Justice is in Our Hands, in Our Vote

If you’re like me, you’ve had this sinking feeling throughout this election cycle. Ever since Donald Trump entered the Republican primary and secured his party’s nomination for President, it feels like the ground beneath our democracy has been eroding and slipping away. It’s the same feeling I had late on election night in 2022 after losing the NY-21 race to Rep. Elise Stefanik. It’s an unsettling feeling that challenges deeply held beliefs about right and wrong, about universal truths, about the inevitability of justice. A feeling that forces us to confront a harish, unfortunate reality: the bad guys can win.

Bad guys can and do win. For all the faith we place in fairness and accountability, the real world doesn’t guarantee the triumph of justice. Trump’s resurgence in politics and the terrifying possibility of his return to the Oval Office—an office he so gravely violated—proves this.

“A violent insurrection for the purpose of trying to prevent the peaceful transfer of power.” (Republican Senator Mitch McConnell).

Nearly four years since the worst attack against our democracy since the Civil War, the wound January 6th inflicted on the soul of our nation remains raw. Sure, hundreds of violent rioters have been sentenced but the man most responsible has evaded accountability—and now promises to pardon all those convicted criminals.

In the years since 2021, we’ve learned more of Trump’s direct role in the criminal conspiracy to overturn his loss four years ago and incite the violent attack on the Capitol. Yet, here we are: Trump (and his running mate JD Vance) continues to promote the “Big Lie” that he won the 2020 election, while preparing for fresh stolen-election claims and the possibility of political violence in 2024.

Here we are, with Trump threatening the use of the military against political opponents, doubling down on his repeated threats to jail political rivals and vowing to be a dictator for as long as he deems necessary.

Here we are, with Retired-General Mark Milley, the former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, declaring Trump “now the most dangerous person to our country.” Milley, who spent 43 years in uniform and served as the nation’s highest-ranking military officer and principal military advisor to Trump, now believes he poses a graver threat to America than any other individual in the world. An absolutely staggering warning from a man whose depth of fealty to our Constitution is beyond reproach. It is worth noting that Trump suggested Milley deserves to be executed.

Here we are, with the thirty-four felony convictions, the ongoing calls with Putin, the illegal hoarding of highly classified information, the election-subversion, the fraud, the rape, the bragging about ending Roe v. Wade, the depraved cruelty, etc.

By every objective measure, Trump is the bad guy.

And yet, the bad guy can win.

It is absolutely gut-wrenching that nearly half of our fellow Americans have either fallen victim to Trump’s gaslighting and lies or—worse—simply don’t care, but it no longer matters.

Because here’s the hard truth: “There is no justice in the world. Not unless we make it.” (Game of Thrones)

No one is coming to save us. Not Jack Smith, not Joe Biden, not the courts, not some October surprise.

No higher power or karmic force is coming to step in to right Trump’s many wrongs.

We no longer have the luxury of complacency and waiting for something else to fix this problem for America. The responsibility is ours.

Because there is no moral arc of the universe bending toward justice unless we put our hands on it and force it to bend.

It is up to us now. Election day is three weeks away, and in some states, early voting has already begun.

Every single one of us has a role to play. Share this post. Talk to your neighbors, your friends, your family. Make sure they have a concrete plan to vote. Volunteer to help mobilize voters in your community (or better yet, in a battleground state).

But above all—Vote.

We don’t have a savior coming, but we do have each other—and together, that’s enough. Together, we can stop the bad guy. Together, we can protect our democracy. Together, we can deliver justice.

But it’s going to take all of us.