Emma’s cousin—still in uniform—called to say his leave had been frozen. “New screening procedures,” they said. His commanding officer had spent the morning preparing for a personal interview. With Trump.
“They are not building a government. They are building a kingdom.”
Congress is asleep. Or worse—co-signing it all in exchange for tax cuts and flag pins. Medicaid slashed. Food aid obliterated. And buried in the reconciliation bill: “Trump Accounts.” A shiny new name for privatized Social Security.
Tomorrow, a federal court will decide if Trump’s new tariffs—issued under “emergency powers”—are even legal. Doesn’t matter. Brazil’s being punished anyway. Because they jailed Bolsonaro.
The revolution isn’t coming. It’s here.
And it’s bored with your think pieces.
So here is where the story fractures. Where reader becomes participant. Where we stop pretending the midterms will save us. Where we recognize that power doesn’t wait for ballots.
It seizes. It devours. It installs.
“You don’t counter that with civility.”
If your union doesn’t strike, form a new one.
If your senators won’t stand, primary them.
If your university caves, flood their boardroom.
If your news station lies, turn them off. Starve their ratings. Drown them in silence.
And if they outlaw protest itself—walk anyway. In packs. At night. With cameras. With lawyers. With resolve.
We are not the ones breaking the compact.
But we might be the only ones left to honor it.
Emma left the photo on the dash, angled toward the passenger seat. Her father’s face caught the light, the glass cracked down the center.
She turned the key anyway.
Bibliography
1. Media Matters for America. “Heritage Foundation President Celebrates Supreme Court Immunity Decision: ‘We Are in the Process of the Second American Revolution.’” July 2, 2024. https://www.mediamatters.org/project-2025/heritage-foundation-president-celebrates-supreme-court-immunity-decision-we-are Provides primary coverage of Kevin Roberts’ remarks on Steve Bannon’s webcast endorsing the Supreme Court’s Trump immunity ruling.
2. Hillyard, Vaughn. “Poll: Project 2025 Broadly Known, Severely Unpopular with Voters.” NBC News, September 10, 2024. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/poll-project-2025-broadly-known-severely-unpopular-voters-rcna172660 Details public opinion polling that found Project 2025 had extremely low approval ratings among all voter groups.
3. Kruse, Michael. “The Man Behind the Right’s New Plan for Power.” New York Times Magazine, January 21, 2024. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/21/magazine/heritage-foundation-kevin-roberts.html Profiles Kevin Roberts and his leadership of the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 initiative.