They are afraid of us. There is no other way to explain the insane MAGA talking points — we hate America and are Antifa terrorists all being paid by a mystery billionaire. The American people, in the millions, on the streets on 10/18, will shake the dictator and his fascist enablers to their core.

Right now, the forces of liberal democracy and decency are losing the battle for America. All three pillars of our constitutional balance of power design are compromised. Congress, under the MAGA thumb, is castrated and afraid to assume its Article I mandate. The dictator is inventing powers with no checks, no balances. The Right’s 50-year plan to install federalist Quislings in the courts is mostly in place. The Supreme Court is a rubber stamp for expanding executive power. We must give the authoritarians and Christian nationalists credit. They have been working toward this moment for decades. The rise of Trump and the complete collapse of the Democratic Party are the lucky circumstances that merely used the nascent authoritarian infrastructure.

Thugs and brownshirts in masks are just beginning their reign of terror. The Democrats’ failure on immigration gave the fascists the opening they needed to build the Army of the Interior, a feature of every authoritarian regime. The endless infusion of your taxes to build out this internal terror infrastructure is only beginning to come online. For every outrage you see in your social media feed, know that this is as weak as they will ever be. This is the moment to put our counterrevolution into the streets. They know this and are afraid.

It’s our turn now. Across the world, popular uprisings have been an essential feature in taking down dictators and fascists. I think especially of the brave people of Ukraine and the relentless thousands who occupied Maidan Nezalezhnosti or Independence Square, the central town square of Kyiv. The dictatorship, with Russia’s overt support, was deeply entrenched and the heroic, relentless protests brought down the evil regime. And today, Ukrainians are dying to hold a newborn democracy. They don’t have our 250-year tradition of liberal democracy. But it’s the newness of the idea of freedom that empowers their fight. Maybe we got lazy and forgot that the American experiment, from its founding, was a precarious choice. Now that we are on the verge of losing our democracy, can we revive the steadfastness that the baby democracy in Ukraine has embraced?

To the streets. What we have now is the undeniable power of millions of Americans across the country. We MUST practice non-violence because the fascists are dying to create a broader imaginary emergency. Pause with that idea. Their emergency is Americans using their First Amendment rights. That is not strength. That is weakness. At some point, the thrashing MAGA regime with increase the violence. This has always been true when dictators fall. Stay brave. Those spasms are the thrashing of a dying beast.

You don’t need a sign, don’t have to march. The power of this movement is in the simple act of being present and pumping millions of pictures out on social media. Small towns, big cities, a country road — anywhere. Our standing up will shatter the confidence of the royal court of the fascist wannabe king. WE are what is inevitable, not them. Don’t wait for the midterms and vote. Vote now with your feet.

See you on 10/18.