By Kerry Hall and Marcia Bernsten, CAPA Board Members
February 14, 2025
Ready, aim, fire! This is the new mantra from the White House. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed at the pace of major actions coming from our capital. Information overload is one of their goals. But the very pillars of our precious democracy are under threat like no time since the Civil War and we need a plan to respond. What is under attack and how should we respond?
The press continues to be attacked, discredited, and silenced. The President is trying to abolish the bedrock of the 14th Amendment, birthright citizenship. Presidents cannot change the Constitution. He flouts the law against Tik Toc ownership and against the proper legal manner to fire Inspector General. He fires dedicated FBI employees who helped to prosecute him. Our checks and balanced are being destroyed before our eyes as the President flagrantly ignores court rulings and takes over Congress’ clear constitutional power of the purse. JD Vance is inspired by President Andrew Jackson’s brazen refusal, in the 1830s, to follow a Supreme Court decision with which he disagreed. This list is not complete. In fact, due to all the spaghetti being thrown against the wall, in this first draft we had forgotten to include the pardon of police-pummeling protestors on January 6.
Since this piece was written for CAPA Viewpoints, there is no doubt more to add to this scary and growing list of threats to our democracy. Heck, Kash Patel has been on the job for only a few days. When law breaking becomes the norm, it’s hard to put the genie back in the bottle. The latest example comes from the dropping of charges made against the mayor of New York.
The autocratic playbook from countries like Hungary, Russia, and Venezuela is being implemented, as we learn from the poignant book How Democracies Die by Ziblatt and Levitsky. They point out that once the courts, the press, and Republicans in Congress have been cowed by anticipatory obedience, it can be much, much harder to regain the basics of our democracy. Republicans in Congress are cowed by the threat of being primaried with Musk’s money. May we soon not even be debating the powers of Dictator Don and King Elon.
However, all is not lost. Was the best action forward? It’s tempting to be overwhelmed and put our heads in the sand. Afterall, what power does one citizen have? Perhaps you already contribute to a pro-Democracy cause, you already vote and stay informed, you contact your members of the House and Senate, and you attend CAPA events.
What else is there to do? Resist! Join a protest. Kerry started one last week in his community, holding a pro-democracy sign by himself on a cold, snowy street corner in Wilmette. Then, two of his friends joined. Our numbers will grow every week. It is invigorating and actually fun!
Join the protest in downtown Wilmette every Saturday at 10am. Bring a creative sign. Or, consider starting an act of resistance in your own neighborhood. Do your small part to save our democracy–before it is too late.