For what it’s worth by Barry Rosenbaum

My wife and I recently attended the Fire Aid benefit concert in Los Angeles. All the performances were inspirational, and many were simply breathtaking. One of the performers from a bygone era (my era) was Stephen Stills. He only performed two songs, one of them, For What It’s Worth, an anthem of the civil rights and anti-war movements:

There’s something happening here
But what it is ain’t exactly clear
There’s a man with a gun over there
Telling me I got to beware
I think it’s time we stop
Children, what’s that sound?
Everybody look, what’s going down?

Stephen, now 80 years old, performed the song with such fervor and directness that you couldn’t help but conclude that he was warning us anew. There is most certainly something happening here and tragically, its trajectory is becoming all too clear. There are various names that one can give to this takeover of the United States government. But let’s make no mistake about it, at its essence, as Timothy Snyder, a leading historian specializing in authoritarianism, says, “Of course it’s a coup.”

The resistance to this coup is growing — from Democratic filibustering in the Senate, to public demonstrations, to letter-writing campaigns, to support of the truth-tellers and visionaries on Substack and other new media platforms. We have not yet seen how the coup leaders and their enablers will respond to this necessary and righteous push-back, but I think this is a time to beware.

We witnessed the violence and terror inflicted on our Capitol police on January 6^th upholding their duty to protect and defend one of our nation’s centers of power. As we all know, these goons, once jailed, have now been released. Paramilitary groups led by these insurrectionists are no doubt again Standing Back and Standing By.

While we need to beware, we cannot be afraid. We all should proclaim in whatever way that we can that diversity, equity, and inclusion is to be cherished. Every person is bestowed with the same gift of life and the same spark of divinity, enabling them to pursue their own vision of personal growth and happiness. While we have often fallen far short as a nation, we must not lose sight of these foundational ideals and bedrock principles.

Let us be clear, those in power now are attempting to destroy this experiment in self-governance. They are not the patriots. They instead are destroyers, bringing a wrecking ball to our democratic institutions.

For what it’s worth, I still believe we will not let our democracy be permanently destroyed. Whether it will be fully restored in my lifetime, I do not know. What I do know is that the future of this country and the direction that it will take is not pre-ordained. History teaches us that to think otherwise is foolish. We must all be active participants in ending this current march to madness. The guardrails that have protected our democracy have either been vanquished or severely weakened. We all must immediately work to stop and then repair this potentially fatal hemorrhaging.

If you have already started to act, keep it up. If not, start calling and/or writing your representatives and party leaders. Daily is not too frequent. If able and willing, answer the call to join a protest, march, or vigil. Power is ultimately with the people. Let’s exert it together.