Two years ago, I was in a Kohl's department store when I received a text from my wife:Everything's fine but the FBI is at the house.

I left massive skid marks.Then, I got in my car and drove home quickly.

When I arrived, the agent told us that they'd been monitoring extremist Right-wing message boards, and that my name had been coming up with concerning comments and they were providing what is known as a Duty To Warn.She instructed us that the Bureau would keep an eye out for imminent and direct threats, and that in the meantime we should be aware of suspicious packages and pay greater attention to traffic around our home, as well as make sure our home monitoring systems were up-to-date. We were grateful for such diligence and thorough work.This was occurring just a few months after the local police had helped us with MAGA/QAnon/Trump supporters who (in an act of stratospheric irony) wanted to show us how upset they were at me calling them unstable and violent, by threatening our family.In a really sad and terrifying example of how much our nation has regressed in a few short weeks, Trump’s nominee for FBI Director is one of the very kinds of unhinged, conspiratorial extremists that the bureau had protected us and people like us from in the past.But please know, this isn’t about just me or my family. It’s about you. It’s about your family. It’s about every one of us regardless of our politics or position.This isn’t merely public figures critical of Trump: not just woke, Leftist writers, politicians, activists, clergy, or media members—but ordinary people from all over this nation whose lives have been made less safe, more volatile, and more turbulent because of this Administration:

It’s about legal immigrants harassed by I.C.E. workers at their workplaces,thousands of government employees unceremoniously jettisoned from their jobs,refugees in the laborious legal process of securing residency here cut-off without warning,severely-ill people in possibly life-saving medical trials, now halted,sick veterans and elderly retirees seeing their benefits and pensions targeted,air travelers facing a dramatic rise in air traffic-related incidents.experienced researchers, scientists, investigators, and safety experts removed en masse all over the country, and on and on and on…Over and over this administration is systematically and systemically declaring war on its people regardless of political affiliation, religious tradition, or any other qualifier. They have no allegiance to the Constitution or to those they represent.This kleptocratic Cabinet is targeting us all financially, legislatively, electorally; taking away personal liberties, avenues of education and opportunity, and anything left resembling the American Dream we all grew up believing came along with our presence here.With the richest man in the world illegally commandeering billions of dollars, access to our programs of care, along with personal data of the American people;an anti-Science, anti-vax loon poised to head up our Health Department,a Project 2025 architect likely overseeing the spending of our nation’s assets,a Fox News host with a closet full of skeletons and no experience stewarding our Military and our troops,and a known Putin-apologist responsible for our national security—this Administration isn’t just filled with incompetent people, but highly-functioning sociopaths whose only allegiance is to their traitorous rapist-felon king.And here's the thing, friends—none of us are exempt from what they are attempting, not even his rabid base; still full-throated in their adoration of him while they are being fully fleeced of agency and future.

Again, this isn't about me or our family, it's about the reality that America has lost so much over recent months. We have become an upside-down nation where those most entrusted with guarding our individual and collective safety, security, finances, human and civil rights, our laws—are the very people most jeopardizing them.The inmates are running the asylum and the rest of us are all going to be more vulnerable because of it.Our only chance now, is to partner together, using strategies that we’ve never had to employ because we’ve never had our existence this seriously threatened before, at least not from the inside.You may be wondering what to do, and the simplest answer is something. Here are just a few suggestions:

Connect with a local chapter of Indivisible.Make your voice heard using the 5 calls app.Support the ACLU and SPLC in their advocacy through the courts.Get involved with a local political candidate.Volunteer for a nonprofit serving endangered people groups where you live.Participate in one of the many national, state, and local protests happening.Leverage your social media to amplify objective data and to educate your following.Be strategic about how you spend your money, patronizing DEI-supporting companies like Costco, Delta and Apple.Become a relational activist, helping organize your circle of influence.Do one small thing, and then another.

We all deserve safety, security; life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. We all deserve a Government that protects and serves all those who call this place home and that humanely responds to all those who wish to call it home, and we're going to need to work until it once again does.

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