Baum made a vow to himself, not then but when the war ended. He vowed never to be afraid of anything again.
— from “All That Is” by James Salter
Senator Lisa Murkowski from Alaska admitted last month that she feels fear from speaking up. “We are all afraid…I am oftentimes very anxious myself about using my voice because retaliation is real.” A pundit on Washington Week said that she was not talking about political retaliation: “She's talking about physical fear, and, you know, the death threats you know, doxxing, swatting, all the stuff that goes on…”
The upshot of all these threats of violence is that many of our political leaders, corporations, universities, and institutions have been “obeying in advance.” In his book “On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century” Timothy Snyder says rule Number One is “Do not obey in advance. Most of the power of authoritarianism is freely given.”
This administration has normalized intimidation and political violence. January 6th is the biggest example from their first go-around. A convicted felon pardoned all of those criminals. Federal judges are now worried that this administration might remove US Marshall protection from judges that issue rulings that they disagree with.
In a recent article, Representative Eric Swalwell said, “I have a lot of friends who are Republicans,” he said. “They are terrified of being the tallest poppy in the field, and it’s not as simple as being afraid of being primaried and losing their job. They know that that can happen.”
Here are some more examples:
Cheney told CNN that some of her Republican colleagues had voted against impeaching Trump because “they were afraid for their own security – afraid, in some instances, for their lives”.
Her comments were backed up by Mitt Romney, the former Republican senator and presidential candidate, who told his biographer, McKay Coppins, of a senior Senate colleague who intended to vote for Trump’s conviction at his Senate trial only to change course when a colleague told him: “Think of your personal safety. Think of your children.”
Thom Tillis, a Republican senator for North Carolina, told people that he received FBI warnings of “credible death threats” when he was publicly considering voting against Hegseth, Vanity Fair reported. Tillis, who had spoken at length to witnesses who raised concerns about Hegseth’s behavior, ultimately voted in favor of his confirmation.
Watching the lawlessness of this administration, week after week, and simultaneously watching my own political leaders cave is taking a toll on me. I want them to face their fear and fight. After all, that is what they asked me to do on seven deployments to war zones. My elected leaders and I both took the same oath: to support and defend the Constitution. I would like them to face their fear. Show some courage. Stop obeying in advance.
I have a different response to fear. I enjoy fighting. Here are three movie snippets which come close to explaining how I feel about fighting in the face of fear.
In Bladerunner, Deckard finally stops running and turns to fight Roy Batty, the replicant who is chasing him. Roy compliments him when he finally does:
When Matt Damon’s character in Good Will Hunting describes how he was abused by his father. He explains why he picks the worst way of being abused, when offered the option:
When Brad Pitt’s character is told he will be shot for what he has done in Inglourious Basterds, he explains why he’s not concerned:
When I imagine someone trying to threaten me in my (now) suburban comfortable existence, I think to myself, “What are you going to do to me? Shave my head and send me to Afghanistan? I already did that.” Like Brad Pitt, I think, “I’ve been chewed out before.”
I think my opinion about fear is due to perspective. I have had a grizzly encounter. I have jumped in bunkers in Iraq and Afghanistan to avoid incoming mortars and rockets. I have seen the wriggly white smoke trail of an RPG that somebody shot in my direction while flying. I have experienced real physical fear. It tends to put other threats into perspective. Alex Honnold says it very well here. He climbed El Capitan without ropes:
Things are not right. This is not politics as usual. There is no bottom. It can get worse. There will be more intimidation. More political violence. The fact we didn’t hold anybody accountable for January 6th has taught them political violence works. If we are going to stop this freefall toward authoritarianism, we will have to be willing to stand up, even though we might feel fear. At the very least, we have to do things that make us uncomfortable. I never wrote a letter to a congressman until 2019. I never made a phone call to a congressman until 2021. I’d never been to a protest until this year. I voice my opinions here on this Substack and elsewhere in newspapers and online publications. At each one of these milestones, I felt deeply uncomfortable. But, at no point have I felt actual fear. It’s possible at some point I will feel physical fear like when I saw a grizzly in Alaska. But I haven’t felt it yet. I am worried that my elected leaders think that feeling uncomfortable is the same as fear. It isn’t. In my opinion, obeying in advance in the face of mere discomfort is cowardice.
Courage is when you stand up for what’s right even though you feel actual fear. There are glimmers of hope, however. Here is the full Murkowski quote that proves she is showing courage:
“I’m oftentimes very anxious myself about using my voice because retaliation is real. And that’s not right. But that’s what you’ve asked me to do and so I’m going to use my voice to the best of my ability.”
Tim Snyder’s first lesson is don’t obey in advance. He ends his list of 20 lessons with this one: “Be as courageous as you can. If none of us is prepared to die for freedom, then all of us will die under tyranny.”
It’s okay to feel fear. It’s not okay to fold in the face of tyranny because of it. We need to demand courage from our elected leaders. We need to use our voice as individuals. Your level of discomfort or fear may be different than mine. That’s why I like Snyder’s advice. Be as courageous as you can.
Call to Action
The budget passed the House. In some good news, they eliminated a provision to sell off public lands. However the budget bill still takes a wrecking ball to our public lands and to conservation of fish, wildlife, and habitat. A 40% reduction to the budget of the National Parks is just one example. The Senate will vote on this budget soon.
Another example is my own Representative Stauber’s amendment to the budget which allows copper-nickel mining near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. In a terrible precedent for our federal public land, it eliminates judicial review of mining permits.
Please overcome your discomfort and call your US Senator and tell them to vote against this budget. It’s especially important if your Senator is a Republican. They need to hear your opposition to this gutting of our federal public lands agencies and the threat to the BWCA from copper-nickel mining. Thank you.
Call to Action: Tell your US Senator to vote no on the budget.