Another Brick in the Wall

Just a few days ago, the Associated Press—yes, the same folks who still call the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of Mexico—published an eye-opening article about House Speaker Mike Johnson. His advice to Republican lawmakers? Skip town halls. Why? Because they’ve been swarmed with angry protesters. To put it mildly, people are upset about Trump and Musk’s slash-and-burn approach to the federal government. Shocking, right?

This follows the usual Trumpian script, where public outrage is dismissed as the work of provocateurs, or more commonly known as  “professional protesters.” Take Belton, Missouri, for example, where Representative Mark Alford tried to host a friendly little coffee shop meet-and-greet—only to be shouted down at nearly every turn. His constituents were, shall we say, displeased with Trump’s war on the federal workforce, especially given the high number of federal employees in the Kansas City area near Belton. They demanded answers on cuts to Medicare and Medicaid, federal firings, Ukraine, immigration, and even the so-called "Gulf of America." Alford is used to basking in the GOP’s red-carpet treatment, so this was a harsh reality check. It must have been exhausting for him—Missouri Republicans aren’t used to being questioned, let alone booed.

This is new territory for Republicans. They’ve been so coddled for so long that the only explanation they can fathom is that agitators are infiltrating these town halls. You know, professional shit-disturbers riling up an otherwise content crowd. In Trump’s mind—and, by default, Speaker Johnson’s, since Speaker Johnson doesn’t have a mind of his own—the only possible reason for dissent is that outside forces have hijacked the crowd. Because obviously, Trump’s policies are so flawless and awesome that only misfits and morons could oppose them.

The reality is that we’re beginning to see the era of Republicans walking on water coming to a rapid close, and they have no idea how to cope. So the solution is obvious: Simply stop meeting with constituents.

Rather than selling Americans on their so-called “great ideas,” Speaker Johnson’s grand strategy now is to hide from them. And that raises a disturbing question—if this is how the next four years will go, what does that mean for American democracy? When leaders refuse to face the public, when they fear rather than engage with their own voters, what’s left of representation? Instead of responding to the will of the people, they’ll simply issue decrees from behind a wall and leave it to law enforcement to crack down on those who resist. In extreme cases, enforcement could involve the U.S. military under a martial law scenario.

Welcome to the People’s Republic of America.

Apparently, the wall Trump wanted to build on the southern border wasn’t enough. Now, a bigger one must be erected—not to keep people out, but to keep people away from their own government.

But here’s the thing about walls: They’re an illusion. Every wall in history has been breached. Every single one. Because no wall has ever contained the human spirit. But try telling that to the emperors who built them—they all thought they could keep control. They all miscalculated. And they all paid the price. Often a deadly price.

The first thing to breach a wall is mistrust. The moment a government puts a barrier between itself and its people, that mistrust takes root and grows like a weed, inching its way through the structure and prying it apart, brick by brick. And here’s the thing about mistrust: after decades of Republican fear-mongering, corruption, and manipulation, trust is already in short supply. This wall—literal or metaphorical—will only make it worse. When it finally falls—and it will fall—those closest to it are going to get crushed and stampeded.

So what do we do? Keep shouting. Keep taking the fight to the streets. The protests are growing, both in numbers and intensity. Why the street? Why not take the fight to the halls of Congress? Let’s be honest: most Democrats in Washington, with a few notable exceptions, are too feckless and weak to fight this fight for us. It’s evident from their behavior during Trump’s joint address to Congress that they’d rather cling to decorum than fight for our freedoms.

It’s up to us, folks. Nobody is coming to save us. We must save ourselves.

Because history is watching, and this is our moment. This is our fight.