As I study the political landscape and listen to the maddening cries of many, I have to ask: is it time to take the desperate step toward rebellion; not revolution, but nonviolent protests and civil disobedience?
This is the fifth year of Trump at the helm and from all available evidence, our nation continues to slide inexorably toward authoritarianism. Readers and friends continually voice their exasperation at the failure of politicians and powerful leaders to step up and acknowledge what’s going on; similarly, friends and acquaintances on the right are equally adamant that the nation is at long last on the right track, belittling critics and scoffing at charges of authoritarianism. There is no movement toward resolution; the battle lines are drawn. Diametrically opposed editorials in the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal reflect the impasse; the acrimonious debates in Congress provide proof. With Republicans totally in control of government, there is no hope for compromise unless the Democrats somehow win back the House of Representatives in the midterms. In the interim, the present administration is doing what all authoritarian governments do when challenged: doubling down and brutalizing the opposition. We are a nation of red and blue, nearly as estranged as the blue and the gray of the Civil War.
Right now, it appears that the only hope is to rise up as a people and refuse to cooperate until the abuses stop. Democracy must be protected, Constitutional rights must be honored, the courts must be independent, the media and universities must be free from government restraint, church and state must be separate, the military must remain nonpolitical, federalism must be upheld, and the three branches of government must regain their constitutional prerogatives.
The recent example in Minneapolis tells us that when all political and legal recourse fails, our only resort is to actively protest and resist authorities who threaten our freedoms and constitutionally sanctioned order. It’s time to look to the civil rights movement of the 1960s for guidance.