And so we fight. We resist. We must endure. Our country, our futures, our very lives depend on it. What’s that poem say? We will not go quietly into the night? I’m 72. Not in the best health. But I will fight to my death to resist this madness. WAKE UP AMERICA!!!
And yet, I wonder—what does fighting truly mean in a system that was never built for democracy in the first place?
They expect you to fight in the ways they’ve already accounted for.
And real resistance isn’t always about pushing back—it’s about refusing to let them take what they can’t see, what they don’t understand: your inner freedom.
They can strip rights, rewrite laws, dismantle institutions—but can they take who you are?
Can they erase the ways you connect, the ways you think, the ways you imagine something beyond their control?
That’s where I believe the real battle lies—not just in preserving what was, but in becoming something they never saw coming.
Every single week I write actual letters, send emails, and make phone calls to my senators and my US Rep. He’s a good dem but I live in TX so my senators are both thugs. But still I persist. I also give what money I can to the ACLU and to Mark Elias’ law firm because he fights for us. I may not be making a difference but I’m trying. If you, and I ask this respectfully, have a better plan, I would be happy to hear it. FIGHT!!!
You’re showing up, doing the work, refusing to let them move unchecked. That matters. Even when it feels like shouting into the void, you are making sure they hear you. And yet, I keep coming back to this: What if fighting isn’t always the answer? What if they expect you to fight exactly like this—pouring your energy into a system that was designed to exhaust and outlast you?
I don’t have a perfect plan. No one does. But I wonder—how do you live so that the system can’t break you? How do you strengthen what they can’t touch—your connections, your creativity, your ability to think beyond the fight they want you trapped in?
And your money—why pour it into something that can’t be salvaged, and maybe shouldn’t be? Everything is about to get more expensive. Keeping what you can for yourself, maybe even in gold, might serve you better in the long run. Because if history has taught us anything, it’s that those in power won’t hesitate to drain every last resource before the collapse. What if real resistance starts with making sure you’re not left empty-handed when that moment comes?
Claire, I hear you. The urgency, the exhaustion, the refusal to surrender. And yet, I keep coming back to this—can we be free from within even when the system around us is built to suppress us?
They can take physical freedom if that’s what they want.
And can they take who we are?
I’ve found that before anything else, before strategy or action, it’s always worth asking:
How is this affecting me, right now, in this very moment? What is this system—this fear, this chaos—doing to my mind, my body, my sense of self?
That’s where real resistance begins. Not with the constitution, not with seats of power, but with the ground beneath our own feet.
One person alone can’t change the whole system.
And you can refuse to let it take your inner freedom. And from that place—who knows what might follow?
Your writing is both brilliant and sad at the same time The sad being history repeating it’s self .I am afraid as well and I live in Canada.We will all fight together we won’t just stand by and take it.
Debbie, fear is real, and it’s justified. You see what’s happening, not just within your own borders but beyond them. And history—it does seem to loop back on itself, doesn’t it? The patterns repeat, just in different disguises. But here’s the thing: you are seeing it. You are refusing to stand by. That alone already changes the shape of what comes next.
Maybe the real fight isn’t just about stopping what’s happening—it’s about making sure that who you are isn’t swallowed by it. How do you hold onto what matters, beyond fear, beyond exhaustion? Because if history repeats, so does resistance.
Absolutely beautiful Gloria. Tears are running down my face. I've been sick all weekend about the news from Washington. Don't want to face my Trump-loving Mother tomorrow either. God help us all. That was a stunning piece. Thank you. ❤️🇺🇸💙
Then, don’t. Tell her you are sick, you have RSV. Avoid her. I have made many changes in my life this week. One is stealing this quote from Trevor Stone Irvin. “The next person who says, don’t give up hope, I’m gonna slap the taste right out their mouth.”
I called in sick today. I'm her primary caregiver so I don't think I can do it 2 days in a row. Least she finally turned off Fox News. I had to raise Hell but that's something at least. Love the quote though!! It's very hard to remain hopeful right now. Very.
Here’s the thing: you’re her caregiver, not her emotional punching bag. You make sure she’s fed, clothed, and doesn’t wander into traffic, but nowhere in your job description does it say you have to listen to her MAGA-fueled nonsense like you’re a captive audience at a bad dinner party.
So do yourself a favor—turn off Fox News. Hit the power button like you're canceling a toxic ex. And when she starts in on politics, don’t argue, don’t engage, just calmly let her know: “If you bring up this garbage again, I’m out. You can take care of yourself.” Because let’s be honest—she doesn’t give a damn about your future. Why should you stick around for the part where she lectures you on hers?
And while you're at it, go ahead and ask her—sweetly, like you're just making conversation—how she plans to pay for everything once Medicare and Social Security get gutted. Because unless she’s got a secret offshore account, she’s going to have to figure out how to fund her own twilight years. And let’s be real, you’re not about to bankroll her bad voting habits.
So do the basics. Keep her alive. And then? Walk out the door. Because you’re done with her bullshit.
Love it!! Sadly she is so brainwashed by Fox she doesn't believe it will happen!! When I told her a few days ago that drug prices had gone way up thanks to one of his E.O.s, she accused me of lying!! It's very sad. 4 years ago she sat next to me on the couch and we watched every single January 6th Hearing and she swore she'd never Vote for him again. But throw in 4 more years of Fox News and there you go. Plus she didn't care for Kamala Harris. Wonder why?! Arrrgh. Enough to drive me to drink. I live in Indiana. I'm the only Democrat in my family besides my oldest daughter.
Lisa, it is hard. Yes. and it’s beyond exhausting to witness someone you love get pulled deeper into the propaganda machine, especially when you’ve seen them wake up before—only to be lulled back into it.
And when you’re the only one in your family still holding onto reality? That’s an isolation all its own.
But here’s the thing: you can’t deprogram her. That’s not your job.
And it’s not your failure if she refuses to see what’s right in front of her. You’re already doing what you can—keeping her safe, making sure she has what she needs.
But sacrificing your peace, your sanity, yourself for someone who won’t meet you halfway? That’s not caregiving; that’s self-abandonment.
And let me tell you this—I lived 47 years upholding a “loyalty” to others before I understood that loyalty first and foremost starts with ourselves. That real care begins with self-care. That freedom isn’t something granted by others—it’s something we claim for ourselves. When I shifted my focus from loyalty to others to loyalty to myself, when I stopped pouring everything outward and instead started tending to me, my world didn’t just change—it turned 180° on its axis.
In the end, it led to my liberation from 47 years of inner oppression.
So maybe the next step isn’t fighting her delusions. Maybe it’s choosing where your energy goes. Because, at the end of the day, your well-being matters just as much as hers. Probably more.
Awww thanks Jay. I really needed to hear that today. Big time. I thank God every day for all of you on Substack and my oldest daughter who not only is a Psychologist but a Liberal too. She keeps me grounded. Thanks to you and Gloria both for your beautiful, kind words. ❤️😘
Lisa, your words hold so much gratitude, and I can feel the weight of what you’re carrying. I’m so glad my message reached you when you needed it. Sometimes, just knowing we’re not alone in this kind of struggle makes all the difference.
And how wonderful that your daughter is there to keep you grounded—that kind of steady presence is a gift. Hold onto that, and hold onto yourself. You are seen, and you are not alone. Sending you strength and warmth. ❤️
The strategy is to declare a national strike by all federal workers, unions, and citizens and force him to recant without affecting federal employees. This threat must be made in order for it to be effective.
Gloria, it is not elbullshiterotrump I am worried about; it is about the secret cabal of musks that are controlling him. Remember the four years he was in office? It was a disaster! How, all of a sudden, he became a political strategist? No, this has all the makings of a cabal headed by Musk.
Powerful, haunting, brilliant, scary as HELL, so so sad. How do we resist this tsunami of hatred, threats, intolerance, racism, bigotry, non stop spewing of lies?
Gloria, yes—and also, what are we giving? Because if history has taught us anything, it’s that sacrifice without strategy is just fuel for the fire.
I’ve learned the hard way that pouring myself out completely doesn’t guarantee change—it only guarantees exhaustion. So the real question isn’t just how much we’re willing to give, but how we choose to give it. Are we offering our time, our voices, our resources in ways that truly disrupt, that truly build something new? Or are we simply burning ourselves out, feeding a machine that counts on us to collapse?
History is full of those who gave everything. But the ones who made the deepest impact? They knew where to place their weight.
What speaks to you in the story? Do you like the story? Is it a balance between fiction and real life people and events written coherently enough to enlighten readers about history and how it have molded us? Vivian and Riley have moved into my head and won't stop talking!
I love the story and feel the history makes the story! Loving women’s history makes your story come to life for me. Please keep writing more of Vivian and Riley’s conversations!
What speaks to you in the story? Do you like the story? Is it a balance between fiction and real life people and events written coherently enough to enlighten readers about history and how it have molded us? Vivian and Riley have moved into my head and won't stop talking!
We all hoped that Kamala would win. In fact, we were convinced she was going to win. We can spend the next two or four years playing the blame game or strategizing for a comeback. The proposed national strike would be a first step to serve notice that we, the American public, will not stand and have our lives destroyed by those unAmericans...yes, is Musk a real American or a taker of our tax money? Rolando
Rolando, hoping was never going to be enough, in no system of oppression.
The system was built to absorb hope and turn it into a waiting game—stalling, exhausting, distracting. And here we are.
A national strike could be a powerful statement, but only if people are willing to follow through beyond just a moment of protest.
The real question is: What happens after the strike? Because if the strategy stops at disruption without a plan for what comes next, they’ll simply wait it out—like they always do—while people burn themselves out.
And Musk? He was never here for America. He was here for himself. Like every oligarch before him.
I don't know what I am on to...whatever this is, it has taken over my waking and sleeping hours. Vivian and Riley have moved into my head and won't stop talking!
The imprisonment and abuse of suffragists seems awful but unsurprising. Michael Lesy’s “Wisconsin Death Trip” chronicles incidents of scores of women locked away in asylums after being diagnosed with “hysteria” in a single county in Wisconsin between 1885 and 1900. This is the kind of thing that was viewed back then as “normal” when women were seen as “less than,” and had no rights.
There are people in power right now who would be happy to bring that kind of “normalcy” back.
Wonderful. I hope everyone who can, reads this. That they start checking the manual, and complying, over the top. Come up with new ways of stuffing up these monsters. Because America is now being run by monsters. Those of us that are fortunate enough to live anywhere else in the world, truly hope you get your country back.
Thank you for the restack.
And so we fight. We resist. We must endure. Our country, our futures, our very lives depend on it. What’s that poem say? We will not go quietly into the night? I’m 72. Not in the best health. But I will fight to my death to resist this madness. WAKE UP AMERICA!!!
Claire, please tell me how you are going to fight and resist? I am respectfully and sincerely asking your opinion.
I'm 75 my health is good and I will fight to my dying breath ...fight for democracy!
What is your game plan for fighting for democracy? I am asking respectfully and sincerely.
Helene,
I hear your determination.
And yet, I wonder—what does fighting truly mean in a system that was never built for democracy in the first place?
They expect you to fight in the ways they’ve already accounted for.
And real resistance isn’t always about pushing back—it’s about refusing to let them take what they can’t see, what they don’t understand: your inner freedom.
They can strip rights, rewrite laws, dismantle institutions—but can they take who you are?
Can they erase the ways you connect, the ways you think, the ways you imagine something beyond their control?
That’s where I believe the real battle lies—not just in preserving what was, but in becoming something they never saw coming.
Every single week I write actual letters, send emails, and make phone calls to my senators and my US Rep. He’s a good dem but I live in TX so my senators are both thugs. But still I persist. I also give what money I can to the ACLU and to Mark Elias’ law firm because he fights for us. I may not be making a difference but I’m trying. If you, and I ask this respectfully, have a better plan, I would be happy to hear it. FIGHT!!!
My plan was Harris winning the election by a landslide. I’m in the shock and awe stage currently.
Claire, I respect that deeply.
You’re showing up, doing the work, refusing to let them move unchecked. That matters. Even when it feels like shouting into the void, you are making sure they hear you. And yet, I keep coming back to this: What if fighting isn’t always the answer? What if they expect you to fight exactly like this—pouring your energy into a system that was designed to exhaust and outlast you?
I don’t have a perfect plan. No one does. But I wonder—how do you live so that the system can’t break you? How do you strengthen what they can’t touch—your connections, your creativity, your ability to think beyond the fight they want you trapped in?
And your money—why pour it into something that can’t be salvaged, and maybe shouldn’t be? Everything is about to get more expensive. Keeping what you can for yourself, maybe even in gold, might serve you better in the long run. Because if history has taught us anything, it’s that those in power won’t hesitate to drain every last resource before the collapse. What if real resistance starts with making sure you’re not left empty-handed when that moment comes?
We seem to be evenly divided between wanting democracy and wanting a dictatorship.
Claire, I hear you. The urgency, the exhaustion, the refusal to surrender. And yet, I keep coming back to this—can we be free from within even when the system around us is built to suppress us?
They can take physical freedom if that’s what they want.
And can they take who we are?
I’ve found that before anything else, before strategy or action, it’s always worth asking:
How is this affecting me, right now, in this very moment? What is this system—this fear, this chaos—doing to my mind, my body, my sense of self?
That’s where real resistance begins. Not with the constitution, not with seats of power, but with the ground beneath our own feet.
One person alone can’t change the whole system.
And you can refuse to let it take your inner freedom. And from that place—who knows what might follow?
Your writing is both brilliant and sad at the same time The sad being history repeating it’s self .I am afraid as well and I live in Canada.We will all fight together we won’t just stand by and take it.
I love you so much, my priceless mother-in-law!
Right back at you
I love you more …
Debbie, fear is real, and it’s justified. You see what’s happening, not just within your own borders but beyond them. And history—it does seem to loop back on itself, doesn’t it? The patterns repeat, just in different disguises. But here’s the thing: you are seeing it. You are refusing to stand by. That alone already changes the shape of what comes next.
Maybe the real fight isn’t just about stopping what’s happening—it’s about making sure that who you are isn’t swallowed by it. How do you hold onto what matters, beyond fear, beyond exhaustion? Because if history repeats, so does resistance.
And that’s where your power is.
Oh my goodness !
Can you write!!!
Fabulous
Thank you. 🙏
Absolutely beautiful Gloria. Tears are running down my face. I've been sick all weekend about the news from Washington. Don't want to face my Trump-loving Mother tomorrow either. God help us all. That was a stunning piece. Thank you. ❤️🇺🇸💙
Then, don’t. Tell her you are sick, you have RSV. Avoid her. I have made many changes in my life this week. One is stealing this quote from Trevor Stone Irvin. “The next person who says, don’t give up hope, I’m gonna slap the taste right out their mouth.”
I called in sick today. I'm her primary caregiver so I don't think I can do it 2 days in a row. Least she finally turned off Fox News. I had to raise Hell but that's something at least. Love the quote though!! It's very hard to remain hopeful right now. Very.
Here’s the thing: you’re her caregiver, not her emotional punching bag. You make sure she’s fed, clothed, and doesn’t wander into traffic, but nowhere in your job description does it say you have to listen to her MAGA-fueled nonsense like you’re a captive audience at a bad dinner party.
So do yourself a favor—turn off Fox News. Hit the power button like you're canceling a toxic ex. And when she starts in on politics, don’t argue, don’t engage, just calmly let her know: “If you bring up this garbage again, I’m out. You can take care of yourself.” Because let’s be honest—she doesn’t give a damn about your future. Why should you stick around for the part where she lectures you on hers?
And while you're at it, go ahead and ask her—sweetly, like you're just making conversation—how she plans to pay for everything once Medicare and Social Security get gutted. Because unless she’s got a secret offshore account, she’s going to have to figure out how to fund her own twilight years. And let’s be real, you’re not about to bankroll her bad voting habits.
So do the basics. Keep her alive. And then? Walk out the door. Because you’re done with her bullshit.
Love it!! Sadly she is so brainwashed by Fox she doesn't believe it will happen!! When I told her a few days ago that drug prices had gone way up thanks to one of his E.O.s, she accused me of lying!! It's very sad. 4 years ago she sat next to me on the couch and we watched every single January 6th Hearing and she swore she'd never Vote for him again. But throw in 4 more years of Fox News and there you go. Plus she didn't care for Kamala Harris. Wonder why?! Arrrgh. Enough to drive me to drink. I live in Indiana. I'm the only Democrat in my family besides my oldest daughter.
Have the Trumpers take care of her.
Lisa, it is hard. Yes. and it’s beyond exhausting to witness someone you love get pulled deeper into the propaganda machine, especially when you’ve seen them wake up before—only to be lulled back into it.
And when you’re the only one in your family still holding onto reality? That’s an isolation all its own.
But here’s the thing: you can’t deprogram her. That’s not your job.
And it’s not your failure if she refuses to see what’s right in front of her. You’re already doing what you can—keeping her safe, making sure she has what she needs.
But sacrificing your peace, your sanity, yourself for someone who won’t meet you halfway? That’s not caregiving; that’s self-abandonment.
And let me tell you this—I lived 47 years upholding a “loyalty” to others before I understood that loyalty first and foremost starts with ourselves. That real care begins with self-care. That freedom isn’t something granted by others—it’s something we claim for ourselves. When I shifted my focus from loyalty to others to loyalty to myself, when I stopped pouring everything outward and instead started tending to me, my world didn’t just change—it turned 180° on its axis.
In the end, it led to my liberation from 47 years of inner oppression.
So maybe the next step isn’t fighting her delusions. Maybe it’s choosing where your energy goes. Because, at the end of the day, your well-being matters just as much as hers. Probably more.
Awww thanks Jay. I really needed to hear that today. Big time. I thank God every day for all of you on Substack and my oldest daughter who not only is a Psychologist but a Liberal too. She keeps me grounded. Thanks to you and Gloria both for your beautiful, kind words. ❤️😘
Lisa, your words hold so much gratitude, and I can feel the weight of what you’re carrying. I’m so glad my message reached you when you needed it. Sometimes, just knowing we’re not alone in this kind of struggle makes all the difference.
And how wonderful that your daughter is there to keep you grounded—that kind of steady presence is a gift. Hold onto that, and hold onto yourself. You are seen, and you are not alone. Sending you strength and warmth. ❤️
Thank you so much!! ❤️
The strategy is to declare a national strike by all federal workers, unions, and citizens and force him to recant without affecting federal employees. This threat must be made in order for it to be effective.
Gloria, it is not elbullshiterotrump I am worried about; it is about the secret cabal of musks that are controlling him. Remember the four years he was in office? It was a disaster! How, all of a sudden, he became a political strategist? No, this has all the makings of a cabal headed by Musk.
He has no idea what is going on. Musk is the President.
Powerful, haunting, brilliant, scary as HELL, so so sad. How do we resist this tsunami of hatred, threats, intolerance, racism, bigotry, non stop spewing of lies?
I’m very very afraid
I am searching for answers as well.
Oh how beautifully you write and the lessons of the past must help us through this horrid nightmare
It all comes down to how much are we willing to give of ourselves.
Gloria, yes—and also, what are we giving? Because if history has taught us anything, it’s that sacrifice without strategy is just fuel for the fire.
I’ve learned the hard way that pouring myself out completely doesn’t guarantee change—it only guarantees exhaustion. So the real question isn’t just how much we’re willing to give, but how we choose to give it. Are we offering our time, our voices, our resources in ways that truly disrupt, that truly build something new? Or are we simply burning ourselves out, feeding a machine that counts on us to collapse?
History is full of those who gave everything. But the ones who made the deepest impact? They knew where to place their weight.
Thanks so much.
What speaks to you in the story? Do you like the story? Is it a balance between fiction and real life people and events written coherently enough to enlighten readers about history and how it have molded us? Vivian and Riley have moved into my head and won't stop talking!
I love the story and feel the history makes the story! Loving women’s history makes your story come to life for me. Please keep writing more of Vivian and Riley’s conversations!
I decided today that I am going to tell the story — completely. Thank you for your encouragement. Would you please pass it along?
Glorious resistance writing! Sharing widely.
What speaks to you in the story? Do you like the story? Is it a balance between fiction and real life people and events written coherently enough to enlighten readers about history and how it have molded us? Vivian and Riley have moved into my head and won't stop talking!
We all hoped that Kamala would win. In fact, we were convinced she was going to win. We can spend the next two or four years playing the blame game or strategizing for a comeback. The proposed national strike would be a first step to serve notice that we, the American public, will not stand and have our lives destroyed by those unAmericans...yes, is Musk a real American or a taker of our tax money? Rolando
Let me know when and where.
P.S. I will NEVER stop playing the Blame Game.
Rolando, hoping was never going to be enough, in no system of oppression.
The system was built to absorb hope and turn it into a waiting game—stalling, exhausting, distracting. And here we are.
A national strike could be a powerful statement, but only if people are willing to follow through beyond just a moment of protest.
The real question is: What happens after the strike? Because if the strategy stops at disruption without a plan for what comes next, they’ll simply wait it out—like they always do—while people burn themselves out.
And Musk? He was never here for America. He was here for himself. Like every oligarch before him.
Amazing post Gloria. So beautifully articulated. Thank you for your Poetic Wisdom/Wise Poetry♥️
Thanks for reading, Elizabeth.
You are onto something great.
T
I don't know what I am on to...whatever this is, it has taken over my waking and sleeping hours. Vivian and Riley have moved into my head and won't stop talking!
More heroes like this. I love your characters.❤️🔥
Thank you. 🙏 I have fallen in love with them as well.
The imprisonment and abuse of suffragists seems awful but unsurprising. Michael Lesy’s “Wisconsin Death Trip” chronicles incidents of scores of women locked away in asylums after being diagnosed with “hysteria” in a single county in Wisconsin between 1885 and 1900. This is the kind of thing that was viewed back then as “normal” when women were seen as “less than,” and had no rights.
There are people in power right now who would be happy to bring that kind of “normalcy” back.
Wonderful. I hope everyone who can, reads this. That they start checking the manual, and complying, over the top. Come up with new ways of stuffing up these monsters. Because America is now being run by monsters. Those of us that are fortunate enough to live anywhere else in the world, truly hope you get your country back.
Thank you. That means so much.
Thanks for sharing this. I really enjoyed it.
It’s a serialized story. If you haven’t read all the chapters please do and let me know what you think of the story.