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THIS IS NOT A DRILL: BRAVERY AS STRATEGY IN THE FACE OF AMERICAN
TRAGEDY  
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Ben Manski
October 2, 2025
Common Dreams
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_ In recent memory, the prospect of a president preventing
congressional elections from taking effect has been unimaginable. But
today, it is not at all hard to imagine that this could happen. _

Demonstrators march through downtown Chicago, chanting and waving
signs opposing ICE and troop deployment during an emergency protest on
September 30, 2025 in Chicago, United States., Jacek Boczarski/Anadolu
via Getty Images

 

Succumbing to fear often leads to mistakes, including inaction, or too
little action, too late.

Look to the year ahead. Those counting on the 2026 elections to
provide a course correction should think again.

In the United States, in any normal midterm election, the party that
holds the White House loses control of Congress. This was true in 1994
with Clinton, 2002 and 2006 with Bush, 2010 and 2014 with Obama, 2018
with Trump, and 2022 with Biden. It is a truism which—given how
deeply unpopular the Trump administration is right now—should remain
true in 2026. But it may not.

In 2020, Trump was faced with a classic “Dictator’s Dilemma.” He
feared that if he relinquished power, he would be brought to account
for his actions. On January 6th, 2021, he attempted a violent coup
that was only thwarted due to the refusal of the U.S. military and his
own Vice President to subvert the will of the voters.

Now Trump is back and he is faced with a similar prospect. As his
advisor Peter Navarro said on public radio last week, the mindset of
the Trump administration is that it must destroy its political
opponents prior to the 2026 elections, and that it cannot allow the
Democrats to take control of Congress next year.

In recent memory, the prospect of a president preventing congressional
elections from taking effect has been unimaginable. But today, it is
not at all hard to imagine that this could happen.

For instance, unlike the Electoral College, there are no
constitutional provisions that speak directly to how a new House of
Representatives is seated. Instead, the rules governing the
swearing-in of new House members are determined by the outgoing House.
If competing House delegations arrive from states like Wisconsin, New
York, Pennsylvania, California, and Virginia, will Speaker Johnson and
the narrow outgoing Republican majority seat the representatives-elect
certified by state election authorities? Or will they follow Trump’s
dictates, as they have just done this week in refusing to seat
Representative-elect Grijalva of Arizona?

Of course, this is only one possibility—one that Americans may never
be so lucky as to face. On the night of Thursday, September 25th,
Trump issued his second _anti-_anti-fascist order. Unlike his first
order, which was heavy on rhetoric and light on action, this second
order directed all federal law enforcement to “investigate . . .
disrupt and dismantle” any individuals and organizations engaged in
“anti-fascism . . . anti-Americanism, anti-capitalism, and
anti-Christianity,” as well as “extremism on migration, race, and
gender; and hostility towards those who hold traditional American
views on family, religion, and morality.”

We all knew this was coming. This is not a drill.

The following day, the architect of Trump’s ICE policies, White
House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, described the Democratic
Party as, “not a political party; it is a domestic extremist
organization.” Meanwhile, Trump summoned America’s top military
officers to Quantico to tell them to prepare for war, even as he
escalated his threats against major U.S. cities and other American
countries.

In the past, some argued that the way Trump tried to rule was
“personalist,” a way of saying that he makes government all about
himself. Others argued that he represented a broader authoritarian
movement that mixes big-state capitalism with racial nationalism and
religious fundamentalism. Today, it should be clear that both
arguments were correct. We all knew this was coming. This is not a
drill.

The psychological toll is real. After the deaths of so many good
people, from the Jewish congregants murdered by a white supremacist at
the Tree of Life in Pittsburgh, to the massacre by a rightwing
religious fundamentalist of 49 people at the Pulse night club in
Orlando, to the young woman rammed with a car by a neo-Nazi in
Charlottesville, to the dozens of Americans killed by paramilitaries
and police in 2020 while protesting against the police murder
of George Floyd [[link removed]], to
the many people who have died in ICE detention centers, to the two
Minnesota legislators and their spouses shot by a rightwing extremist
in the Twin Cities, to the teenagers murdered by a white supremacist
at Evergreen High School on September 10th and the father killed by an
ICE agent after dropping his children off at school in Chicago,
Americans have been forced to reckon with what was once unthinkable.
It is not only the death of our republic that we grieve.

In times like these we must remember that repressive violence often
fails. This can be particularly true when government repression is in
a middle range.

Relatively low levels of repression can sometimes keep a lid on social
protest, discouraging citizens from moving from words to deeds. High
levels of repression can often drive protest movements underground,
making it difficult for activists to communicate with each other, much
less with the broader public.

Because Trump and his policies are so unpopular, low levels of
repression are no longer effective. Instead, his administration is
escalating its use of violence. And while he has expressed admiration
for brutal dictators like Kim Jong Un of North Korea, for the moment
Trump does not have the ability to successfully suppress the
democratic opposition. As a result, American communities are
experiencing repression that oscillates in the middle range from low
to high and back to low again.

Social movement studies show that if repression is in this middle
range that is when it most often backfires. In this middle range,
repression can produce popular outrage even as it fails to quell
public protest. This is why we must be brave right now: Not because
courage is admirable, but because it is opportune, smart, and
necessary.

We must be brave right now: Not because courage is admirable, but
because it is opportune, smart, and necessary.

What then must we do? First, Americans must publicly show our bravery.
We call street protests “demonstrations” because of what they
show: They are demonstrations of strength. They reveal depth of
feeling, they proclaim numbers, they show who has overcome fear and is
prepared to act. Small and mid-sized protests are happening daily in
hundreds of American communities right now. But for the moment, they
are not demonstrating the level of national opposition that actually
exists to what Trump is doing.

Instead, most are waiting for the next planned major national day of
action on October 18th. In the past, I have been an organizer of
nationally coordinated protests like these. I understand the rhythms
of coalition work and the need to assemble resources and organize
mobilization. But we should not get stuck in only one pattern of
organizing. It has been four months since the last major national day
of action. In the absence of mass public demonstrations, Democratic
elected officials are left as the primary opposition voices to Trump.
That is not good for them—and certainly not for for us.

American labor unions have the power to lead a democratic opposition.
Those who are union members or in union families have an important
role to play. Some unions have provided significant leadership
already. But anyone who was in the streets of Detroit in 1997, Seattle
in 1999, Los Angeles in 2006, Madison in 2011, Chicago in 2012, or of
Oklahoma City and Charleston, West Virginia in 2018, knows that our
unions have the ability to bring many more people into street
demonstrations. Labor unions also often have strong ties with
community, faith, student, veteran, farmer, and environmental
organizations. Together, they have the ability to move more people
into the streets, more often, and on shorter notice.

Second, law enforcement officers and members of the U.S. military also
have power. Despite Trump’s demands for personal loyalty to him and
him alone, many officers and enlisted personnel take their allegiances
and their oaths to the constitution and the Republic very seriously.

Historically, both in the United States and in many other countries,
military and police forces have sometimes refused orders requiring
them to violate their oaths. At times, they have taken the side of the
people against authoritarian governments. Being lectured by a
chickenhawk about making war on the American people could not have sat
well.

Today we face the unthinkable. But the resilience and resistance of
American cities show that another world is possible.

This is another reason that public demonstrations are important; they
show those entrusted with public safety where the people stand. It is
also one reason why disciplined nonviolence is critical; the contrast
between legitimate protest and illegitimate repression must be clear.
And it suggests that the US needs its moral authorities—its
religious, community, and cultural leaders—to lead an ongoing
campaign against all political violence.

This brings me to a third insight about this time in American history.
At the moment, our cities are where the current crisis is being
determined and where the possibility of a better world is being built.
American democracy is deepest in our communities. They are where
neighbors look after neighbors, schools support children and families,
and government agencies are closest to the people they serve. Our
cities, towns, and villages are where much needed reforms to provide
good housing, healthy food, meaningful work, sustainable economies,
sanctuary from violence, representative elections, and more democracy
in every part of our daily lives are taking shape. For these reasons,
our cities are the places both most targeted by Trump and they are
where he has met his most determined resistance.

Petra Kelly once told us that, “If we don’t do the impossible, we
shall be faced with the unthinkable.” Today we face the unthinkable.
But the resilience and resistance of American cities show that another
world is possible. We simply must be brave enough to demonstrate our
resolve, to recognize that there is no going back to the imaginary
safety of the pre-Trump era, and to build a new system as he tears the
old one down around us. The national institutions of the old republic
cannot provide salvation. Our cities, our community institutions, our
unions, and our courage in demonstrating the spiritual power of the
democratic creed are the potent mix that can overcome our common
tragedy.

Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel
free to republish and share widely.

_BEN MANSKI is a scholar of social movements and next system studies
who is working to build the Next System Teach-Ins. He is a former
attorney, a longtime activist for democracy in the United States, and
a professor of sociology and member of AAUP-AFT Local 6741._

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* organizing
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* unions
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* demonstrations
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