What Would Nellis Say?
What Now?
A common theme in most of my essays over the past eighteen months is that this is not who we are or who we want to be as a nation.
Our second President, John Adams wrote a letter to John Taylor in 1814, that said in part, “Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.”
We are about to prove him right when all three branches of our government are dedicated to dismantling democracy, rescinding our rights, brutally bleaching our society, rewriting history, disputing provable facts, censoring the content and flow of information, consolidating power, and lining their own pockets.
The Executive, Legislative, and Judicial domains of our federal government are subservient to the dictates and direction of the Heritage Foundation (founded in 1973) on policy and legislation (Project 2025), and the Federalist Society, which has provided large contributions to the nation’s leading law schools and institutions in exchange for the right to transform the curriculum to produce ultra-conservative candidates for judicial appointments who support “originalist” dogma and the interests of their sponsors since 1982.
These federations flourished during the Reagan era when their strategists developed a comprehensive conservative infrastructure to provide policy initiatives, legislative direction, place loyal personnel in key positions, build networks of influence, foster media relationships, and support litigation to promote and protect their goals.
Both organizations were founded and are supported by an elite group of the nation’s wealthiest families and their corporate interests, with familiar names including Koch, Olin, Coors, Bradley, Scaife, Smith-Richardson, and, later Leonard Leo who vetted hundreds of potential judicial nominees for Trump’s nominations. The oligarchs’ ranks have expanded to include many wealthy tech titans trading wealth for power, and our courts are dominated by radical anti-democratic judges spawned by that conspiracy.
Trump, his family, and many in his administration have instituted a reign of corruption on steroids unmatched in our history, filching billions to build their personal fortunes, while the average American is struggling to buy gas and groceries, afford medical care and insurance, a college education, or fulfill the dream of home-ownership.
We are losing a pointless conflict in Iran that is being paid for in blood and treasure (Iranian missile strikes have rendered 13 regional American bases “uninhabitable” and damaged or destroyed 81 aircraft worth $3.3 billion, leaving 21 soldiers dead and nearly a thousand wounded and counting, and our attacks have depleted our arsenal of advanced weapons by more than 50%, at a cost of $45 billion so far). Trump’s tariffs, trashed alliances, and trade wars are increasing the cost of goods dramatically, and the nation is embarrassed every time the orange buffoon barges onto the world’s stage.
Thousands of untrained and unqualified ICE thugs in his American Gestapo are brutally kidnapping, incarcerating in inhumane conditions, and deporting hundreds of thousands of our friends and neighbors for the crime of not being white.
Our Supreme Court is dominated by six bigots who lied during their Congressional confirmation hearings and are ignoring precedents and the Constitution, obliterating justice, and erasing more than one hundred years of legislative progress in advancing the concept of “Of, By, and For The People”.
Robert Kennedy, Jr.’s Health and Human Services/CDC is flouting established scientific and medical norms that are promoting epidemics of long-eradicated diseases, reducing funding for research and development, and restricting or eliminating care for millions, while dismantling what was the foremost medical authority on the planet.
Trump is boasting about a big “midterm surprise” and, while he did not elaborate, what is to prevent him from nominating and confirming two young radically conservative judges to lifetime appointments on the Supreme Court by a simple majority vote in the lame-duck Senate?
He could fill the gap between election day and January 2nd with confiscation of ballots and election machines; arrests of poll workers, officials, and elected candidates, as well as national “emergencies”, Martial Law, troops on the streets, refusal to recognize or seat his newly elected lawmakers, or simply unleash pardoned members of his private militia who attacked the Capitol on January 6th to begin a second civil war.
If a majority of Democrat legislators take office in January, they will have the opportunity to begin the reconstruction of our democracy to restore our faith, trust, and allegiance to a free, fair, and ethical system of governance.
They should start with corruption investigations and impeachment proceedings against everyone in Trump’s administration, beginning with the President and his family and the six radical Justices on the Supreme Court who each lied at their Congressional hearings and have voted repeatedly to repeal our rights and benefits since taking office without regard to existing law or the Constitution.
Laws should be passed to eliminate and negate Trump’s tariffs, reinstate long-standing political and economic agreements with our allies, our commitments to NATO and The United Nations, and fulfill our duty to support democracy across the globe and aid the needy wherever they live.
Purge shady Cabinet Members who are systematically dismantling the government (in many cases, to personally profit from privatization), and rebuild the expertise that was fired or ousted during Musk’s DOGE campaigns. Return sanity and science to the CDC and adherence to the genuine intent of the First Amendment at the FCC. Restore the Education Department and rebuild our public education system to benefit every student in America.
Rein in soaring costs for food, gas, insurance, and medical expenses. Address our homeless epidemic by launching a program to build affordable housing and assist first-time buyers with fair mortgages. “Establish a fiscal plan designed to reduce our country’s astronomical debt and require sacrificial contributions from those corporations and individuals (Trump family in particular) who have benefited most from Trump’s financial raping of America.” End corporate PAC contributions to political campaigns and advertising.
End the war with Iran, open the Strait of Hormuz to restart the flow of oil to world markets, and settle the turmoil Trump has created in the Mideast. Stop supplying weapons for Netanyahu’s genocide in Gaza and bring him to justice in the Hague. End the merciless blockade of Cuba, apologize to Canada and reinstate our long alliance, renew our sanctions against Russia and support for Ukraine’s defense against the onslaught of Russian bombardment.
White supremacist efforts to bleach our society by deporting people of color prove that our society has yet to earn redemption for our societal racism and bigotry, the original sins of our nation. Despite that challenge, we have become, perhaps, the only true multi-cultural democratic republic in the world and real patriots must defend that conviction.
It is our obligation to release every detained refugee who has not committed any crime other than seeking safety, freedom, and a chance to create a new life, defund ICE, and arrest everyone from Kristi Noem, MarkyWayne Mullins, & Tom Homan down through the ranks to the thugs who are committing institutionalized murder and mayhem against innocent human beings. DHS has constructed concentration camps that have enough capacity to incarcerate 150,000 former American Gestapo members in well-deserved squaller.
The list of rights and benefits being “deconstructed” is almost endless but it brings up the question of who we want to be as a nation?
If the Democrats are successful in taking back Congress and the Senate, wresting power from the “authoritarians”, and beginning to mend the fabric of our society, it is not enough to remake a past that promoted privilege and ignored those most in need.
What is the vision for the best of what we might become and the path to achieve those aspirations? What are the steps we must take to establish goals that we can all agree on and what are we willing to dispense with to rebuild a fair and just society?
In order to achieve those goals, We The People have to purge Trump loyalists from the system and elect candidates for every office from your local school board to members of Congress and the Senate who are dedicated to working FOR the people rather than fascist sponsors of their super-PAC’s.
While we all have an obligation to participate, that responsibility includes protecting the rights of minorities to vote without intimidation or coercion from Republican “monitors”, ICE thugs, federal authorities, or the National Guard by showing up to shield those voters and record any interference.
Then we have a duty to ensure that every vote is counted, tabulated, and recorded accurately. Many “election deniers” have managed to weasel into positions of power within the voting system, making no secret of their intention to skew the results in favor of candidates loyal to Trump’s radical right.
We The People have to show up, not only to cast our ballots but to ensure an end to Trump’s lunacy and a new beginning built on the promise of our history, the hope of our future as that shining city on the hillside, and our dedication to each other with civility, empathy, and humility.
This might be our final chance to Stand Up, Speak Out, and Make A Difference!
For more of his essays and novels visit www.rickstiller.com and floral portraits from Kelian’s Gardens at www.rickstillerart.com