You’ll have to forgive us. We’re living under dictatorial rule.

And we’re all feeling it.

Take a look around: executive overreach, attacks on the press, defiance of court rulings, efforts to replace career public servants with loyalists, and the open goals of Project 2025.

This isn’t some distant threat. It’s a clear push to weaken democratic institutions and concentrate power in the hands of a few. And millions of us are feeling the weight of that, every single day.

I’ve been trying to put my finger on the heaviness I felt when I got back. Today, it finally hit me.

In Canada, people seemed energized. Rested. Hopeful.

The cashier joked with me. Strangers held doors for other strangers with an actual smile. Drivers gave space. People made eye contact. There was lightness. Stability. A baseline sense of functioning institutions and trust in governance.

Back here? It’s different.

The air feels heavier.

The roads feel meaner.

Even small talk feels like everyone is holding their breath.

It’s the exhaustion.

Not just the kind that comes from a long day. I’m talking about something deeper. Widespread. Collective. Like people are walking around with invisible weights strapped to their backs, trying not to collapse. A quiet kind of burnout that’s just… everywhere.

You can feel it in how people drive. In how they answer simple questions. In how quickly conversations turn into shrugs.

“How are you?”

“I’m okay. You know. The world,” as they throw their hands up and point to everything around them.

It’s not just you.

And it’s not just the anti-MAGA crowd.

Even MAGA is feeling the weight.

Because the system they helped build is now crumbling on top of them, too.

We’ve been in a nonstop cycle of crisis, chaos, and cruelty. And most people are just trying to make it through the day without falling apart. But here’s the thing: what’s happening is affecting us. The political is personal. The national is local. And no matter how much we try to push through it, it’s still there.

This week showed us again what we’re up against.

A man lost his job in clean energy.

He shared about it quietly, like he didn’t want to draw too much attention. Like he was ashamed. He shouldn’t be. He worked in solar. And right now, the solar industry is getting hit hard, not by global market forces, but by direct policy assaults. Trump’s 200% tariff on Chinese solar imports has made domestic solar projects financially impossible. And then his Big Beautiful Bill repealed the Inflation Reduction Act’s clean energy subsidies and redirected funding toward fossil fuel expansion. That’s not market fluctuation. That’s sabotage by his own government. By the leader of our country, who should have our collective best interests at heart, not his ego and the wallet of his billionaire friends.

Trump has made it clear that he does not support clean energy. His administration favors fossil fuel dominance over renewable innovation. He wants America to look like it did in 1985. Smog, smoke, oil rigs, and all. And now real people are paying the price. Not just with their jobs, but with their stability. Their homes. Their health.

And every time this happens, someone says, “But I didn’t vote for this.”

Except they did.

That’s not a ‘gotcha.’ That’s a grief statement.

Because deep down, they know they were lied to. And now it’s too late.

And then there’s this:

The Republicans just voted to block the release of records related to Jeffrey Epstein’s network of associates.

The same people who branded themselves as child protectors. The same ones who built entire movements on “saving the children.” They had a chance to prove it.

And instead, they voted to protect the perpetrators instead of the victims.

That should tell you everything.

If someone falsely accused me of something that horrific, and there were files that could clear my name? I would be the one demanding they be released.

Not buried. Not redacted. Not delayed.

So why are they hiding?

And if they do release anything? It’ll be redacted, edited, and carefully managed. Because the truth, whatever it is, clearly threatens someone powerful. And that’s what it’s always been about: protecting power.

It’s evil people doing evil things and getting away with it.

Meanwhile, the cruelty continues.

A federal judge struck down Biden’s rule that would have removed medical debt from credit reports.

The rule, announced by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in 2024, was designed to eliminate up to $49 billion in unfairly reported debt from Americans’ credit histories. But the U.S. District Court judge, ruling in favor of a coalition of Republican attorneys general, claimed the CFPB had overstepped its regulatory authority (The Sun, July 2024).

This wasn’t about legal technicalities. This was about deciding that profit protection mattered more than people’s lives.

People don’t rack up medical debt because they’re reckless.

They do it because they want to live.

They do it because their kid is sick.

Because their insulin costs more than their rent.

Because they couldn’t afford not to go to the ER.

And now we’re saying, “Too bad. Pay the price. Lose your house. Lose your car. You should’ve stayed healthy.”

And it’s not just that.

Trump is now pressuring Texas Republicans to redraw their congressional maps ahead of the 2026 midterms.

He’s openly demanding that the state eliminate competitive districts to ensure MAGA control (AP News, July 2025). This follows years of extreme partisan gerrymandering and recent Supreme Court decisions that weakened federal oversight of redistricting.

He wants to lock in power before the next election.

Gerrymandering. Voter suppression. It’s all part of the same strategy: make sure your vote counts less, or not at all.

And they’re not even hiding it anymore.

They’re just doing it.

While we’re playing by the rules, they’re rewriting them.

While we’re trying to organize, they’re cutting access to free and fair elections.

While we’re focused on hope, they’re laser-focused on control.

Don’t fall for the distraction.

Every move they make is about power.

And still, there’s more.

In West Virginia, a federal court upheld severe restrictions on abortion pill access, despite FDA approval (Reuters, July 2025).

This ruling undermines decades of precedent giving federal agencies authority over drug safety and access. The court sided with the state’s argument that it has a right to ban mifepristone even if the FDA deems it safe, an argument that directly challenges national public health law.

Just another way to chip away at reproductive rights.

This was never about life. It was always about control.

And they’re going to keep taking until there’s nothing left to take.

This is the moment we’re in.

And I know how it feels.

You look around and everything looks normal.

The sun is out. The kids are playing. The groceries are bagged.

But just beneath the surface, the ground is shifting.

We are in the fight of our lives for what this country will be.

For whether it will even be a democracy at all. If it will be a safe place for all. If it will be run as a Christian Nationalist society. If the Constitution still matters.

This is not business as usual.

This is not politics as usual.

This is not a drill.

We need a clear, unified front.

We need leadership that doesn’t flinch.

We need governors, mayors, and senators standing shoulder to shoulder and saying: Enough.

We are done being polite about fascism.

We need to call it exactly what it is, fascism.

Fascism is authoritarian ultranationalism built on suppression, propaganda, and centralized power. And what do you think Project 2025 is? What do you think it means to promise military force against civilians, to purge public workers for political loyalty, to use the DOJ as a weapon? It’s not just creeping authoritarianism. It’s galloping.

We are done being quiet while people suffer.

And we need each other.

We need you.

Here’s what you can do right now:

☑️ Make sure you’re registered to vote.

☑️ Share this post with someone who doesn’t follow politics.

☑️ Talk to one person, just one, about why 2025 isn’t just another year. It’s a turning point.

☑️ Ask your friends to follow me here, too.

Because we are not powerless.

Because we still have time.

Because the only way out is through.

And this time?

We bring the fire. We bring the votes.

We bring the truth.

And we win.

See you tomorrow, and try to get some rest.

-Heather

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