The Struggle for the Soul of America: Wake Up, America!

Posted on August 23, 2025 by Author: Bruce Berlin

Donald Trump is quickly consolidating control over our country. By sending U.S. troops into our cities, working to restrict voting rights, appointing unqualified sycophants to fill critical federal positions, and demanding Republicans gerrymander Congressional districts, among other anti-American efforts, he is destroying our democracy and building an authoritarian regime.

While the hour is getting late, we still have the power to prevent Trump’s takeover. But that will only happen if the great majority of the American people Wake Up and Answer the Call to actively resist his march to autocracy.

Two upcoming events promise to be the biggest outpouring of opposition to date to Trump and his corrupt regime. On September 1, Labor Day, May Day Strong (https://maydaystrong.org/) is sponsoring the Workers Over Billionaires protest. Hundreds of organizations are partnering in this effort, including the AFL-CIO, Indivisible, the League of Conservation Voters, 350.org, the National Education Association, which is the largest labor union in the country, and the Action Center on Race and the Economy. Everyone is urged to participate in the Labor Day rally which will demand:

End billionaire influence over government.
Protect Medicaid, Social Security, and other worker programs.
Ensure fully funded schools, health care, and housing for all.
Stop attacks on immigrants, Black, Indigenous, trans people, and marginalized communities.
Prioritize investment in people over wars.

Make Billionaires Pay Blackout

It will take more than massive protests to take down Trump and his MAGA cohorts. Starting September 16, Black Out the System will launch a 5-day nationwide economic and labor blackout “shutting down the U.S. economy – strategically and peacefully – by removing our labor, our spending, our financial support, forcing the system to listen.” Groups in hundreds of cities are already working on this effort. See https://www.citizen.org/news/workers-over-billionaires-labor-day-events-climb-to-500-across-all-50-states/.

The movement is being “launched to reclaim power, restore justice, and unite citizens across all races, cultures, and classes.” See https://blackoutthesystem.com/ to join in this momentous strike aimed at businesses and the billionaire class that support the Trump regime.

Then, on Saturday, September 20, the economic blackout will culminate in a Make Billionaires Pay march to the UN in New York where world leaders will be attending the UN General Assembly and Climate Week. Similar protests are being planned all over the country and around the globe. (See https://www.makebillionairespay.us/.)

Spread the word. We need everyone to participate. Together we can rid our country of this ugly fascist malignancy that is strangling our freedom and our rights. Together we will take back our country.

Bruce Berlin, J.D.

A retired, public sector ethics attorney, Berlin is the author of Breaking Big Money’s Grip on America (See breakingbigmoneysgrip.com.), the founder of New Mexicans for Money Out of Politics, a former U.S. Institute of Peace fellow, and the founder and former executive director of The Trinity Forum for International Security and Conflict Resolution. He can be reached at breakingbigmoneysgrip@gmail.com.

Subscribe to this blog at https://breakingbigmoneysgrip.com/my-blog-3/.

The Struggle for the Soul of America: Dems Going on Offense, Finally

Posted on August 16, 2025 by Author: Bruce Berlin

Enough is enough. The Texas GOP power grab attempting to gerrymander five Democratic Congressional House districts into Republican seats has finally awakened the Blue team. At last, the Democrats realize that they must go on the offensive and fight fire with fire, or our democracy is doomed. Not all of them have gotten the memo, of course, but a more progressive, aggressive leadership is beginning to emerge.

Yes, Sen. Sanders and AOC have been leading the charge for some time now. However, they are not sitting in executive offices where they could initiate real change. California Gov. Newsom, on the other hand, is in a position to do just that, and he’s not holding back. While I’ve never been a big fan of the governor’s, Newsom’s plan is a significant step that appears to be rallying Democrats across the country. It “leverages Democrats’ control of the most populous state in the Union to warn Republicans to back away from their attempt to rig the 2026 election.”[1]

Newsom exclaimed: “Donald Trump, you have poked the bear, and we will punch back.” And historian Heather Cox Richardson noted, “After years of criticism that Democrats have not fought hard enough against Republicans’ manipulation of the system to amass power, the California plan…flips the script.”[2]

Democrats in other states are standing up as well. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and New York Gov. Hochul have jumped into the fight. “This is nothing short of a legal insurrection,” Ms. Hochul said. She insisted that we must fight back.[3]

Meanwhile, a young, progressive candidate for New York City mayor, Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani, is the odds-on favorite to capture New York’s City Hall. Mamdani’s rise has been fueled by progressive proposals such as rent freezes, publicly owned grocery stores, and universal childcare.[4]

The surge in major Democratic figures willing to stand up to Trump and his MAGA cronies gives me hope. Their outspokenness will inspire others to do the same and help increase the resistance to Trump’s authoritarian regime. At the same time, it will generate momentum for Indivisible’s One Million Rising campaign[5] around the country.

It’s a sign that the tide is changing. If you are not already active in this effort to save our democracy, we need you to get involved now. The next big national protest will be on Labor Day, September 1. See https://maydaystrong.org/ and https://www.commondreams.org/news/trump-labor-day to learn more about what promises to be a huge sign that the American people will not allow a two-bit, want-to-be-king grifter to destroy our country. Go to https://indivisible.org/ and help save America from Trump’s fascist takeover.

Bruce Berlin, J.D.

Subscribe to this blog at https://breakingbigmoneysgrip.com/my-blog-3/.

[1] https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/august-14-2025?r=4d2np6&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email&triedRedirect=true

[2] Ibid.

[3] https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/15/us/politics/democrats-redistricting-trump.html

[4] https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/zohran-mamdani-odds-of-becoming-new-york-mayor-hit-record-high/ar-AA1Kx8Ab?ocid=BingNewsSerp

[5] https://www.nokings.org/rise?emci=afd31273-106e-f011-8dc9-6045bda9d96b&emdi=2789183d-2b6e-f011-8dc9-6045bda9d96b&ceid=2597101

The Struggle for the Soul of America: It’s Trump’s Way or the Highway

Posted on August 3, 2025 by Author: Bruce Berlin

On Friday, President Trump fired the Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner Dr. Erika McEntarfer after accusing the economic researcher of manipulating the jobs data for political purposes.[1] But the real reason Trump fired the commissioner is the Bureau’s most recent, unexpectedly weak jobs report which made him look bad. According to the BLS, “U.S. employers added just 73,000 jobs last month and Labor Department revisions showed that hiring was much weaker than previously reported in May and June. The unemployment rate ticked up to 4.2%.”[2]

Rather than addressing the issue of a weakening economy, our wannabe-king president immediately fired the messenger. No doubt Trump will replace the truth-telling commissioner with someone who will do his bidding and produce a fake jobs report that will make him look good. Afterall, what’s more important: Taking steps to strengthen the economy or bolstering Trump’s ego?

This is just the latest in Trump’s efforts to change the facts to his liking. As former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich notes, Trump is “dismembering the Environmental Protection Agency, which has repeatedly shown that climate change isn’t a “hoax,” as Trump claims, but more like a national emergency.” In addition, Trump “is killing off the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health, which are showing the sources of sickness and disease and how we can guard against them.” Reich concludes that Trump just “doesn’t want the public to know the truth. He is turning America into George Orwell’s dystopian 1984.”[3]

As distressing as all this is, our institutions that were designed to protect the country from executive overreach have not done much to obstruct Trump’s march toward dictatorship. The Republican led Congress is in lockstep with Trump’s fascist regime. The Democrats have voiced their dissent but have done little to actually resist his authoritarian efforts. (Yesterday, however, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer did show some backbone by refusing to go along with fast-tracking the confirmation of a bunch of Trump’s nominees without “the unfreezing of federal funds for an array of programs, including the National Institutes of Health and foreign aid.” Trump’s response to Schumer: “GO TO HELL!”[4]) At the same time, the federal courts have not been able or willing to effectively restrain Trump either.

That leaves we, the people, as the last resort to save our democracy. In that regard, a national grassroots organization has been leading the charge. In the last month, Indivisible has initiated the One Million Rising campaign (OMR), a national effort to train one million people in the strategic logic and practice of non-cooperation, as well as in the basics of community organizing and campaign design. These trainees will, hopefully, then outreach to their fellow Americans to create a huge, unstoppable force to block Trump and restore our democracy.

Through over 2,000 local chapters around the country, Indivisible has already enlisted hundreds of thousands of Americans in this effort. On August 13^th at 6 pm MDT, the OMR organizers will conduct a Zoom training in basic campaign design and local implementation, as well as plug people into the next national campaign work.

But this campaign will only succeed if millions and millions of Americans actively participate. It’s up to all of us to prevent our country from becoming a fascist state. We have no time to lose. Sign up now for the August 13^th training, by going to https://www.mobilize.us/nokings/event/803953/.

Together, we will stop Trump and rebuild our democracy.

Bruce Berlin

Subscribe to this blog at https://breakingbigmoneysgrip.com/my-blog-3/. Join the movement to revive our democracy. Together we can save the soul of America.

[1] https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-bad-jobs-numbers-bls-fired_n_688d0a26e4b022644fdec852

[2] https://www.huffpost.com/entry/economy-jobs-report-trump-tariffs_n_688cb8ebe4b05680e80c3cd7

[3] https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/trump-attack-bls

[4] https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/trump-tells-schumer-hell-amid-000135979.html

The Struggle for the Soul of America: While the Fear of Trump’s Retaliation Works to Suppress Opposition, Resistance Is Still Growing

Posted on July 25, 2025 by Author: Bruce Berlin

In the 1930s, as Hitler was consolidating his power, the great majority of Germans did little or nothing to resist him and his Nazi forces out of fear. Peter Hoffmann’s review of The Good Germans concluded that the “threat of harsh punishment largely worked.”[1] Today, Trump is taking a page from Hitler’s playbook.

The latest example of Trump’s threats working is CBS’s surprise cancellation of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, the highest rated talk show in the country.[2] The announcement came just days after CBS parent company Paramount Global reached a $16 million settlement with Trump in what appeared-to-be his “frivolous” lawsuit against Paramount. Some Democrats contend that Paramount paid Trump under threat that his administration would not approve of its multi-billion-dollar merger with Skydance Media.[3]

Fear of Trump retaliating has affected Republicans, too. According to former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, GOP Congressmen are afraid “they could be attacked in the same way her husband” was.[4] That likely influenced GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s failure to vote against Trump’s big budget bill, a vote which would have sunk that bill. Murkowski admitted, “I’m oftentimes very anxious myself about using my voice, because retaliation is real.”[5]

In both cases, the fear of Trump’s retribution probably affected the outcome in his favor. In addition, major corporations including AT&T, Ford and Toyota made large contributions to Trump’s inauguration to gain his goodwill[6] and avoid potential backlash for failing to support him.[7] As a result, corporate America won’t be leading the fight against Trump’s authoritarian regime.

Still, the resistance is growing.[8] On July 16, Indivisible held an online One Million Rising training attended by over 130,000 concerned Americans just like you. “The 90-minute video conference was organized to train activists in principles of ‘strategic non-cooperation,’ which aims to gum up the works of the increasingly dark and dictatorial Trump administration.”[9] If you missed it, I urge you to watch it at https://www.nokings.org/rise#livestream.

I participated in the training with 10 friends. We all felt it was an excellent workshop and an inspiring beginning to the formation of a huge resistance movement.

The second of the three training sessions is Wednesday, July 30, at 6 pm Mountain Time, 8 pm Eastern. You don’t have to have attended the first session to register for the second and third trainings. Go to https://www.nokings.org/rise to sign up and learn more about this crucial effort.

Too many of us are sitting at home in fear and hopelessness, not knowing what to do. If that includes you, joining One Million Rising will help you overcome these feelings by engaging with hundreds of thousands of Americans in the struggle to stop Trump and his cronies. Together, we must strive to save our country and build a better democracy.

Bruce Berlin

Subscribe to this blog at https://breakingbigmoneysgrip.com/my-blog-3/. Join the movement to revive our democracy. Together we can save the soul of America.

[1] https://www.jstor.org/stable/24483571

[2] https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2025/07/late-show-stephen-colbert-canceled-cbs/683602/

[3] https://www.msn.com/en-us/tv/news/stephen-colbert-s-late-show-canceled-after-trump-lawsuit-settlement-sparks-backlash/ar-AA1IRlgw?ocid=BingNewsSerp

[4] https://www.huffpost.com/entry/nancy-pelosi-reveals-why-republicans-wont-cross-trump_n_6878bf6ce4b09816d3162894

[5] https://www.npr.org/2025/04/29/nx-s1-5327518/donald-trump-100-days-retribution-threats

[6] https://www.axios.com/2024/12/25/companies-donate-trump-inauguration

[7] https://apnews.com/article/trump-retribution-columbia-paul-weiss-law-firms-40c8cbafaa3592a6b2cc5858770d3731

[8] https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/resistance-2-0-protests-get-louder-and-more-organized/ar-AA1IAIX9?ocid=BingNewsSerp

[9] https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/trump-authoritarian-no-kings-playbook-1235388347/

The Struggle for the Soul of America: It’s Up to Us, the American People

Posted on July 3, 2025 by Author: Bruce Berlin

Lately, it’s become even clearer that it’s up to us, the American People, to save our democracy. If you thought that the Congress or the Democrats or the Supreme Court would save us from Trump’s authoritarianism, think again.

As for the House of Representatives, the Republicans are in complete control. No way they were going to find common ground with the Democrats on anything of import. While I had some hope that Republican “moderates” in the Senate would save us from Trump’s horrendous budget bill, in the end Alaskan Republican Sen. Murkowski, who had hinted at again standing up to Trump, folded and became the crucial 50^th vote to support the bill. Once she got what she wanted for Alaskans, which wasn’t all that much[1], Murkowski got on board. To hell with the needs of the rest of the country, including millions of low-income Republicans who will lose their healthcare coverage under this bill.

The Democrats in both chambers, on the other hand, were solid in their opposition to the bill. Still, there was little in the way of real outcry from the Blue Team. While they went through the motions—making Senate Republicans read the entire 887-page bill out loud and forcing votes on numerous amendments, all of which were defeated—to slow the process down somewhat, they did nothing to reduce the terrible impact the bill will have on most Americans. Low-income people who need government assistance, like Medicaid, the most, will be hit the hardest. Black Americans, students and those needing food assistance will also be negatively affected in a big way. Where is the Democrats’ outrage! What are they doing to mobilize all those opposed to Trump’s power grabs? And how are they going to make the Republicans accountable?

As for the Supreme Court, it’s recent ruling in the birthright citizenship case of Trump v. CASA siding with Trump puts all our rights at risk. Michael Waldman, President of the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law, noted that the CASA decision banning nationwide injunctions stripped federal judges of a key power used to stop illegal actions. The Court has handed Trump greater executive power at the expense of all Americans, just as its ruling on presidential immunity did last year.[2]

That means it’s up to us. We, the people, are the only ones who can save our democracy. But what can we do?

The national, grassroots organization, Indivisible, has a plan: One Million Rising, Strategic Non-cooperation to Fight Authoritarianism. One Million Rising is “a national effort to train one million people in the strategic logic and practice of non-cooperation, as well as the basics of community organizing and campaign design.”[3] The three-part, online training begins on July 16. For more details and to sign up for the training, go to https://www.mobilize.us/nokings/event/803953/?utm_source=email&utm_medium=_20250702link4.

We can stop Trump. But it’ll take all of us — not just on single days of mass action, but through sustained organizing in our communities. I urge you to sign up and get involved. Like never before, our country needs all of us now!

Bruce Berlin, J.D.

A retired, public sector ethics attorney, Berlin is the author of Breaking Big Money’s Grip on America (See breakingbigmoneysgrip.com.), the founder of New Mexicans for Money Out of Politics, a former U.S. Institute of Peace fellow, and the founder and former executive director of The Trinity Forum for International Security and Conflict Resolution. He can be reached at breakingbigmoneysgrip@gmail.com.

Subscribe to this blog at https://breakingbigmoneysgrip.com/my-blog-3/. Join the movement to revive our democracy. Together we can save the soul of America.

[1] https://www.yahoo.com/news/carveouts-alaska-tax-breaks-whalers-210111943.html?fr=yhssrp_catchall; https://www.yahoo.com/news/senate-republicans-sneak-wild-rule-131807906.html

[2] https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/supreme-court-nationwide-injunction

[3] https://www.mobilize.us/nokings/event/803953/?utm_source=email&utm_medium=_20250702link4

The Struggle for the Soul of America: We Will Stop Trump

Posted on June 20, 2025 by Author: Bruce Berlin

Last Saturday’s No Kings protest provided some hope that the American people can, and will, stop Donald Trump’s rush toward authoritarianism. While millions of Americans marching in the streets sent a strong message, that alone will not be enough to deter Trump. More must be done.

Recently, the youth-led Sunrise Movement announced the “End the Oligarchy, Save Our Futures” initiative, which aims to mobilize millions of people against the Trump administration and its backers in the fossil fuel industry.[1] It seeks to make the U.S. environmental and labor movements into a powerful political force.

“We intend to make sure millions of students are ready to join workers in demanding an overhaul of our political and economic system so that it finally works for everyday people,” proclaimed Aru Shiney-Ajay, executive director of the Sunrise Movement.[2] Once again, it’s the people, not the politicians, who are leading the fight.

At the same time, Indivisible Santa Fe is lobbying for a bipartisan Senate caucus to save our democracy. This caucus would work to stop Trump from taking actions that would directly threaten our democracy, such as denying the right of habeas corpus or ignoring Supreme Court rulings and possibly preventing a war with Iran. This caucus could be a very effective antidote to Trump’s unethical and unlawful edicts.

Indivisible members from New Mexico will be meeting with staff from Sen. Ben Ray Lujan’s office on Thursday, June 26, on a number of matters, including the possible formation of a bipartisan Senate caucus to save our democracy. Specifically, we are asking Sen. Lujan to approach Alaskan Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski and suggest they co-chair the caucus together.

The greater the number of New Mexicans who call or email Lujan urging him to support our proposal, the more likely he will agree to forming the caucus and asking Sen. Murkowski to co-chair it with him. So, here’s something you can do right now to help stop Trump. Call (202-224-6621) or write (https://www.lujan.senate.gov/contact/contact-form/) to Ben Ray and urge him to reach out to Sen. Murkowski and ask her to co-chair a bipartisan Senate caucus to Save Our Democracy with him. Once you’ve done that, forward this email to all your friends and colleagues, and ask them to contact Lujan as well.

Together, we will stop Trump.

Bruce Berlin J.D.

A retired, public sector ethics attorney, Berlin is the author of Breaking Big Money’s Grip on America (See breakingbigmoneysgrip.com.), the founder of New Mexicans for Money Out of Politics, a former U.S. Institute of Peace fellow, and the founder and former executive director of The Trinity Forum for International Security and Conflict Resolution. He can be reached at breakingbigmoneysgrip@gmail.com.

Subscribe to this blog at https://breakingbigmoneysgrip.com/my-blog-3/.

[1] https://www.commondreams.org/news/trump-climate-protest-oligarchy

[2] Ibid.

The Struggle for the Soul of America: Stop Trump from Destroying Our Democracy

Posted on May 30, 2025 by Author: Bruce Berlin

In an outrageous, blatant display of corruption, President Trump is selling access to the White House. He is using “his office for personal enrichment…selling face time to those who put money into his bank account by purchasing nearly $200 million worth of his branded souvenir crypto coins.”[1]

In addition, his overreach is totally out of control. Two federal courts have now ruled that Trump does not have the authority to issue “emergency tariffs on imports from around the world…”[2] (However, a federal appeals court has just put a temporary stay on that ruling.[3])

While this is par for the Trump we’ve come to know too well, some Senate Republicans are finally pushing back. Until recently, practically all Congressional Republicans either have been too afraid of retribution to cross him; or they refuse risking their potentially significant financial gains from his “big, beautiful budget” bill by challenging him.[4]

Even conservative Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) is voicing concerns about changes to Medicaid in Trump’s big budget bill that could lead to millions of people losing coverage. He warned colleagues in an op-ed published in The New York Times this month that cutting health care to pay for tax breaks would be “morally wrong and politically suicidal.”[5] GOP Sens. Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Thom Tillis (N.C.) are objecting to measures in the budget bill as well.[6]

The Santa Fe chapter of the national, grassroots organization Indivisible is leading an effort to harness this nascent Republican backlash against Trump’s unlawful and unethical measures. We have put out a call to Americans across the country to urge Sen. Murkowski to form a bipartisan caucus to save our democracy. Most importantly, this effort is catching on with her Alaskan constituents. See my April 30^th post at https://breakingbigmoneysgrip.com/my-blog/ for a copy of the letter to the senator which you are free to copy or use in drafting your own letter.

Perhaps it’s time to broaden the appeal to these other Republican senators who don’t see eye-to-eye with Trump. If you believe your senators, Republican or Democratic, might be willing to help form a bipartisan caucus to save our democracy, write to them as well as to Senator Murkowski. And ask your friends and email connections to do the same.

Here in New Mexico, I’m writing to Sen. Ben Ray Lujan, a young, Hispanic Democrat requesting that he speak to Sen. Murkowski and offer to co-chair this bipartisan caucus to save our democracy with her. The two of them together would broaden the appeal for such an effort. If you live in New Mexico, I urge you to write to him as well. The more senators hear from their constituents that we want them to work together to save our democracy, the more likely they will do just that. Time is running out. We all need to get to work now!

Bruce Berlin J.D.

Subscribe to this blog at https://breakingbigmoneysgrip.com/my-blog-3/.

[1] https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-coin-dinner-corruption_n_682e52bae4b09130a584ec82?origin=top-ad-recirc

[2] https://www.politico.com/news/2025/05/29/second-federal-court-rules-against-trumps-tariffs-00374377

[3] https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-tariffs-back-now-fights-194416188.html?fr=yhssrp_catchall

[4] https://www.commondreams.org/news/big-beautiful-bill

[5] https://www.newsweek.com/senate-republicans-demands-trump-big-bill-2077055

[6] https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5320674-senate-republicans-trump-bill-debate/

The Struggle for the Soul of America: Democratic Leadership Failing

Posted on March 20, 2025 by Author: Bruce Berlin

What Can We Do?

Last Friday, nine Democratic senators (plus one Independent) voted to avert a filibuster, allowing the passage of a Republican bill to fund the government for six months till the end of the fiscal year. By announcing he would vote to invoke cloture and end debate on the bill, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer gave the other eight Democratic senators cover to follow his lead, preventing a government shutdown.

Schumer claimed, “Under a shutdown, Trump and Elon Musk would have carte blanche to destroy vital government services at a significantly faster rate than they can right now.”[1] Despite his assertion, the great majority of Democratic senators and all but one House Dem supported shutting down the government.

The Dems who opposed the bill and voted to shut down the government believed supporting the bill would give Trump and Musk greater power. “I cannot vote for the Republican plan to give unchecked power to Donald Trump and Elon Musk,” Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) said in a statement.[2]

One could argue that either way, the Republicans would be in a more powerful position, and the Democrats would have little or, more likely, no sway. Still, by providing support for the Republican bill, the Dems appear to be weak and unwilling to fight for the American people.

Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif) noted, “If we pass this continuing resolution for the next half year, we will own what the president does.”[3] That would mean the Dems would have at least some responsibility for the huge funding cuts, the elimination of numerous services, and the firing of thousands of government employees that the Republican bill authorizes.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) slammed Schumer’s caving to the Republicans to avoid a shutdown, calling it a “tremendous mistake” and indicating “there is a wide sense of betrayal.”[4]

In addition, 91% of Indivisible leaders nationwide voted to call for Schumer to step aside as Senate Minority Leader.[5] And other grassroots activists concluded there is a “crisis of confidence in Chuck Schumer and Democratic leadership.” Another Democratic activist stated, “We need an opposition party, the Democrats are anything but!”[6]

The Democrats clearly don’t have their act together. Not only don’t they have a united strategy to oppose the Trump administration, but they also don’t agree on how forcefully to contest his policies. In addition, they have not offered the American people a positive alternative to Trump’s agenda that addresses the people’s everyday concerns. And, they lack strong leadership that can rally the troops and inspire the American people.

Time is running out before Trump becomes the autocrat he longs to be, and he can no longer be stopped. With the Democrats limping along, there’s only one thing that can still deter him. And that is us, the American people.

We can shut down the economy. We can boycott the giant corporations that support Trump. We can flood Congress with our messages and our bodies. We can elect strong representatives to overturn Trump’s agenda. We can expose Trump as the lying con artist he truly is. We can withdraw our money from the big banks that support Trump. And, much more.

Yes, we, the people, can take back our government from Trump and his billionaire lackeys. But it is going to take all of us. Here are just a few things you can do right now:

1. Join the boycotts and shutdowns and urge your friends and family to join as well.

2. Contact your Democratic senators and urge them to install more aggressive Senate leadership.

3. Contact your House representative and urge him/her to resist Trump’s policies.

4. Flood social media with how corrupt Trump is and how he is destroying our economy.

5. Organize town halls.

6. Write Letters to the Editor.

Join the resistance and help save our country from Trump and his self-serving Republican powermongers.

Bruce Berlin, J.D.

A retired, public sector ethics attorney, Berlin is a former U.S. Institute of Peace Fellow and the founder and former executive director of The Trinity Forum for International Security and Conflict Resolution. He is also the author of Breaking Big Money’s Grip on America. (See breakingbigmoneysgrip.com.). Contact him at breakingbigmoneysgrip@gmail.com. Subscribe to this blog at https://breakingbigmoneysgrip.com/my-blog-3/

[1] https://www.huffpost.com/entry/shutdown-democrats-trump_n_67d33122e4b022e5d6b350f9?origin=related-recirc

[2] Ibid.

[3] https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/chuck-schumer-vote-advance-gop-funding-bill-democratic-divisions-rcna196306

[4] https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/03/15/aoc-schumer-republican-government-funding-bill/82440167007/

[5] https://indivisible.org/statements/indivisible-calls-schumer-step-aside

[6] https://www.commondreams.org/news/schumer-our-revolution-survey

The Struggle for the Soul of America: We Are the Ones We’ve Been Waiting For

Posted on February 24, 2025 by Author: Bruce Berlin

American democracy is on life support. Trump, Musk and their Republican sycophants are doing everything they can to kill it and remake our country into an autocracy akin to Russia and Hungary. Trump is getting more cozy with Putin and now calls himself “the king.”[1]

In fact, there is newly revealed evidence that Trump has been a Russian asset since 1987. Reporter Craig Unger explains in his new book, American Kompromat, that Yuri Shvets, a former KGB spy confirmed on the record that Russian intelligence had been working Trump for decades. Shvets noted that Trump’s “most important characteristics (were) low intellect coupled with hyperinflated vanity.”[2]

While many Republicans will continue to stand by Trump, this latest revelation may be the tipping point for some GOP members of Congress, as well as many rank-and-file party supporters. They were already nervous about Trump’s siding with Putin over Ukraine’s President Zelensky. He has called Zelensky a dictator and accused him of starting the war with Russia, both of which are outright lies.[3]

Meanwhile, more and more Americans are finally realizing who Trump truly is and what he’s really about. The resistance to Trump’s unprecedented attack on our democracy is building. But it must grow into a massive democracy movement quickly before it’s too late. Nothing is more critical for thwarting Trump’s authoritarian coup than each of us getting involved in this movement now.

Last Monday on Presidents’ Day, an extensive national “Stop the Coup” rally brought a great number of Americans to each of the fifty state capitals to protest Trump’s efforts to wipe out our democracy.[4]

A series of boycotts are now being planned to demonstrate the power of the people and force large corporations and financial institutions to hopefully withdraw their support for Trump and his regime. (See https://www.yahoo.com/news/boycott-dates-upcoming-045900701.html?fr=yhssrp_catchall)

The first boycott, a national “24-hour Economic Blackout” on February 28^th, calls for all Americans to buy nothing for 24 hours, except essentials from small, local merchants, if absolutely necessary.[5] This will hit corporations where it hurts the most – in their pocketbooks – and alert them to the power of the people. Longer boycotts of specific corporations will reinforce this message over the next few months.

As the resistance grows, so will the chances our nation’s democracy will prevail. Robert Reich, professor of Public Policy at UC Berkeley and former Secretary of Labor under President Bill Clinton, recently provided 10 reasons for modest hope for beating back Trump’s authoritarian takeover. Among them were such good news as “Musk’s popularity is plunging” and the “federal courts are hitting back.”(See https://robertreich.substack.com/p/ten-reasons-for-optimism?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=365422&post_id=157206451&utm_campaign=email-post title&isFreemail=true&r=2saap&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email)

We, the people have the power to stop Trump’s coup. But it will take all of us.

Join the resistance. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.

(Note: I will only be publishing my blog occasionally for the next several months so that I can complete my memoir, From Camden to Kathmandu.)

Bruce Berlin, J.D.

Subscribe to this blog at https://breakingbigmoneysgrip.com/my-blog-3/.

[1] https://people.com/donald-trump-calls-himself-king-as-white-house-shares-fake-time-cover-11683451

[2] https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/ex-kgb-agent-trump-russian-asset-mueller-putin-kompromat-unger-book.html

[3] https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5158569-trump-zelensky-putin-ukraine-russia/

[4] https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/us-trump-protests-1.7450890

[5] https://www.newsweek.com/nationwide-economic-blackout-planned-boycott-dei-changes-2029548; and https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2025/02/12/national-no-spend-day-economic-blackout-amazon-walmart/78410711007/)

The Struggle for the Soul of America: Can Trump Be Stopped?

Posted on December 7, 2023 by Author: Bruce Berlin

In a recent Washington Post column, Editor-at-Large Robert Kagan wrote, “Let’s stop the wishful thinking and face the stark reality: There is a clear path to dictatorship in the United States, and it is getting shorter every day….The idea that he (Trump) is unelectable in the general election is nonsense — he is tied or ahead of President Biden in all the latest polls…”[1]

Kagan calculates that Trump will wrap up the Republican nomination three months from now on Super Tuesday. Once that happens, Kagan asserts that Trump will “become far more powerful than he already is” and people will be “falling into line.”[2]

One Republican who will not be “falling into line” is former Wyoming Congresswoman Liz Cheney. She has vowed “to do everything I can to stop Donald Trump,” which may include a third-party run of her own for the presidency next year.[3]

But it’s not just about stopping Trump in Cheney’s view. She wants the Democrats to win the majority in Congress as well in 2024. Cheney believes that a Republican majority presents a ‘threat’ to the nation: “We have to ensure that we don’t have a situation where an election that might be thrown into the House of Representatives is overseen by a Republican majority.”[4]

It is not at all clear that a Cheney third-party run would help prevent Trump from taking the White House. It could boost his chances if her campaign attracted Independents, conservative Democrats, and moderate Republicans who might have otherwise voted for Biden. In fact, any third-party candidacy that draws support from potential Biden voters will actually help Trump.

In addition to Cheney, numerous groups are working to defeat Trump’s campaign for the presidency. In last week’s blog,[5] I recommended joining Indivisible and reading its A Practical Guide to Defeating MAGA.[6] Other groups you might want to join and support are:

1. Protect Democracy (https://www.protectdemocracy.org) is dedicated to defeating the authoritarian threat, building more resilient democratic institutions, and protecting our freedom and liberal democracy.

2. Call To Activism (https://www.calltoactivism.com/) helps Democrats with messaging by defining issues on strong emotional terms that resonate with voters. It strives to stop the GOP from winning arguments and the Democrats from playing defense.

3. The Lincoln Project (lincolnproject.us/) works to protect the American Republic from Donald Trump and those who identify (publicly or privately) as MAGA supporters. It agrees with Trump on only one thing: 2024 is a battle for America’s future.

Finally, there is one other way of stopping Trump. Lawsuits in several states are now seeking to disqualify Trump from running for president under section 3 of the 14^th Amendment. Section 3 disqualifies anyone from holding public office if they have taken an oath to the United States and subsequently “engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same” unless Congress votes to remove that disqualification by a two-thirds vote. In Colorado, the state supreme court just heard arguments on the matter. In Michigan, a state appeals court will soon render a decision. And, in Minnesota, the state supreme court dismissed a similar case for the time being.[7]

In the end, it all comes down to you and me. How much do we care about the future of our country? How much time, energy and money are we each willing to contribute to saving our democracy? We all must pitch in and do whatever we can to defeat the greatest threat to our fragile American Republic since the Civil War. Contact one of the above groups to find out how you can help. Your country needs you now more than ever!

Bruce Berlin

Subscribe to this blog at https://breakingbigmoneysgrip.com/my-blog-3/. Join the movement to revive our democracy. Together we can save the soul of America.

[1] https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/11/30/trump-dictator-2024-election-robert-kagan/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_popns&utm_campaign=wp_opinions_pm

[2] Ibid.

[3] https://www.npr.org/2023/12/05/1217282237/liz-cheney-oath-and-honor-memoir#:~:text=Former%20Wyoming%20representative%20Liz%20Cheney,can%20to%20stop%20Donald%20Trump.%22

[4] https://www.politico.com/news/2023/12/03/liz-cheney-would-rather-see-democrats-win-2024-00129796 / bm

[5] https://breakingbigmoneysgrip.com/my-blog/

[6] https://indivisible.org/sites/default/files/2023-01/20220104_Indivisible_%20A%20Practical%20Guide%20to%20Defeating%20MAGA.pdf

[7] https://www.politico.com/news/2023/12/06/colorado-supreme-court-trump-insurrection-00130271;

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/nov/04/can-trump-be-removed-ballot-insurrection-clause-colorado