|
 |
I never really trusted my intuition until I experienced a couple instances of that something-is-not-right feeling followed by gunfire. Something about being shot at causes the brain to wire learning in faster than it otherwise might. My intuition for this election is that it will be a blue wave unlike anything we are seeing in national polls.
I know you don’t all feel that way. News organizations have been reporting a surge in election-related anxiety. For those of you suffering from that, I somehow just know that the vampires in your election-anxiety-fueled nightmares look like Stephen Miller, and the dream plain is populated by multi-shirted Steve Bannon werewolves. I’m guessing that Jared and Ivanka are your nepo-zombies, which is lucky for them, because they can peel off the faces they’ve been reluctant to show in polite society lately. Good news: Matt Gaetz is no longer in the House. Bad news: He is now your daughter’s high school principal.
Of course, the more realistic but still far-fetched nightmare scenario is a red wave, the House and Senate under the control of Trump sycophants waiting to do their master’s bidding. In a stunning but not unpredictable upset, Republicans have swept every branch of government by razor-thin margins. The Senate, the House, and the White House—all seized in one final, unexpected surge. Maybe we got complacent. Maybe we thought common sense would prevail. But here we are, months later, looking down the barrel of what’s become a real American horror story.
It started slowly at first, like a whisper of uncertainty, and then the laws started rolling in—laws that now hold every American in an iron grip.
It was just a headline at first: “Federal Abortion Ban Takes Effect Immediately.” But for the women living it, the headline has become a waking nightmare. Doctors refuse to help. Every medical visit is a risk. The word has spread: doctors who assist in any abortion, even in emergencies, could face federal prison. They’ve heard of one physician in Texas, an OB-GYN, arrested just the other week for attempting to treat a woman hemorrhaging from a pregnancy complication. She was trying to save her life, but in the eyes of the new law, she was aiding an “abortion.” The young girl knows there’s nowhere to turn, no one who will risk it. She’s on her own.
In desperation, some women take matters into their own hands, trying anything they can to end an unplanned, dangerous pregnancy. For some, this ends in sepsis, untreated hemorrhaging, or death. The nightly news doesn’t hear of the growing toll of young women dying in isolation, too afraid to seek care for fear of being reported, too ashamed of a system that’s stripped them of control.
Meanwhile, the Federal Judiciary has gone full country club: conservative, corrupt, and closed to the public. Lifetime court appointments rubber-stamped by Congress, casting shadows over every civil liberty we thought we’d secured. From reproductive rights to voting laws, from free speech to protections against discrimination, the judiciary is reshaping every inch of American life. It isn’t justice; it’s dogma written into law. And it’s your kids, their kids—an entire generation—who will live in its shadow.
The next wave hit the economy. The president promised tariffs would bring back manufacturing, but the reality was harsher. Tariffs across the board led to brutal retaliation. Apple farmers in Washington, car manufacturers in Michigan, airplane engineers in Kansas—everyone who counted on export markets found their products shut out of foreign economies.
The result? Prices for everything are through the roof. Ordinary families can no longer afford basic goods without stretching every dollar like taffy. Halloween candy? Imported cocoa hit with tariffs made that a luxury, if you could find it.
American businesses lost their edge in global markets, foreign companies jumped in, and we were left holding the short end of the economic stick. Factories closed. Workers found themselves laid off in droves, and the promises of a manufacturing comeback now look like dust on the horizon. Gas prices soar as the administration plays chicken with OPEC and storefronts empty faster than candy bowls on Halloween night. This isn’t a return to American greatness; this is America closing itself off, lurching toward isolation with each passing day.
As protests grew, Americans looked to the press. And the press? Well, what’s left of it struggles to stay afloat. Legacy newsrooms are shackled by relentless lawsuits from a weaponized Department of Justice, tasked with bringing the “fake news media” to its knees. Trump made deals with Musk, Zuckerberg, and Bezos—if they played ball, they wouldn’t face prosecution. The Washington Post now runs stories that read like White House press releases, while Twitter (X) and Facebook flood feeds with propaganda. Alternative views get buried; anyone raising a dissenting voice is branded “the enemy from within.”
Meanwhile, the real newsrooms, those willing to speak the truth, are drowned in a sea of red tape and legal fees. The truth remains, but it’s buried beneath a barrage of lies.
And when dissent proved too loud to ignore, the administration cracked down.
Protesters—young, old, veterans, teachers—took to the streets in protest. What began peacefully was soon met by the National Guard, now deployed in cities across the nation. Armored vehicles rolled through city centers, and peaceful gatherings were classified as “domestic disturbances.”
Then there’s the “List.” A neat little list of Trump’s enemies. Those who dared criticize him, question him, or even look at him sideways. In the halls of power, paranoia has been institutionalized. It’s like Orwell, but with more golf.
Abroad, our alliances are crumbling. NATO, once the backbone of collective security, has been discarded. “America first,” the administration says, as Putin cheers and European allies mourn our loss. We’ve aligned with unsavory powers, embraced regimes that don’t know the meaning of human rights, and shunned our historic allies in favor of dictators who share the administration’s appetite for control.
With each severed alliance, each burned bridge, America becomes more isolated, inching ever closer to a reality where democracy is little more than a fading memory. This isn’t freedom; it’s a nightmare of our own making, and the only people cheering are those who stand to gain as we fall – China’s Communist Party, Kim Jong Un, the Ayatollah of Iran, Putin’s Russia.
Of course, this is just a nightmare. We can imagine, instead, a country where progress builds steadily, where equality isn’t just a phrase politicians toss around but a value enshrined in every law. A country where young women and girls don’t have to think of basic healthcare as dangerous. Where Americans of every background can dream of opportunity without fear of deportation, discrimination, or exclusion.
I’m running for Congress to help make that vision a reality. To restore integrity, decency, and possibility to the American political landscape. And I’m asking you to stand with me. With every dollar, every shared story, every vote, we become stronger, and we prove that this version of America—the one that respects individual rights, protects the vulnerable, and stands tall on the global stage—is worth fighting for.
I know there’s a lot of dread out there, but I also know that change comes when people decide they won’t settle for anything less than what’s right. So let’s act now. Join me, vote, and if you can, donate to this campaign. Your support fuels a movement that’s about fighting back, and it’s a movement that belongs to all of us.
Together, let’s work to secure a future where freedom endures and progress doesn’t take a back seat. And remember, we already survived Betsy DeVoss as Secretary of Education.
 |
| ||||||||||
