Rejoice? Yes – in the possibility we the people can rescue America from the wrecking ball. But not in having done it. The Italians have a proverb – “Una rondine non fa primavera – One swallow doesn’t make it spring.” One winning night at the polls, with the Nameless One whacked everywhere, heightens, not lessens, the threat to democracy. For it persuades the forces of darkness they cannot abduct America legally. Therefore, they’ll conclude, they must do it by force. As one of his goons gloated during the Jimmy Kimmel affair, “We can do this the hard way or the easy way.” That will be their thinking now.

The Nameless One and his cupbearers sound this theme constantly: they can do as they like, courts, Congress, local authorities, and norms be damned. Opposition they characterize as emergency, criticism as treason. The director of the FBI, you may have read, issued a challenge coin decorated with the symbol of the Punisher. A challenge coin, I learned, is an inspirational token, given to encourage a corps – a sort of numismatic pep talk. The Punisher, whom I’ve not been reading regularly, is a cartoon character whose real name is Frank Castle. Frank’s wife and kids were murdered, setting him on a career of extra-legal revenge. He murders his supposed adversaries, no trial, no questions asked, apparently to his readers’ delight. His symbol is a white skull.

This conflict must turn deadly. Because the Nameless One knows that if he and his lose, they will lose big, their fortunes, freedom, maybe their lives. They’ve bet the farm, as the saying goes, and while the Nameless One has almost certainly secured a dacha or six for his crime family just in case, his associates may not have been so provident. For them it’s do or die. The deciders, as in any coup, will be the military. Will the troops obey an illegal order from their commander to massacre their fellow citizens? Will local police defy the military in their communities’ defense? No one should be surprised if the streets of Manhattan, LA, Chicago or DC get slippery with blood. Remember their dress rehearsal on January 6, 2021?

How do we prepare for this inevitable showdown? Not by purchasing firearms or drones, though we may feel like it. By organizing, massing, shrieking, boycotting, spooking this regime’s enablers, bucking each other up. Seven million or so assembled on No Kings Day a month ago. Let that number be five times seven and for the Nameless One the game will be up. For the troops would rather lay down their weapons than shoot their grandmothers.

Am I increasing the chance of violence by talking violently? No. I’m readying mind and spirit, so I will not be paralyzed by shock when the crisis comes. Take my word, I’m a non-violent Milquetoast sans pareil; I’ve shot a gun once – at skeet – and thrown one punch – in self-defense – and enjoyed neither experience. I view hunting as barbarity, not sport. Military training never toughened me. But I foresee a day when, with guns blazing, I must decide my course. If I refuse to surrender America, I must fight for her.

Don’t be misled by optimism. If the Nameless One believes he will lose the 2026 midterms, he will either cancel them or invalidate their result. He and his have said as much and we must believe them. About this, at least, they are not lying. The thrill of the 2025 elections is hope. We the people can pack a punch. In our own way, for the sake of civilization and our grandkids, we must.