We've been here before. Nothing changes. Fifty or more senators hold 90% of the American people hostage. Yes, 90% of Americans want stricter gun control laws, yet over 50 US senators refuse to move forward on a bill that has been sitting on their desks for two years. The house has already passed a gun bill requiring background checks; the senate refuses to act. Why?

The reason is simple and disgusting. These senators (almost every single Republican senator) refuse to risk losing the support and money from the NRA and their radical right base which includes Evangelicals, Proud Boys, White Supremicists, Nazi Sympathizers, Conspiracy Theorists, and greedy coporate leaders paying little or no taxes.

At a time when we should be fighting to save our Earth, a segment of our society is bent on turning our Democracy into an autocracy. Their mouthpieces work for Fox News run by a man and his son who are only focused on making money. They hire individuals willing to lie and damage their own country to make money and gain a power base of some of the most desperate, propagandized, and morally bankrupt individuals our country has ever known.

Now, we mourn our children murdered and shot beyond recognition by guns made solely for mass killings. We mourn our black citizens who are shot for being black.  When will it stop? The Republican Party is no more one of patriots and reason. It has been replaced by Trumpers and Replacement Theory conspiracists. Anyone voting Republican today is casting a vote for an autocracy led by a dictator who will do his best to destroy our Democracy. Anyone who believes the Big Lie is complicit. Trump wants to be Putin, and those who bow to Trump will fall on the wrong side of history because most Americans still believe in Truth--not alternative facts based an an alternate reality. Americans believe in the nobility of our Constitution. We will not surrender to dictators or those who blindly support them. We see such dictatorial examples around the world: Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini, Idi Amin, Franco, Putin, Assad, Xi, Netanyahu, Erdogan, Kim Jong-un, and the list goes on. They all fall sooner or later. People deserve the right to be free--free to determine their own destiny.

There is only one way I can see to stop this madness. Democrats and Independents must come together and vote to install leaders who will listen to Americans wanting to change America's flawed politics: stricter gun laws, a cleaner environment, and take all money out of politics. We can do this, but it will take a grassroots effort. It all begins with you--one person at a time. Vote. Refuse to stay silent. Stand up to the loud-mouth bullies. Believe in yourself and others. We can do this.