A PLEA FOR PRO-DEMOCRACY UNITY

 I am confused and worried.
We cannot, under any--I repeat, any--circumstances countenance a second Trump term. For one thing, it's very likely to be a life term, after which Junior will have himself crowned emperor of North America.
And once that happens, democracies around the globe are likely to start falling like dominoes.
We have seen the rebirth of right-wing thuggery which Trumpelthinskin and his henchmen continue to encourage. We have also, most recently, seen the same pattern on the left as I remember seeing in the late sixties and early seventies, back when I was in junior high school. It starts with nonviolent resistance to injustice; well and good. When George Floyd was murdered, any burning or looting was mostly courtesy of right-wing moles! But then, neo-Marxist and/or Islamist fringe groups worm their way in and start to add violence, especially, now, anti-Jewish violence so that protests that started nonviolently wind up as pogroms, or the next thing to them.
I hope, in the current mosh-pit of protest ostensibly on Gaza's behalf, one thing is not forgotten: Hamas began this war, without any excuse. They also care nothing for the Gazans except to use them as human shields and to make as many of them into shahids (martyrs). Without their utter and total defeat, there can be no new day for the wretchedly unfortunate Gazans! Even many advocates for Palestinian rights say so; Bassem Eid for one!
A cease-fire may stop the shooting, but will it leave Hamas clinging to power or not? Can any honest-hearted protestor against the current Israel-Hamas war give me, or anyone else, an answer to that?
I can tell you straight up, a cease-fire which does leave Hamas clinging to power will not--repeat, not--end the killing! It'll just be Hamas doing the killing of more Gazans who have had enough of Hamas up to their gullets! And many such corpses are now coming to light!
One wicked (and probably Islamist) fool said he thinks he can get along better with an openly hostile president (Trump) than one 'who pretends to be our friend' (Biden). Listen, you slave-trading fool, and listen good! Yeah, you and your minions survived one Trump term--but you won't survive another!
I promise you that! Why not, say you? A few reasons: when Trumpelthinskin first came in, there were still guardrails. There were still some 'adults in the room' (and you ain't one), as we say. This time, those guardrails are gone or wrecked, there will be no 'adults' to hold Trump back but only those willing to be even worse than he is!
Now, wicked, precious, self-important infidel fool, contemplate an executive order, constitutional or no, which strips all recent Muslim immigrants of their citizenship and renders them liable to immediate deportation! Think that's impossible? Think you have friends who will fight that? Even after you do your part to bring down the free world? Allow me to suggest, even you--heck, I'm not sure that even Trump--cannot concoct such lies as will save you from the consequences of you helping to end democracy over the globe!
Your former allies will remember your part in killing democracy and you will not be saved from being deported to, say, Yemen. You will have no allies then!
You're not the first ethnic group to see their tax dollars used to kill their cousins. Talk to those Americans of German, Italian, or Japanese ancestry. Clear out your head if you can, and be sure to put all the pieces together.
I've said this before and I'll say it again as often as I think I need to: vote Democratic this fall, and then you can think about candidates, within the party or independent, for offices in 2026 and 2028. Stay home or help Trump win in other ways and there may well be no free elections again within our lifetimes and no point in thinking about future candidates. And you, and many others like you, may well be deported.
And I for one will point you and your flock out as traitors to democracy. Nor do I expect to be the only one doing so. Think about that, too.
Think you're ready for that? I say, yeah, suuuure you are!