spend some time considering where this is all heading. The administrations’s power grab and the moves of Project 2025, plus the capitulation of the Congress, is a sign that those currently in power desire to move this country permanently to an autocratic state. These aren’t the moves of an administration that intends to allow free and fair elections or to cede control even if elections are held. Once you’ve gone down that deep hole, consider the country you’d like to live in. Consider how you want to be governed. What role can you play in the next USA? Use your imagination to paint those pictures of the after time, when we rebuild from this destruction. There will be a resurgence of democracy.
    • your creativity: it’s well known that autocrats don’t like to be ridiculed. So write the script of an absurdist play about where these leaders wind up in their dotage; or get out your paints and depict the way you want this war to end; or channel your rage into a bakeathon whose goods you share with neighbors; or create the best protest signs; or write the next anthem (creative endeavors also bring joy, which nourishes us during the struggle);
    • your ability to show up and protest (March 29 is national take down Tesla day teslatakedown.com; April 5 is a day of national protest about all of the administration action—Hands Off; see indivisible.org);
    • your pocketbook—the current administration is motivated by greed, using corruption and dealmaking to line their pockets. Circumvent their money grabs: boycott large corporations, shop local, reduce your consumption overall. Consider delaying paying taxes until you’re convinced those dollars are being legally spent. 
    • your trust in yourself—your voice matters, your behavior makes a difference;
    • your trust in an inclusive, USA of the future—keep up your practices that promote diversity, many voices, the role of women; refuse to diminish people to “other;” 
    • your community and your trust in your neighbors—do what you can to tighten those bonds; 
    • your local government—get involved, inquire about your community’s plans for emergency notifications, mutual aid, and formation of neighborhood teams to help when crises strike;
    • your belief in our democracy, and our ability to come together to win it back.

    We’ll overturn this administration and win this war—non-violently, with the world’s strongest force: human hearts and minds pulling together to serve the future of our one planet.

    I’ll see you out there. 

  • Why Protest? Episode 2: Art’s Stories and A Community Web of Trust

    Why Protest? Episode 2: Art’s Stories and A Community Web of Trust

    James Cook

    This second video in the Why Protest? podcast series starts with a personal story from The Audacity’s facilitator, James Cook, about his night with a trumpet and why arts activism works. First, artists of all sorts know how to tell a compelling story that can hit different parts of the human soul. That’s convincing. Second, by doing works of activist community art together we will weave a web of community connecting people who know each other, who know how to work together. That web of community is a safety net of trust… because they will be able to take any one of us, but they cannot take all of us if we stick together. Community arts activism is preparation for surviving the looming authoritarian disaster.

  • The Power of a Lie

    The Power of a Lie

    NR24

    When I was in college, a friend of mine was dating my roommate, so it alarmed me when I heard him having sex with the other roommate. When my friend confronted me about it, I had a choice: either tell the truth, or lie to cover for my roommate. It struck me that in situations like that, the truth is the only place to stand. Only truth has integrity. Because if you lie, you are lying FOR somebody. My friend was crushed to learn that her boyfriend was cheating on her, but she was grateful I had told the truth.

    What does this story have to do with the current political landscape? It turns out, a lot.

    Can we remember when Russia first invaded Ukraine and annexed Crimea back in 2014? Russia lied about it by claiming ignorance about the “little green men” who had seized the peninsula. After the second invasion, the lie was that Ukraine (!!!) had started the war. Putin’s supporters and Russian media enthusiastically confirmed his version of events. However, the fact that these claims were laughable misses the point. The goal of the lies is to rewrite history and thereby control the future. Importantly, the lies offer a simple challenge to the faithful: will you fall in line behind the party line (the party lie)? Because if your allegiance is to the truth, you are against us comrade.

    Does this sound familiar? It should. This is exactly the playbook that Trump displayed when he claimed (just like Putin) that Ukraine had started the war. The terrifying thing was watching his loyalists fall in line behind his absurdity, suddenly arguing how beautiful the emperor’s clothes were. Or remember the “Covfefe” butt-Tweet? Instead of recognizing it as a simple accident, the far-right went into overdrive insisting it was some sort of legitimate message, further evidence of Trump’s brilliance. Of course, the biggest example of this is the lie that the 2020 election was stolen — about 70% of Republicans suspected voter fraud, despite (or perhaps because of) there being no concrete evidence to support that claim.

    When our “leaders” are falling all over themselves to demonstrate their loyalty to a lie, we are witnessing the fascist toolkit to undermine democracy and pluralism. It goes hand in hand with attacks on universities and education or anything that might provide critical inquiry into the kind of myths that are required for authoritarian/fascist politics. Critical thought? Free elections? A free press? No comrade, those do not conform to our authoritarian vision.

    Our country is in real trouble when our elected officials are looking more and more like North Koreans who believe that Kim Jong Un was sent by God and never needs to defecate or that Kim Jong Il invented the hamburger. They either genuinely believe the insane claims, or they are too terrified to disagree with them when loyalty is critical for survival. How pathetic are we when a prerequisite for party membership is that our “leaders” must lie to demonstrate their loyalty? We can disagree on policy, we can disagree on solutions, but when we disagree on truth itself, we are sliding towards fascism because when you lie, you are lying for somebody. And when you live in that propaganda dream world, you cannot solve any real problems because you have prioritized lies over the truth. Can we as a country at least recognize the importance of the truth as the only antidote to the lies? Can we call out the enablers before it’s too late?

  • Representative Democracy (Where is Susan?)

    NR24

    Congress has a recess this week, so many of us are asking for town halls with our elected members (sign our petition here). This is an opportunity for the community to communicate with their representatives so that We the People™can have some faith in knowing that our government is representing us.

    And that’s where this idea of “Representative Democracy” really breaks down. Susan Collins has yet to return a single message — not a phone call and not even a canned email response. Nothing. And she hasn’t held a town hall meeting with her constituents for years (Newsweek). There are petitions asking her to show up, but so far, nothing. I have spoken to aides or gotten messages back from Angus King, Chellie Pingree, and Jared Golden… but not from Susan. Where is she hiding? And more importantly, who is she representing if not us?

    I guess we should hand in our Gadsden “Don’t Tread on Me” flags, because We the People are getting stomped on when our supposed senator is AWOL, carrying water to Mar Largo apparently. The fact is that we don’t have a representative democracy if our “representatives” never interact with us. And to anyone who revels in the half-truth that “We are a republic, not a democracy” — just like “Democratic Republic of North Korea” — it is well to ask the important underlying question: “How representative of a democracy are we?” The oligarchs pushing statements like that are not fighting for your freedom, so why green-light their power grab with a bumper sticker? Are you happy to give up your voice so long as those in power “stick it to the libs?” Are we really selling out our freedom and the essence of our country for a few shekels of vindictive dopamine?

    Even if you love Susan Collins and you love Trump, wouldn’t you want to know that your priorities are being addressed by your representative? Or are we just going to hope she infers what we want? I for one demand more representation. Call me back Susan. Come to a town hall. It is literally your job.

  • Grief’s Role in Resistance Work

    Molly Mulhern

    It’s a fallacy to think we can keep doing the work of resisting the moves of the current administration without taking the time to process and move through the grief.

    We’re watching the destruction of our government by an administration bent on their own power and greed. Don’t for a minute think otherwise. Things we thought could rely on here in midcoast Maine–accurate and timely weather forecasts, FEMA funds for storm-ravaged fishing piers, free food programs at the elementary, middle, and high schools–are being ravaged as I write this.

    Your social security check may or may not come when next due. Your island hospital may or may not receive the medicaid funds it needs to stay open.

    Our government, the richest in the world, is not supposed to become an object of carnage. But it has. And our souls feel it, our bodies feel it.

    We need to grieve. We do that together–in the corner standout in Rockland on Saturdays; in the small circles of discussion happening in Belfast and Camden; in the powerful Just the Facts group organized on Vinalhaven. If you haven’t found a group you can grieve with (look at audacitycat.org) maybe create your own.

    We are a social species, one that works best when we gather, paying attention and homage to our own grief and that of our neighbors and family. Find a friend and walk. Reach out to a new friend and see how they are. Write a note to a distant family member. Check in with yourself, too.

    Contrary to what we might have been told as we were growing up, shedding tears for what we have lost empowers us. It reminds us what matters, it refreshes and resets our energy and balance, clears away the detritus so we can dig in and fight again.

    Great Local Sightings

    Here are some of the signs of resistance found on a walk in downtown Camden this week.

    Your neighbors care. Your friends care. We care. You are not alone, we are not alone. You are making a difference in this fight for our country.

    Concluding Thoughts

    It’s not an easy time to live in this country. Yet I take heart in the signs of resilience I see and hear all around me. We the people can turn the tide on the cruelty and greed that our national leaders are displaying. We, in the midcoast, can make a difference.

    If you haven’t yet listened to this powerful speech on the floor of the French senate, I highly recommend it. Pass it along. As he so eloquently stated: “the defenders of freedom have always prevailed.”

    As we shall this time, too.

  • Dear Soldier

    Dear Soldier

    NR24

    After one of our recent protests, a man identifying himself as a veteran called us “Nazis” and spat that we should serve in the military before we dare to criticize this country. Excuse me? Plenty of us protesters have served in the military. Go talk to Jon Soltz of votevets.org in Boothbay and you’ll get an ear-full. Some of the harshest voices of criticism come from veterans.

    I am sincere when I say “thank you for your service”, but if military service were the only thing responsible for giving us our rights, then you’d think that China, Russian, and North Korea would have lots of “rights” due to their enormous militaries, but that is obviously not the case.

    And just a reminder for anyone who has forgotten the bloody lessons from 80 years ago: Nazism advocates for the subordination of individual rights — it’s the state über alles. Nazis reject democracy and liberalism and promote a dictatorial leadership. They hate dissent.

    So when we protesters are petitioning the Government for a redress of grievances through our freedom of speech and freedom of assembly, we are literally doing the most American thing possible. That’s as far from Nazism as you can get. Did Richard Spencer vote for Kamala? Do you think we protesters just came from harassing a performance of “The Diary of Anne Frank”? What exactly are you talking about?

    What bothered me most about the interaction was that this soldier didn’t get how dangerously hypocritical his views were. For him, I guess America should be a place where everyone falls in line behind Trump and toes his party line, no matter how damaging or self-serving it is. Did this soldier heckle protestors who were dissatisfied with President Biden? Did he tell the “Let’s Go Brandon” guys they were a “disgrace?” I sincerely doubt it.

    And what does it look like when soldiers silence dissent? Or when the leader is declared to be “above the law?” Or when a President censors the media by literally choosing who is allowed to report on his briefings? Or unflattering movies are stifled? Or when he praises dictators? If you guessed something out of the 1930s, there are a lot of frightening parallels.

    So, Dear Soldier, I ask you as a neighbor and fellow citizen: don’t forget your duty. We need your help. All US military personal had to take an oath, and you among them. You took an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic. I will grant you that you also agreed to obey the orders of the President of the United States, but right now, those loyalties are conflicting. What to do when the President himself is the one attacking the Constitution? Checks and balances, the right to assemble, the freedom of speech — all of these things are under attack. I know a lot of soldiers are into the SECOND things (like the second amendment), but I would argue that the FIRST thing in your oath is more important: presidents may come and go, but the Constitution is what endures. And THAT’s what you fought for, and THAT’s what we are fighting for. So come join us. We really are on the same side.

  • I’m learning from y’all!!

    Mary Ellen Griffin

    Hi, neighbors in the Maine resistance community! My friend who lives in Camden shared your Audacity:CAT link with me. I love how creative and articulate you are as you organize and choose actions! Your website is so fun and inviting! 

    I am an old white lady in western North Carolina near Asheville. We have stuff going on here but OMG is the messaging ever BORING and OLD SCHOOL!!! I’m going to bring your creative spirit to my local folks and see if we can raise our game. Then maybe the young people will be more interested in including us in the cool organizing they’ve got going on. 

    Thank you for your inspiration! And also, I am poised to launch my Substack blog, “Resist and Thrive Together,” in case you want to check it out. 

    Go Team Maine! We are in this together!

    Your southern neighbor,

    Mary Ellen Griffin

    Black Mountain, NC

  • Why Protest? Reason #1: Different Games and When it’s Not a Game At all

    James Cook

    Episode 1 of a YouTube series on the question, “Why Protest?” Each video shares an answer from a different vantage point or experience of protest.

    Episode summary:

    GOP senators voted unanimously on 3/1/25 to target some of the already most vulnerable children for being different. Living in Maine, it’s necessary to point out this includes Senator Susan Collins.

    The morning after the vote, the Ivy League Debate Club circles in Democratic Leadership are murmuring their wishes that we regular folk avoid talking about it. “Shh. This issue loses the game in Maine!” they say.

    But we’re not in an oak-paneled room of cozy polite opponents winning on points. MAGA has played Kayfabe for years. Confidence wins that game. And that means confidence in one’s values, whether they be cruel (Republicans targeting kids) or kind (lifting up all children, not using them).

    The priorities of this argument are also oriented inappropriately to elections. Yes, elections matter, but winning them is not the ultimate goal. The ultimate goal is to build a constructive, trusting, nurturing society that includes and benefits as many people as possible, and they’re HURTING VULNERABLE KIDS. It is crucial to make that unacceptable, and that means standing up in our communities and setting the standard. That is what public demonstrations do: reset the agenda to reframe the stakes and priorities, with the confidence needed to win a Kayfabe audience over.

  • When The Never Is Inside Your Own House

    When The Never Is Inside Your Own House

    Peregrin Wood

    Our certainty in shared values seemed justified in simpler times.

    It’s easy to stand against Nazism when it’s an evil of the past. It’s something else when the Nazis have gained control of your own country, when they hold every major lever of power.

    When Vice President JD Vance told the Germans that they must make way for a new generation of Nazis, he did so as part of a delegation that included Jack Posobiec, an American Nazi who now wanders the halls of the White House at will, who a year before had lifted a crucifix while speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference and declared,

    “Welcome to the end of democracy. We are here to overthrow it completely. We didn’t get all the way there on Jan. 6, but we will endeavor to get rid of it, and we will replace it with this. That’s right, we will replace it with this, because all glory is not to government. All glory is to God!“

    Glory to God in American politics is now shorthand for brutal totalitarian power. Glory to God in American politics has become an enemy to democracy.

    When I learned the part that Posobiec played in the Munich conference at which support for Nazis in Germany became part of American foreign policy, I thought back to a sign I had seen lifted at a local protest in Ithaca, New York.

    In a mittened hand lifted high, the hand-drawn sign warned, “Never Again Means Now”.

    It’s easy to say “never again” when the Never we imagine is a foreign mistake that America fought against in a righteous war in the time of our grandparents. It’s an evil so specific, and so far removed in space and time, that it seems never likely to return.

    When Never returns speaking English with an American accent, in the name of the most popular religion in the United States, it’s easier to ignore the stories of new concentration camps riddled with horrific abuse of prisoners.

    After all, it doesn’t come with a ridiculous little mustache. It doesn’t present itself in grainy black and white films.

    It speaks to our familiar American prejudices, our cozy hatreds.

    It’s more difficult to resist the Nazi who stands under the American flag. It’s easier to just go shopping.

    Resistance in your own country, in your own time, is not an easy choice. It’s not a glamorous fantasy.

    Resistance isn’t resistance if it’s easy and painless. Resistance burns. Resistance aches.

    Their power is totalitarian. Our resistance cannot be limited to an occasional thumbs up on social media.

    Never Again protest sign
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