Trump’s disastrous speech on Wednesday evening is the latest debacle in his downward spiral that began in earnest with the No Kings protests and the November 4, 2025, Democratic rout of Trump-backed candidates. There is much work to be done, and victory is never guaranteed, but we can see the path forward.
We have seized the momentum and captured public sentiment. The administration is firmly committed to self-defeating, unpopular strategies. If we are courageous, persistent, and optimistic, we can take control of Congress and the presidency in 2028. Not guaranteed; nobody should relax or relent, but we have a solid basis for hope.
Still, three years is a long time to sustain the high level of dedication and optimism necessary to win a trifecta, which will allow us to begin the serious work of repairing the Constitution and restoring the rule of law. A danger we face over the next three years is that we become exhausted, bored (yes, bored), or despondent.
During the long march to victory, each of us has a personal responsibility to help others maintain a sense of hope and optimism during long stretches when it seems we are stuck in cycles of bad news, expressions of outrage, and small victories—followed by more bad news, expressions of outrage, and (ultimately) big victories.
It is, of course, understandable that each of us will experience moments of exhaustion, doubt, and despair. Indeed, I hear those sentiments from readers of this newsletter every day. Those sentiments may grow even more intense as we move toward victory over the next three years. To paraphrase Senator Mark Kelly, “It is okay to be afraid [and exhausted and despondent], but we must not give up. If we persist and remain in the fight, we will prevail—eventually.
People are anxious about the future and are looking for social cues about how to respond. Should they give up and cower under their bedcovers? Should they remain silent and harbor secret hopes that things will turn out okay on their own? Or should they raise their voices and proclaim their ability to determine the destiny of our nation?
If we are to reclaim our democracy, the answer is obvious. Enough of us must stand up and speak up for all of us. Doing so is an act of bravery and patriotism that deserves praise and emulation. To our nation’s great good fortune, tens of millions of Americans—including most of the readers of this newsletter—are engaged in resistance every day. You are literally the last bulwark in the defense of democracy. Bless you all!
Still, many people are dejected and frightened. For some, predicting doom or doubting those who project optimism and hope creates an emotional buffer against disappointment. That is both natural and understandable. But it is not a template for leadership during a struggle for the future of our democracy.
I write a newsletter calling for optimism and action 6 days a week, 312 days a year. They can’t all be winners. Still, I was more than a little surprised when my “Concluding Thoughts” in yesterday’s newsletter, which called for each of us “to be Mark Kelly,” was met with a reader’s comment: “We are all Donald Trump.” The reader wrote,
We are not all Mark Kelly. As Donald Trump’s crimes are being committed in our name, we are, indeed, all Donald Trump. This is a profound moral injury, and it is not clear to me how we citizens can let it continue for another year or three. It is also not clear to me what other choice we have.
I was doubly surprised when that comment became the most “liked,” showing that the sentiment resonated with at least four dozen readers who took the time to express their agreement.
The reaction of those readers to yesterday’s newsletter offers an opportunity to acknowledge the challenge of remaining optimistic and engaged over the next three years. That challenge is real and serious.
I do not mean to quibble with the reader who posted the comment. He raises a deep question about the collective wound that Trump is inflicting on all Americans. But we have a choice about how we lift and lead one another during a time when our nation is calling us to rise to its defense. One approach is to proclaim, “We are all Mark Kelly.” Another approach is to declare, “We are all Donald Trump.”
I fundamentally disagree with the reader’s assertion that “we are all Donald Trump.” I also fundamentally disagree that “It is also not clear to me what other choice we have.”
Donald Trump is not acting in my name—or yours. He loudly proclaims that we are “the enemies” of America because we stand for democracy and seek to hold him accountable for his crimes. He is explicitly disowning us, claiming to act only in the name of his extremist base, but only that portion of the base that remains unquestioningly loyal to him.
And we do have a choice.
We can resist Trump, or not.
We can lead, or not.
We can urge people to remain optimistic, or not.
We can amplify messages of hope, or not.
We are winning, but it will be a long, tough slog over the next three years. Indeed, it is possible that our situation will become more perilous and that the challenges will be greater than those we have faced before things get better.
Identifying and raising up heroes like Mark Kelly, Letitia James, Jack Smith, Bridge Brigade protesters, postcard writers, ICE patrol whistlers, neighborhood canvassers, donors, and many more is how we will keep one another dedicated to a difficult task.
Indeed, merely showing others that you are part of the resistance is an act of courage. After I responded to the reader’s observation in the Comment section, he replied, in part,
I [am] part of the resistance. I don’t leave my house without a sign of resistance.
If we all unequivocally declared our allegiance to the Constitution by our mere presence in public, we would inspire others, who would inspire still others . . . until it would become apparent that many more people seek to defend the Constitution than seek to destroy it.
We will need reinforcement from one another in the coming days. Over the holiday season and into the beginning of the new year, the news cycle may be in a “Groundhog-Day-suspended-animation” mode. Our attention will understandably focus on family and renewal. That’s okay. It’s more than okay. It is a human necessity. It is not a sign that we are losing momentum or that Trump has regained his footing.
2026 will be a challenging year because of the long ramp-up to the midterms. If the laws of probability operate as predicted, Trump’s approval ratings will show a slight improvement because of “regression to the mean.” When that happens, we cannot panic merely because journalists can’t (or won’t) report the difference between a natural statistical phenomenon and a fundamental change in the political dynamic in the American electorate.
In the face of the breaking-news “counternarrative” that will surely come (“Are Democrats blowing it? When did Democrats stop caring about the working class?”), we must choose to be courageous, persistent, and optimistic. We will write the historical narrative through our actions and dedication.
Let’s end where we began: We have seized the momentum and captured public sentiment. We are winning. We have substantial reason for hope, but more reason to redouble our efforts. Stay strong, and do not surrender to exhaustion or doubt. Together, there is nothing we cannot do!
Concluding Thoughts
If you are still reading, thank you! I took the opportunity in this newsletter to re-orient my thinking—and hopefully yours—about the coming year. I won’t address the news, except to say that the trustees’ vote to rename the Kennedy national memorial in honor of Trump is a disgraceful and illegal act by all involved.
A federal statute states that the building shall “be designated as the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.” Nothing in the authorizing statutes permits the board of trustees to change the Kennedy Center’s name. To the contrary, the relevant statutes provide that the building “shall be the sole national memorial to the late John Fitzgerald Kennedy within the city of Washington and its environs.”
The above means that the Board of Trustees cannot change the Center’s name without an act of Congress. Adding Trump’s name to the national memorial for JFK is nonsensical and insulting.
The Epstein Files Transparency Act requires the DOJ to release the Epstein files on Friday, December 19, 2025.
Stay strong, everyone! Talk to you tomorrow!
Pro-democracy protest photos
Thursday, December 18, Burlington, Vermont.
Interfaith Action for Immigration Justice and Champlain Valley Indivisible
100 people at a Candlelight Vigil to Observe International Migrant Day
City Line, Philadelphia 12/18
Interfaith vigil yesterday outside the ICE headquarters in Portland OR.
There were about 150 of us with 3 clergy present - a rabbi, Lutheran minister and methodist minister who all spoke about the horrific kidnappings in Gresham - on the east side of Portland. They read horrific accounts of our neighbors who are being harassed, arrested and torn from their families. For those in the Portland area, we meet every 1st and 3rd Wednesday from 2-3p.
Boston, MA
On Saturday, December 13, about 100 members of BVOCAL (Boston Voices of Community and Labor) sang an original song about protecting our First Amendment rights, a few days before the anniversary of the ratification of the First Amendment (December 15, 1791), to unsuspecting holiday shoppers at the Burlington (MA) Mall. Our appearance was, on the whole, gratefully received. We hope to inspire similar protest singing groups around the country!
Daily Dose of Perspective
Brocchi’s Cluster, a collection of stars known as an “asterism.” Although the stars appear to be part of a gravitationally bound group, they are not. They merely align visually as observed from Earth. But beautiful, nonetheless.
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