1. United States
2. Md.
3. Letter

Like many Americans these days, I have been paying as much attention as I can afford, trying to keep track of the rapid changes unfolding in our country and across the world. The quantity, quality, variety, and magnitude of these actions, overwhelms and staggers. I know that you are all committed to defending and maintaining the rule of law, the rights of our people, and the health of our society. I know, too, that you are frustrated, not only with the few who have willed this endeavor into reality and their legions who follow, but also with your colleagues across the aisle, who could exert meaningful force on this diabolical machine as it barrels forward generating catastrophes had they not been out-maneuvered and cowed by the operators of that machine. I am with you. I write today to add my tiny contribution to the chorus, roaring my dissent to the atrocities being inflicted through so many actions on so many groups, including the direct targets, such as those who have lost their jobs (eg countless veterans), their freedom (eg the disappeared), or their lives (eg children in Texas); the secondary targets, such as those who have been scared into cooperation (eg law firms, elected officials, and some civil servants) or who have sustained collateral damage (eg the many victims of the carelessness of this wrecking crew); and the rest of the population of our planet who exist within the context of global economic, military, and ecological interconnectedness (eg all life on the planet). These are dark times. I write to encourage you to hug your beloveds. Breathe the spring air. Move and inhabit your body, and touch grass. There is love, in you, around you, and through you, and it gives you the energy you need to do the next right thing. To figure out what’s right and do it. To use the tools at hand and foster the relationships you can to push back on some front of the war being raged by the diabolical machine. Time for us to be a great generation, like those 90 years ago who fought to overcome darkness at scales theretofore unimagined. I’m grateful to you. I encourage you. It has been, is, and will continue to be hard. Let me know if there’s anything I can do.