Happy talk from people on the Left isn't helping

On Tuesday, I went out with a jarring piece that I wish to hell I never had to write, but I reckon needed telling.

In Hell is Here, I told you what you should already know: We are in the middle of a national emergency that is growing more dire by the minute. America, and the roots of her existence are being torn from her moorings by the most callous, lawless uncaring group of miscreants in our nation’s history.

I told you that:

“We simply cannot survive this obscene level of anti-Democratic lawlessness from the fascist White House, and that makes it incredibly important how this moment in history is framed for the public.”

And this:

“This is a five-alarm fire. It is far beyond what any reasonable person who has been around for awhile feared in their lifetimes. Our Democracy is burning out of control, and the response from our Democratic representatives on the frontlines in Washington has been appalling.”

And this:

“On the first day of his reign of terror, the sick, vengeful king released 1,600 dangerous thugs, who beat the life out of cops and tried to set fire to our country, by violently stopping the certification of our election. The people he said that he “loved” now have safe harbor, but just as long as they vow to work for him, because, you see, he has proven he is both capable of getting them in and out of their terrible messes.”

So let me get at the nut of what is frying my ass this afternoon in the wake of that piece, and the bloody hell that has in fact been coming at us in a torrent the past 48 hours:

All of this complete horses---I am seeing from many people I respect telling us to stay calm — that all this was to be expected.

While I believe this is coming from a genuine place of goodness, it is bordering on gaslighting.

So let me tell you something, dammit: Anybody telling you to stay calm just because "all this was to be expected" is either a damn fool, or lying to themselves and you, because NONE of them have been through a transition like this in America.

All this “stay calm, all this was to be expected” stuff might be easy on the ears, but it is impossible to digest.

We are in deep, deep trouble right now, patriots, and it is not only OK to say that, it is paramount we do. We might yet get through all of this, but that won’t mitigate for one damn minute all the trouble and pain people are in RIGHT NOW.

Good and decent folks are being hurt as I click on my keyboard, and it is getting worse by the minute. These feelings of dread and helplessness you are having are all-too real. The voices crawling around inside your head won’t stop, because they are borne from a place deep inside you that has been through a few things.

You hurt because you care. You scream because you feel like you are being ignored. You are mad, because of this terrible and vulnerable situation we find ourselves in thanks to the disregard from the last administration of what was most assuredly coming for, and at us, if we didn’t win November’s election.

WE have been left holding the bag. THEY are gone.

All these feelings deserve justification, not disregard.

Look, if you’ve read my stuff at all, you will know I’ve been sounding the alarms around here for years — that a second Trump Administration simply was not tenable. Everything needed to be done to stop it.

Former Attorney General Merrick Garland failed us catastrophically by not going after Bastard No. 1 and the Republicans who attacked us the minute after he took office.

I will not spend more time on this here, because it turns out that I was sadly right all along. I pounded on the table, and it did no good. That doesn’t mitigate my anger right now, though, and it shouldn't yours.

You have a right to it.

Just because a meteorologist can predict the Category 5 hurricane it doesn’t make it any easier to deal with in its terrible aftermath …

We have fought hard the past eight years, and invariably some of the political infrastructure we put in place will slow this unrelenting Republican attack, but it won’t erase the damage that has already happened, and too much of what is coming.

I have lost much of the trust I had in our courts and the notion of law and order since hell arrived in November of 2016. Members of our nation’s highest court are bought-off and corrupt.

And you don’t need me to tell you that we are craving bold leadership on the Left, who will not only oppose this anti-American attack, but will speak to it in ways that inspire a call to action.

Let these words help to light that flame. Let your voices rise up until they shake.

Do not let anybody deny you of your feelings.

Millions of people are scared to death right now, because they are brave enough to be paying attention.

The minute that stops, WE ARE DONE.

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D. Earl Stephens is the author of “Toxic Tales: A Caustic Collection of Donald J. Trump’s Very Important Letters” and finished up a 30-year career in journalism as the Managing Editor of Stars and Stripes. You can find all his work here, and follow him on Bluesky here.