Source: TomDispatch
by Robert Lipsyte
“In early February, the barbarians reached my gate. There could be no more comfort or denial here on this island where I live. The masked thugs were roving through a town just across the water, a short ferry ride away, harassing and arresting long-time residents. I was shocked, but not surprised. What do we do now? Yes, we all knew they were coming, still…. I was raised in the post-World War II ‘it can’t happen here’ era. Hadn’t my parents’ generation crushed the Nazis for all time? While we’d been taught that democracy, like a faith or a marriage, did need tending, we had mostly taken it for granted. Yes, I did understand that life as I had lived it was under attack, but there was still, I thought, some time to respond.” (02/26/26)