"Recalling the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr., [Senator Cory] Booker said that 'the problem today we have to repent for is not just the vitriolic words and violent actions of the bad people, but also the appalling silence and inaction of the good people. This is the time Americans have to step up and let their voices be heard.'” Heather Cox Richardson, May 31, 2025.
Any government officials in the present - or any - White House administration who place opinions before facts, or submission before duty, or power or employment above the rule of law do so selfishly.
Any citizen who approves - explicitly or by acquiescence, by "silence and inaction" - such officials' behavior does so selfishly, daily life being always a constant series of choices, including how we react to discomfort or fear or the prospect of greater discomfort or fear.
It is all right, indeed unavoidable, to be selfish. Citizens who oppose such officials' behavior, immediately or when the discomfort of "silence and inaction" itself becomes intolerable, do so selfishly, too. Service of anything we value beyond our personal comfort and gain, particularly the survival and improvement of the rule of law - of our experiment in democracy - gives our lives meaning and fulfillment.
The question is what do citizens of the United States - of any nation - who value the rule of law, freedom of speech, equal justice for all, and reasonable stability along the path to societal improvement do today? We do the best we can see to do. As stated by Prof. Drew Gilpin Faust, "We are not being asked to run into cannon fire. We [at least] need to speak up."
