Issue #917 The Choice, Thursday, August 28, 2025
For some, the preferred way to deal with Trump is to go along to get along. Bend over, drop ‘em, and smile as you compliment the strained, grunting, gyrating methods of the beast currently assaulting you. Convince yourself it’s not rape because then you might get a cookie when the beast is done.
That approach doesn’t seem to work for Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, who essentially just told Trump to go f--- himself if he even thinks about deploying the National Guard to his state of Illinois, because he has no plans of allowing Trump’s threat to go unanswered. Trump made this threat last Friday, after having already deployed the National Guard to Los Angeles and then Washington, D.C., under the guise of attacking a fabricated crime wave that never landed on shore. Although he would prefer that Pritzker beg him to please send in that guard to quell a manufactured crisis that does not exist, he suggested that if the beg was not forthcoming, then he might have to go Full Trump on the Illinois Governor.
Pritzker didn’t even blink.
“Do not come to Chicago, you are neither wanted here nor needed here,” Pritzker said on Monday.
And furthermore, "If you hurt my people, nothing will stop me - not time or political circumstance - from making sure that you face justice under our constitutional rule of law. …Hopefully the president will reconsider this dangerous and misguided encroachment upon our state and our city's sovereignty. Hopefully rational voices, if there are any left inside the White House or the Pentagon, will prevail in the coming days. If not, we're going to face an unprecedented and difficult time ahead," he said. "But I know you, Chicago, and I know you are up to it."
This is how you do it. This is the attitude we need from our elected leaders to win this thing; don’t negotiate, don’t fold in advance, and don’t take the high road. Let Trump know not to get you confused with the more timid, so-called leaders, because you are willing to bring the fight, and that is because you don’t scare. Victory is never guaranteed to either side in a full-on battle, but defeat is most certainly guaranteed to those not willing to stand up and fight.
Similarly, because we can’t afford to leave it all up to the politicians, not even the warriors like Pritzker, we need those in the trenches to resist as well. Like those FEMA employees who simply couldn’t take it anymore and wrote a strong public letter of dissent on Monday against what Trump’s cuts are doing to their agency and how that threatens the nation’s safety. It reads in part:
“Since January 2025, FEMA has been under the leadership of individuals lacking legal qualifications, Senate approval, and the demonstrated background required of a FEMA Administrator. Decisions made by FEMA’s Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Administrator (SOPDA) David Richardson, Former SOPDA Cameron Hamilton, and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem erode the capacity of FEMA and our State, Local, Tribal, and Territorial (SLTT) partners, hinder the swift execution of our mission, and dismiss experienced staff whose institutional knowledge and relationships are vital to ensure effective emergency management.
“The agency’s current trajectory reflects a clear departure from the intent of PKEMRA. Our shared commitment to our country, our oaths of office, and our mission of helping people before, during, and after disasters compel us to warn Congress and the American people of the cascading effects of decisions made by the current administration. We, the undersigned — current and former FEMA workers — have come together to sound the alarm to our administrators, the US Congress, and the American people so that we can continue to lawfully uphold our individual oaths of office and serve our country as our mission dictates.”
I would be lying if I said I often feel hopeful about whether this country will survive what we’re going through. More often than I’d like to admit, I find myself afraid that this really might be the end of democracy as we know it. But then there are weeks like this when true leaders like Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and those FEMA fighters in the trenches give me hope.
That’s when I have to remind myself that the fight isn’t over until you drop your guard.
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Why should He! Why should anyone! The orange felon is Not even a shell of a man he’s a portion of a loud mouth delusional puppet fading away into the darkness! Most moments he doesn’t even realize what he’s talking about! The sycophants pulling the strings are taking full advantage but they’ll soon Pay too!!! America is Reclaiming Her Throne and She’s Damn Sure Takin Prisoners Periodt!!!