The Pitch
A Justification for Establishing Defenders of Our Republic
This post is written by the founder of “Defenders of Our Republic.” It provides new content not otherwise posted to BlueSky or elsewhere. The purpose of this post is to explain why the founder established Defenders of Our Republic when many other promising organizations that are doing great work to defend democracy already exist.
I established Defenders of Our Republic (DOOR) with one primary objective in mind: Inspire and organize dramatic nonviolent protests in order to impel Congress to honor their oaths to the Constitution by impeaching, convicting and removing President Trump and his entire cabinet from office as soon as possible. President Trump and his cabinet’s removal is imperative for innumerable reasons, but here are some of the strongest justifications.
First, we must not normalize a government that is engaging in rampant illegality and unconstitutional actions. Waiting to “right the ship” until the next elections is a form of normalization, as it treats this regime the same way we would treat a bad, but legally compliant, administration. Normalizing illegality is a poignant threat to our democratic system of government and more broadly, rule of law. Without accountability and consequences, politicians and citizens alike will learn all of the wrong lessons from President Trump’s regime. Even if the Republican Party is voted out of power in 2026 and 2028, the norms set by President Trump will become institutionalized if he is never held accountable. This will pave the path for a future President to exploit the same unconstitutional and illegal strategies to commit even greater crimes against We the People.
Second, we have every reason to believe that our next elections are in peril. President Trump’s January 6, 2021 insurrection, along with the events preceding it, is reason enough for this assertion. President Trump’s relentless efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election are well documented. Believing, in spite of this, that he would respect election results when they interfere with his authoritarian ambitions is foolishly naïve, especially when most of the people in his first administration that helped stop him have been replaced by sycophants and Project 2025 true believers. There are still other troubling signs for the integrity of our elections. For instance, the SAVE Act could disenfranchise tens of millions of women voters if passed. Also, President Trump’s grossly unconstitutional Executive Order on Election Integrity and Alina Habba’s “Election Integrity Task Force” both foretell much greater trouble once election season is in full swing. While President Trump’s attacks on federal judges may seem unrelated, this too is extremely alarming for the future of our elections, as our courts play a vital role. Both state and federal courts uphold election integrity by ensuring elections are administered as legally required and by ruling on election cases such as challenges to the results. These few examples of assaults against our democratic norms barely scratch the surface of the many ways our elections are in jeopardy. American democracy may have robust safeguards, but President Trump and his loyalists are engaged in a brute force attack against all of them, hoping that at least some of their efforts will bear fruit. Any success they achieve is cause for grave concern.
Third, President Trump’s regime of illegality and corruption has trivialized the day-to-day operations and routine functions of our government. This erodes democratic norms such as civil discourse and policy debate, which form the very bedrock on which Our Republic depends. How are we to address domestic and foreign policy issues in the face of the ongoing and robust criminality of President Trump’s regime? When President Trump literally sells access to the White House and his regime openly violates the Constitution and the law while constantly lying about all of it every step of the way, how are we to have an effective dialogue about the Israel-Hamas crisis, or Russia’s unprovoked war on Ukraine, or establishing humane border immigration and control, or protecting equal rights for all citizens regardless of race, sex, sexual orientation, or gender identity, or generating a strong American economy, or the damage America is causing to the environment, or tax system reform, or literally any area of government influence? All civil discourse is rendered meaningless under the political atmosphere created by Trump’s regime. Of course, these issues do not simply vanish because we lack the time, space, or means to address them. On the contrary, under President Trump’s regime, we should expect nearly everything the government effects to significantly worsen due to a combination of neglect, incompetence, and deliberate malice. In a very real and immediate sense, We the People will suffer the consequences of President Trump’s regime while lacking adequate democratic mechanisms to address our grievances. It is in our most supreme interest to act now so that we might minimize the damage that President Trump’s regime can cause.
Fourth, and I will leave it here, the integrity of the office of the President of the United States matters, and it is at stake. President Trump represents much of the worst of humankind. He is a greedy, unintelligent, narcissistic, pathological liar, traitor, and coward. Every day he remains in power is a stain on the highest office in the land. Worse still, as our elected leader, he also arouses the worst in all of us, supporters and detractors alike. You might think his sphere of influence is limited to his MAGA base. On this, you would be tragically mistaken, but more on that in a future post. For now, I hope we can all agree that the character of our country, along with those that reside in it, is degraded increasingly by the day with a person like President Trump at the helm of our government.
If we truly want President Trump and his cabinet to be removed from office, we all need to be doing far more. Our actions must be proportionate both to the crimes being committed by this regime and the threat the regime poses to Our Republic. Up to this point, as I have frequently seen in countless memes, we are not reacting strongly enough. That is what led me to establishing DOOR.
Why DOOR?
I established DOOR because I believe we need organizations that will impart the urgency and inspire the courage required to meaningfully resist President Trump’s regime in a manner that will hasten his removal from office. Believe me when I say that, same as you, there are many other things I would rather be doing with my time than posting articles to BlueSky with some quick thoughts, or writing free Substack posts, or starting up DOOR, or organizing protests, and all of the work that comes along with these things. However, here I am, because as an American with great love for our country, I am compelled to do something to protect our country from the heinous desecration she is suffering every day at the hands of President Trump and his corrupt Republican enablers.
I personally gain nothing by writing this post. On the contrary, with every step I take on this path of activism, I risk losing everything. In spite of this, I am committed to seeing this through to whatever end may be waiting for me. Why? Because my country needs me to act now to rescue it, just as it needs all of us. Authoritarianism has infected our country. Like a virus, it is spreading throughout our government and society, risking that Our Republic will become a republic in name only. In the face of this, I must do everything in my power to resist. I have anxiously watched and waited for someone else, anyone else, to rise to meet this moment so I could join the cause as a nameless one among the masses. While the mounting swell of 50501, Indivisible, and other movements are promising starts, I am still waiting for something truly bold to achieve the dramatic change needed. But I tire of waiting. On BlueSky, day after day, I implore Americans to “Act.” Increasingly, this has made me feel like a hypocrite. I know I personally can do so much more. DOOR is the solution that I have been seeking, both to my own internal struggle to do more, and a call to action for my fellow Americans to do more as well. Perhaps, we all just need someone to show us the way. Maybe that someone is me. However, let me be clear: It does not have to be me. There is nothing special about me. I am nobody. Maybe that someone is you. Ultimately, it is not about whether it is me, or you, or any other one person. This moment requires all of us to be bold and make sacrifices if we are truly committed to the removal of President Trump and his entire cadre from the federal government. Because nobody is going to save us but us.
Why should you listen to me, a self-professed nobody? I am not especially intelligent, knowledgeable, educated, nor adeptly skilled to be anything other than what I tell you I am: an average American. That said, I hope you will give me the time of day for two reasons. First, I believe I can make a persuasive proposal for what our country specifically needs us all to do. Second, in July, I will quite literally put my money where my mouth is with a dramatic example of the bold action I believe necessary. But more on that in my next post.
Until then, keep resisting. Our country needs us.