Fearless in A Brave New World . . . Or Being Brave in A Different World

Fearlessness is not a common strength or gift. Most people who demonstrate this trait find themselves in situations that force its manifestation. It could be a life or death-threatening calamity. It does not come with ease. But those who possess the ability to act in the moment called upon to rise to the occasion and meet their fate are heroes such as David, the shepherd boy who slew Goliath, the giant warrior in the Biblical story. There are numerous accountings of unknown heroes who put their lives on the line to change circumstances that could otherwise have devastating effects by subjecting groups of people to inhuman or subhuman circumstances and wreaking havoc on the world.

Men like, Oskar Schindler who was a German industrialist, humanitarian, and a member of the Nazi Party is credited with saving the lives of 1,200 Jews during the Holocaust against his party’s fundamental prejudice against Jews. And then there was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., an American Baptist minister and activist who was one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination on April 4, 1968, who put his life on the line daily facing death threats, the bombing of his home, endured beatings by police, stabbed with a knife by woman, still he never wavered his commitment toward the movement to gain the dignity and voting rights for Blacks fearlessly.

Today America is faced with one of the most challenging attacks on its democracy—Donald Trump, a former U.S. President attempted to prevent the peaceful transfer of power on January 6, 2020, and planned to stay in office. This democracy built on the ideology of a country ruled “of the people, for the people, and by the people,” hangs in the balance. We are in a very precarious position as we observe the once powerful two-party system torn apart by those who have taken over the Republican party and emerged as the Trump Maga Party for all practical reality. Trump has won his supporters over because he appeals to their emotions rather than the reality based on fact—Just like Hitler. He speaks to their sensibilities, yet they stayed the course of the American democracy. But when Trump sidestepped the laws and chose ‘himself’ over ‘country’ things became serious. I say that lightly because as Presidential candidate Trump stood on a podium without shame and directed the Russians to find Hilary’s emails, he had shown his hand. In that moment he revealed that he’d do anything to win. He won in 2016, but at the end of his 4-year term, Americans had had enough of his chaotic non-Presidential leadership performance on the world stage. Therefore, he did everything he could to stay in the seat of powder.

Today he is wrought with Legal issues. In New York, he stands charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. He is the first president to face federal criminal charges. In Florida, the Justice Department brought 37 counts against him for his mishandling of classified documents after leaving the White House. Further, Trump remains the subject of at least three major investigations relating to the election, the insurrection, and his finances.

A Georgia state prosecutor is evaluating whether Trump broke laws in attempts to overturn the 2020 election results in that state.In addition, the Justice Department is also looking into the 2020 election. That’s two of at least three major investigations relating to the election, the insurrection, and his finances. And most recently Trump received a target letter . . .

Meanwhile, Trump is set to face a second defamation trial brought by E. Jean Carroll—the magazine writer who won a civil trial against Trump for sexual assault and defamation in May, not to mention the Manhattan DA’s indictment over the hush-money settlement to Porn Star Stormy Daniels’.

So, kudos, to Jack Smith, Special Counsel for the United States Department of Justice, The Georgia state prosecutor, and all those who fought fearlessly to confront Trump’s criminal conduct.

According to Douglas Brinkley, noted presidential author, historian, and professor at Rice University, “We’ve had outlaws before that captured the country’s attention like Jesse James, Billy the Kid, and John Dillinger, but we’ve never had a person with this amount of power openly defying the legal authorities. They were always on the run, on the lam, escaping apprehension. In Donald Trump, we have our only outlaw president who has wielded enormous power and is a global figure of ungodly magnitude. Understand, it’s not as easy as simply saying we’re going to throw the book of law at him and he’s going to jail. He’s a one-man revolution, and so his followers and devotees are dug in deep for him.”

I hope that you will stand fearlessly for democracy when the time comes and do what is best for the better good of America.