Issue #970 The Choice, Thursday, December 18, 2025
As I tried to decide what to write about in my last post until 2026, I was determined not to end on a down note. Because, despite it all, and I assume you know what it is, there have been so many positive and hopeful signs of resistance. A refusal to let the madness of MAGA be the way the story ends. A determination that the last word will be up to us, not them.
In that spirit, in the spirit of the holidays, and because I am also determined to keep this short, I want to emphasize the power of joy. This came to me as I thought about how Trump’s crew is trying to erase any evidence of any accomplishments not accomplished by white males. They are doing their best to erase the truth.
They can’t erase the power of joy.
This may seem like a small or silly thing to some, but I assure you it is not. It was joy that encouraged the civil rights workers to sing as they fought and endured. And it was joy that fueled the No Kings Day protests, and the massive Black Lives Matter protests in response to the murder of George Floyd before that.
Not happiness. But joy.
Joy in the knowledge that they were doing what was right and what was necessary. Joy in the confidence that they would prevail. Joy in the comfort of so many other thousands of bodies supporting the cause around the country and in some cases around the entire world. Joy in the knowledge and deeply held belief that the enemy would not -and will not – be allowed to win.
Because this is our world, they are merely trespassers. And like all trespassers, they will be removed from the scene of their crimes.
