Our democracy, and at this point the security of our country, is threatened by a cabal of people deeply unworthy of the power they now hold in this country. This isn’t a moment to further analyze how we got here, however; it’s a moment to analyze where things have to go from here. Democrats gaining back the House and Senate will be a powerful win, if it occurs, but it in no way means that all our problems will be over. First of all, should that occur we have no idea what President Trump’s response would be. Many speculate he would become apoplectic, doing anything from suing State election officials to seizing ballot boxes and voting machines to even declaring martial law and seeking to interrupt the certification process. It’s long past time when any reasonable person should assume the rule of law means anything to Donald Trump. In his mind, the highest law is himself.
[. . .] Somehow, someday, we will get through this dangerous period.
Whether it will be sooner or it will be later, I do not know. But we should start articulating now what we want on the other side of it. Christopher Life, founder of United Independents, has said the values which should guide all policy decisions – independent of the limitations and biases of either major political party – are the following: 1) to prevent harm; 2) to reduce human suffering; 3) to increase the quality of life; and 4) to steward well the natural world. I could not agree more.
Having had my own experiences trying to articulate a more enlightened politics, I received regularly the mockery of those who run the political game as it now exists. Notice that to them it is a game, while to us it is our lives. It was said repeatedly that I was naive to think we could shift our political bottom line from corporate profits (in this case, the profits of war manufacturers) to humanitarian and democratic values. I said then, and I say now, that what’s naive is to think we will survive another hundred years on this planet if we don’t at least try.
We’re more than playing with fire at this point. The fire is already burning. May there be a concomitant fire within ourselves, as beginning now we rise to the challenges of this moment, preparing for next Tuesday, engaged on that day and every day thereafter in whatever way conscious citizenship demands.
The Pentagon has instructed major U.S. military bases to prepare to be able to function independently for ninety days. Several Western countries have warned their citizens to keep 3 to 10 days worth of survival supplies on hand in case of major disruptions. It’s very clear that something is brewing. Some believe that in the event of an all out war, the President might shut down the power grid to prevent Iran (or anyone else) from being able to attack it.
When reading about the Cuban missile crisis we learn there were people around Khrushchev, as well as Kennedy, pretty much gunning for nuclear confrontation between Russia and the United States. Yet there were also those around both of them who more than anything were citizens of the world, successfully advising both leaders to come back from the brink of nuclear war. Had the champions of brute force prevailed, it’s possible that none of us would be here today.
I was ten years old during the Cuban missile crisis, and I remember my parents glued to the TV news one night as events unfolded. I remember the seriousness of the looks on their faces, and one of them saying that we might go to war. I remember when my mother saw me standing at the door she said, “What are you doing up, Marianne? Say your prayers honey and go back to bed.”
Once again we’re in this terrible place, where the purveyors of war are on an outrageous rampage. In so many ways we’ve simply circled back to where this country has a habit of finding itself far too often. But I’m not ten years old anymore, and neither are you. Our mission now isn’t to pray and go back to bed. Our mission is to pray and wake up.
– Marianne Williamson
Excerpted from “To War or Not to War”
Transform
October 31, 2026
Excerpted from “To War or Not to War”
Transform
October 31, 2026
Related Off-site Links:
How Trump and His Allies Seek to Interfere in the U.S. Midterm Elections – Sam Levine (The Guardian, October 31, 2026).
The Pentagon and Britain Are Bracing for the Power to Go Out – Sydney Lake (Fortune, October 30, 2026).
What We Know About the Pentagon’s FORTRESS Initiative to Keep Military Bases Running Off-Grid – Laerke Christensen (Snopes, October 26, 2026).
