longer.blue

Oliver reflects my own thoughts on this. We cannot stop now. The stakes are too high. Democracy or Dictatorship? You choose! Oliver Koletzki This must be said plainly, without euphemism or apology, and repeated, relentlessly, because while I know I’m not alone in this recognition, I don’t hear it spoken nearly enough: This regime, along with every one of its enforcers, functionaries, and enablers, especially those in positions of highest authority, know exactly what they are doing. They are fully aware they are violating not only domestic law, not only the Constitution, but also international law, the Geneva Conventions, and most fundamentally, the basic tenets of human decency. They know they are acting outside the bounds of legal legitimacy, ethical restraint, and moral dignity. And they know that under any fair and just system, they would be behind bars, if not facing far graver consequences. And that is precisely why they will not stop. They are no longer operating from strength; they are operating from fear. Fear of accountability. Fear of reckoning. Fear of a future in which they are no longer protected by the power they’ve corrupted. The deeper their crimes, the tighter their grip. Because they understand that once that grip loosens, so too does the last shield between them and the consequences they know they’ve earned. And so we must prepare for the desperation, the cruelty, the scorched-earth politics of a regime in decline. They will not go quietly. Apostates of conscience rarely do. And as their collapse accelerates, they will do everything they can to drag as many down with them as possible. To anyone still carrying a spark of humanity, Americans or otherwise, our task is clear: not only to resist, but to endure. Because what comes next will test every measure of our moral resolve. Do not give in to despair, that’s exactly what they’re counting on. Let your anger sharpen you, not shatter you. Let it become clarity, direction, and disciplined action. This regime thrives on fear and silence; deny them both. Speak, organize, resist, relentlessly. And above all, embrace your full humanity in its rawest form, not the sanitized, performative version, but the real, messy, imperfect truth of being alive. Embrace your fellow humans, your brothers and sisters walking this chaotic, beautiful experience we call life. We are not cogs, not caricatures, not binary roles in someone else’s narrative; we are whole, complex, breathing beings, and when we remember that, we become impossible to control. Every act of living with empathy and compassion, of rejecting ignorance, ideology, and scapegoating, is an act of defiance. We are not powerless, and we are not alone. Every moment we refuse to dehumanize or be dehumanized is a reminder that they are not untouchable, and we are not done. Not by a long shot.