So Many Heroes, So Little Time: Let's Follow Their Lead In The Battle Ahead As This Senator Admits It's Scary But Worth It

Those Fighting for Our Constitution and Against the Tide of Authoritarian Rule Are Urgently Setting Examples and Taking Risks to Guide Us; We Need Them All

As most of us have been watching in terror as our government twists and turns and snakes around us winding it’s noose tighter and tighter, I’m proud to say that no matter what anyone claims, we have many American heroes fighting against the shackles, sniping and nipping away at the tyranny trying to suck us dry.

Everyone can see clearly the roots and motives of a despot as he digs deeper and deeper into America’s ribs, brings white supremacy to the White House with the desire to tear out her heart and steal away everything we’ve ever stood for as Americans. The cronyism should shock all of us to get up and fight against this horror show. While billionaires are feeding at the public trough, the president has launched his own cryptocurrency industry and has stripped away vital veins of our country—including, indeed, the gems that have held us up for so long: Medicare, Medicaid, federal education support, emergency services, university research grants. We also have no idea where all our private information is headed after Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, cleaned out our once secure private information (and perhaps also the nation’s nuclear secrets) from thousands upon thousands of government records. The disruption is stunning, agonizing, cruel and about as un-American as you could get. None of these people, not a single Republican in the House or the Senate, are standing up for America and her 341 million citizens. Don’t waste time asking the Republicans to do anything. They won’t even talk with Democrats.

So here’s what we must do to save ourselves, because there is hope! We actually have some honest people out there who aren’t out to steal our money, our healthcare or take us back to the 1800s. We have heroes stepping up every day. They are out there beating the drum— from an 80-year-old woman at a town hall getting arrested to protect the rights of children to judges who have stood up in the face of threats and namecalling. “It’s scary. I’m not going to tell you it’s not,” said Chris Murphy, a Democratic Senator from Connecticut, on Instagram from his home—one of the many ways he reaches out to the public using multiple platforms. He’s aggressive and ready to go to the mat. “It’s 250 years of a f…ing experiment in self-governance that most thought wouldn’t last 10 years,” he said. “It’s worth fighting for.” His alarm bells of urgency are off the charts, he added, as he details for Americans that we are in a dangerous time but passionately believes America is worth fighting for. Apparently, many Americans agree as there has been a growing tsunami of protests around the country. Murphy himself has been leading town halls. What immediately set Murphy apart from many other Democrats: He refused to fall apart or let himself slip into grieving as his party collapsed into paralysis after losing the 2024 presidential race. He wanted the Democratic Party to get back up and lead. Well, some Democrats did.

Immediately, Murphy—known primarily for his work on gun control after the Sandy Hook elementary school massacre where 20 six- and seven-year-old children were killed along with six adults—took to the pavement. He went out and did interviews with CNN, MSNBC and anyone else who would take him to show Americans he was not letting them down. He did videos from home and showed up at town halls or ran them himself. And unlike old-school Democrats, he respected what Independent Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, 83 — who also knows there isno time to waste — launched his “Fighting Oligarchy” tour across the country, attracting tens of thousands of Americans desperately looking for leadership, hope and guidance.

In Murphy’s mind, acts of defiance are absolutely imperative. And while he was trying to awaken the Democratic Party from its paralyzed state to resist the strains of growing tyranny at the White House, he was even more appreciative when Bernie invited the younger generation—the wildly popular Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, 35, a Democratic congresswoman from New York known as AOC—to join him. That decision boosted the tour’s already large numbers dramatically to 36,000 and growing. She’s fearless.

It was such a good idea that Murphy himself conducted his town halls in a similar fashion. Then, when his friend and comrade, Senator Corey Booker (D-New Jersey) finally awoke from his grieving slumber and decided to give a 25-hour filibuster-style speech on the Senate floor, Murphy happily supported Booker over the entire 25 hours, repeatedly checking in on him. Booker slammed the ball out of the park and set a record with one of the most powerful speeches ever given in Congress. Ironically, the record that Booker broke was held by Senator Strom Thurmond of South Carolina, who spoke for 24 hours, 18 minutes in an unsuccessful attempt to block passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1957.

There was more good news about Murphy when he adopted Bernie’s approach and paired up with a 28-year-old Democratic colleague—Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Florida)—at town halls in Republican districts in North Carolina and Missouri. He hasn’t stopped trying to reach out to the public about the Trump administration’s assault on our government by promoting abackward vision for America. He is urgently trying to head it off at the pass. “He hasn’t won,” Murphy said. “This is the opportunity to beat this guy back from his thievery and his corruption.”

On an Instagram post, he said this president has copied the playbook of Russian President Vladimir Putin by weakening the media, going after lawyers and judges and threatening free thinking at universities where youth are bound to protest in support of such principles. Trump has had students arrested, forced immigrants out of the country without due process and now seems to be attacking the Black community by trying to wipe out their American history.

So here is what Murphy wants us to do: Be ready to build momentum.

“We need to keep our eye on the ball,” he says, “and that is mobilizing all across this country from every corner to say: We are not going to stand for this handover to billionaires. We are not going to stand for the destruction of our democracy and the rule of law. And I need your help.”

As I said, Murphy is not alone. It’s amazing that the people who have stepped forward—including many Democrats facing threats from the President’s minions—are bringing a one-two punch against the Administration besides Bernie and AOC (who received threats from border czar Tom Homan accusing her of acting illegally by telling immigrants their rights; she promptly told him he was wrong and to bring it on).

There are other Democrats pounding the streets. U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas), who has been out battling for our rights by grilling Republicans,said for her upcoming birthday she would like Elon Musk to be removed from the White House, where he doesn’t belong. That apparently shocked some Republicans — who are actually refusing to even speak with Democrats and have failed us across the board— which prompted U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to go on Fox News to threaten Crockett, saying she should “better tread carefully.” Crockett, who has been outspoken against the autocracy and is also an attorney, said she was exercising her right to free speech, that she doesn’t like Musk because “he’s a crook,” and she’s willing to say it again and again and again.

The list of the others goes on. I’m going to drop their names here for future stories— people like Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-New Mexico), also outspoken, who called the President’s first 100 days an “unmitigated disaster” and said Americans aren’t liking what “Donald Trump is dishing up.” Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen went to El Salvador to track down wrongfully deported Kilmar Abrigo Garcia, a Maryland father of three who was imprisoned in a brutal facility that few people leave, guilty or not.

These governors have been attending town halls: Tim Walz of Minnesota; JB Pritzer of Illinois (who delivered a fiery speech to wake Democrats up); Kathy Hochul of New York and Maura Healey of Massachusetts.

Don’t forget, in the end, the real heroes will be us.

Let’s note who we are: We are the descendants of highly spirited freedom thinkers who fled seeking freedom of religion and who no longer wanted to bend to a king. Some 250 years ago, we started this country with grit and determination—whether descendants from slaves, or Chinese working on the railroad, or the Hispanics who settled here way before we did, or from Native Americans who struggled to find their way in a brutal new world, or from England or Ireland hoping to practice their religion and have a chance at the golden opportunity to make the life they wanted.

We, Americans are tough and we are strong. Our spirit grew from America’s wild west, rugged frontiers, unimaginable hardships. And we’ve won again and again and again because that toughness isn’t going to leave. And finally we are beginning to see it shine through as more and more Americans are waking up to find a president selling his own cryptocurrency in the White House and opening a country club in Washington D.C. for his wealthy friends. Even more concerning, the white supremacists at the White House now are planning to build a white man’s rule-only country, start a caste system and deny our rich historical roots of religion and culture. And while they are at it, erase the culture of blacks, Asians, Latinos and scores of other cultures that have thrived here in the heart, bone and spine of America. These are the very same people who helped build our tremendous economy and fought in war by our sides. You think we have no leaders. But I’m here to tell you, we do. We do.

Think of our new administration this way: It’s a group of vampires who want to rule the world and drink the blood of our decades of rich fabric where we guided people with compassion and granted rights so they didn’t become the whipping boys of people like those in the Oval Office now. Republican politicians have signed up to join this group of vampires. Perhaps they were bought off. Who knows? But they have failed all of us.

Let’s remind them: Our national parks belong to us. Our Social Security belongs to us. Our healthcare belongs to us. Our due process belongs to us. Law and order belongs to us. Being human, in fact, belongs to us.

They don’t own America.

We do.