Keeping the faith is easier said than done. Over time, people get worn down…not by one dramatic moment, but by the slow grind of disappointment, the sense that nothing changes fast enough, and the feeling that the world keeps asking more of us than it gives back.
Hope doesn’t vanish all at once; it erodes, quietly, until even the most resilient people start to wonder what the point is.
That’s the pessimistic truth.
And yet…the story never ends there. Because even when institutions fail, people don’t.
Humans have an astonishing capacity to rebuild meaning out of wreckage, to find each other in the dark, and to create small pockets of decency that eventually become something larger.
History is full of moments where everything looked finished, and then ordinary people refused to let the worst version of the world be the final one.
Hope isn’t a feeling; it’s a practice. And humanity, for all its failures, keeps proving that it’s capable of choosing something better than despair.
In this fragile moment hope and faith has had its ups and downs. I prepare for the worst and hope for the best and in the end, I know we will prevail. There are many more of us than the sociopathic fascists. Courage...
We ordinary people have a job. To show up. Show up at rallies and protests. Show up online. Show up in op-eds and letters to our representatives. Show up by supporting financially to the extent we can organizations who are fighting the good fight. And SHOW UP AND VOTE. We can also volunteer to work at a polling station to keep an eye on what is going on. Also, cameras at the ready at all times.
Mine too. Steve, your posts are a big part of what keeps me going and inspires me. I refuse to allow my grandchildren to grow up in a dictatorship so I will keep protesting whenever I can.
Until this hour I've never venerated the American Flag more than in my 75 years. It was the image of the flag you posted which lifted my spirit. I'm comforted knowing you're the custodian of this flag and I can't think of anyone better than you to give us its true meaning.
Steve, thank you for the reminder to buck up and keep the faith. I watch and I read, deeply, every day, because I know I will see justice prevail. My first disagreement with you, though. I realize there is no time for blame--none--but I do blame Americans for this situation. The only piece here in the equation to keep my mind off this jack ass and his circle is to hold them up to a mirror as a reflection of our collective stupidity, not once, but twice. We are at this point because of our stupidity, our ignorance, our 4th grade reading level, our distractions, our failure to hold our leadership to accountability. A nine-year-old could look at 1/20 footage on mute and suss out the evil and the root cause. Is it all sinking in now, America? don's approval rating is still way high, worse than a morning fast high glucose reading, a stubborn, insulin resistant culture--inflamed and still kinda dumb. I respect and admire the early, hopeful comments from your other loyal readers. But what change agent is on the horizon for us here? Maybe nothing short of Civil-War-like strife.
That is an incredible story about the French made American flag. People need to be made aware of the sacrifices our ancestors have made for this country. I hope the students at the school that now is home to this precious flag understand the importance of that moment of liberation. We cannot go back to that time of tyranny. Freedom for all is what this country is about. It is an exhaustive battle when our Congress has crumpled up and tossed the Constitution to bow to a dictator. They have disgraced our flag and need to be removed from government to allow a generation of people who will “ask what they can do for their country”. Thank you Steve Schmidt for a lesson in history.
Thank you for the beautiful story of the USA flag made by the French and carried by the Army. It is a reminder that freedom is not free.
And thank you to the SAM team for this moving video.
Appropriately remembering MLK and al those who have given the ultimate sacrifice for our goals of a more inclusive country, we should say "We shall overcome."
It is a noble sentiment, but I have lost faith. When the government drags teachers out of their classrooms, deports children suffering with cancer, and murders a young mom in cold blood, it is over, done, and out.
If America is not responsible for the horrors of the Trump/MAGA/Christian nationalist horrors we face, then who is? The widespread prejudices, racism, xenophobia, Christian fundamentalism, and toleration of an ever increasingly powerful presidency is at the heart of our political troubles. Beginning with Reagan, the federal government began to cater to the desires of the uberwealthy and Christian fanatics; at the core of the belief in "American exceptionalism," is the idea that we, meaning "heritage Americans," identified by their countries of origin and how long ago their ancestors arrived, are superior to "others." Vaunted ideals no longer play a role in the American identity. Those ideals and values have been replaced by swearing loyalty to one man and one religion and this replacement has been furthered by the election of Magats to Congress and the confirmation of SCOTUS justices like Roberts, Thomas, Aito, Gorsuch, Barrett, and Kavanaugh.
This is the ultimate outcome of belief in a "unitary executive," the right's code word for dictator:
“It’s some deep psychological thing, but when you win the presidency, you don’t win the midterms,” Trump said. He boasted that he had accomplished so much that “when you think of it, we shouldn’t even have an election.”
I saw trump make that statement on MSNOW, and my blood froze! How do we inform/educate the people who only watch sports, or game shows? How do we inform/educate the people who only watch FOXTV and other conservative shows, or follow social media, or listen to conservative radio talk shows? They d0on't want to hear the truth! They would rather bury their heads in the sand, and then vote, as they have always voted, at the General Election, just checking off the candidates in their GOOP/MAGA Party! "The Warning" allows me to vent my frustration at what is going on, but it is preaching to the crowd. So is MSNOW! I scream at the TV screen, to the interviewees-don't tell us, tell this to the trumpers, tell this to the rest of America!
I grew up with the positivity influencers and people who advocated to not "rock the boat". People did not feel their emotions, they supressed them pushing them down to the belly and creature comforts. Fraud proliferated along with all the addictions, easy believisms, denialism and all the social problems that come with "prosperity" and status. The doctors were always there to push their pills and treatments, many of them unnecessary and unhealthy. "...you wouldn't be here unless you wanted our help".
We tolerate outrageous abuses of physical autonomy and acts of irresponsibility. A third of the internet is porn-related, to address that addiction you'd probably have to have only a tenth of the resources of porn dedicated to de-bunkers, exposing how the fantasy does not show the emotional trauma and wreckage, the physical toll taken by violations of personal health and autonomy. The commercial powers are too great to counter their wasting influences.
Just finished reading Steve’s “Keep the Faith” this morning. I needed this “Buck up” . Big time. 74 years old, recuperating at home from foot surgery, limping around and feeling sorry for myself. I needed this. The news that Trump, pathetically but predictably, accepted another’s Nobel Prize was more good news - underscoring there is literally nothing redeeming about Dear Leader. China’s trade deal with Canada, further rebuking Trump’s idiotic grade school tariff “diplomacy”, more good news, as is the deployment of EU troops to Greenland 🇬🇱. It’s all crumbling about the Administration’s feet of clay. In this time of Patriots and Traitors, like US Grant, I’ll stand against Trump, his Administration of corruption and incompetence, and stand with fellow Patriots until the end…
The American flag as a symbol has been hijacked by MAGA. I really don't like seeing people wearing the flag, but it's all a matter of choice, I guess. I wish those opposed to this Administration's actions would not carry upside down flags because opposition is right side up. Protestors should feel free to carry the flag, the more the better. That's the point. They protest on behalf of America.
Your words are encouraging, Steve, but I disagree with you about not blaming the people who voted for Trump. After all of the crimes he committed, including, the January 6th insurrection, for them to have voted for him shows a lack of morals. Most of them voted for him for selfish reasons. All they cared about was paying less for eggs. They didn't care about his threats against brown people and transgender people. They ignored the warnings about Project 2025. All of the death and destruction caused by Trump and his regime is their responsibility to share. I will never forgive them.
We do have to blame the people who voted for this. And it is not just the top, but the people who have elected Kristi Noem, Pam Bondi, Tommy Tuberville, Marsha Blackburn, Lindsey Graham, Ron DeSantis, Mitch McConnell and on and on and on. A rogue’s gallery of the worst in this country and they all have won elections. Pathetic.
We have endured an exhausting ten years with constant anger, vitriol and now murder of peaceful citizens. Yes, we must maintain faith that right will prevail and overcome the fascist virus that controls our government. Peaceful demonstrations, which of course are precisely what the fascists suppress with brutality as they invite armed resistance, are the only thing that we can do until a leader emerges to inspire those who are lost. A leader who an control the daily narrative that trump has usurped for years. The message must be centered on our founding principles of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Affordability? Yes, but coupled with inspiration for those ideals that most of us believe in. Basic decency cannot be so hard to promote even with the iron fist of unleashed thugs in our streets and at our doors. Violence is trump's answer to everything but we must maintain fait that peaceful protest will prevail, despite more bloodshed.
Well said, Andrew. We are a troubled citizenry in a troubled time awaiting a strong leader. Where is our next John Kennedy, Franklin Roosevelt or Martin Luther King?
Donald Trump is merely the razor sharp Clovis point at the tip of a spear being wielded by the voting majority thats being driven into the belly of the other half.
What action will it take
to transfer your anger from the symbol, to the trigger men? When the violence that’ll likely follow the next impeachment arrives will you remain indifferent to the writ large J6 mob until the injured (or worse) includes your own associates, your friends, your family, you?
You are relegating the voting majority as quasi-innocent drivers of a get-a-way car, and reserving pique for the mastermind alone.
It takes a village of criminals to pull off the greatest heist in history and while we can’t prosecute every traitor who pulled the monkey’s lever, we cannot be indifferent to their shame.
These MAGA morons have no clue about sacrifice and what the flag truly means. I feel for the souls that paid the ultimate price on behalf of this nation. They are all looking down in disgrace
Keeping the faith is easier said than done. Over time, people get worn down…not by one dramatic moment, but by the slow grind of disappointment, the sense that nothing changes fast enough, and the feeling that the world keeps asking more of us than it gives back.
Hope doesn’t vanish all at once; it erodes, quietly, until even the most resilient people start to wonder what the point is.
That’s the pessimistic truth.
And yet…the story never ends there. Because even when institutions fail, people don’t.
Humans have an astonishing capacity to rebuild meaning out of wreckage, to find each other in the dark, and to create small pockets of decency that eventually become something larger.
History is full of moments where everything looked finished, and then ordinary people refused to let the worst version of the world be the final one.
Hope isn’t a feeling; it’s a practice. And humanity, for all its failures, keeps proving that it’s capable of choosing something better than despair.
—Johan
In this fragile moment hope and faith has had its ups and downs. I prepare for the worst and hope for the best and in the end, I know we will prevail. There are many more of us than the sociopathic fascists. Courage...
We ordinary people have a job. To show up. Show up at rallies and protests. Show up online. Show up in op-eds and letters to our representatives. Show up by supporting financially to the extent we can organizations who are fighting the good fight. And SHOW UP AND VOTE. We can also volunteer to work at a polling station to keep an eye on what is going on. Also, cameras at the ready at all times.
This post is you at your best. 👊🏼. It brought tears to my eyes.
Mine too. Steve, your posts are a big part of what keeps me going and inspires me. I refuse to allow my grandchildren to grow up in a dictatorship so I will keep protesting whenever I can.
Until this hour I've never venerated the American Flag more than in my 75 years. It was the image of the flag you posted which lifted my spirit. I'm comforted knowing you're the custodian of this flag and I can't think of anyone better than you to give us its true meaning.
US Army, 82nd ABN
Steve, thank you for the reminder to buck up and keep the faith. I watch and I read, deeply, every day, because I know I will see justice prevail. My first disagreement with you, though. I realize there is no time for blame--none--but I do blame Americans for this situation. The only piece here in the equation to keep my mind off this jack ass and his circle is to hold them up to a mirror as a reflection of our collective stupidity, not once, but twice. We are at this point because of our stupidity, our ignorance, our 4th grade reading level, our distractions, our failure to hold our leadership to accountability. A nine-year-old could look at 1/20 footage on mute and suss out the evil and the root cause. Is it all sinking in now, America? don's approval rating is still way high, worse than a morning fast high glucose reading, a stubborn, insulin resistant culture--inflamed and still kinda dumb. I respect and admire the early, hopeful comments from your other loyal readers. But what change agent is on the horizon for us here? Maybe nothing short of Civil-War-like strife.
I fear you are dead right. Until the inconvenience of civil war comes to the apathetic half, will they care enough to form an opinion and act on it.
That is an incredible story about the French made American flag. People need to be made aware of the sacrifices our ancestors have made for this country. I hope the students at the school that now is home to this precious flag understand the importance of that moment of liberation. We cannot go back to that time of tyranny. Freedom for all is what this country is about. It is an exhaustive battle when our Congress has crumpled up and tossed the Constitution to bow to a dictator. They have disgraced our flag and need to be removed from government to allow a generation of people who will “ask what they can do for their country”. Thank you Steve Schmidt for a lesson in history.
Thank you for the beautiful story of the USA flag made by the French and carried by the Army. It is a reminder that freedom is not free.
And thank you to the SAM team for this moving video.
Appropriately remembering MLK and al those who have given the ultimate sacrifice for our goals of a more inclusive country, we should say "We shall overcome."
It is a noble sentiment, but I have lost faith. When the government drags teachers out of their classrooms, deports children suffering with cancer, and murders a young mom in cold blood, it is over, done, and out.
Not only has the government done all of the above — and more — but it actually defends these atrocities.
If America is not responsible for the horrors of the Trump/MAGA/Christian nationalist horrors we face, then who is? The widespread prejudices, racism, xenophobia, Christian fundamentalism, and toleration of an ever increasingly powerful presidency is at the heart of our political troubles. Beginning with Reagan, the federal government began to cater to the desires of the uberwealthy and Christian fanatics; at the core of the belief in "American exceptionalism," is the idea that we, meaning "heritage Americans," identified by their countries of origin and how long ago their ancestors arrived, are superior to "others." Vaunted ideals no longer play a role in the American identity. Those ideals and values have been replaced by swearing loyalty to one man and one religion and this replacement has been furthered by the election of Magats to Congress and the confirmation of SCOTUS justices like Roberts, Thomas, Aito, Gorsuch, Barrett, and Kavanaugh.
The United States is just returning to its roots, which was the death and destruction of Native peoples and the enslavement of Africans.
This is the ultimate outcome of belief in a "unitary executive," the right's code word for dictator:
“It’s some deep psychological thing, but when you win the presidency, you don’t win the midterms,” Trump said. He boasted that he had accomplished so much that “when you think of it, we shouldn’t even have an election.”
https://archive.ph/BBBz1#selection-1507.0-1511.219
I saw trump make that statement on MSNOW, and my blood froze! How do we inform/educate the people who only watch sports, or game shows? How do we inform/educate the people who only watch FOXTV and other conservative shows, or follow social media, or listen to conservative radio talk shows? They d0on't want to hear the truth! They would rather bury their heads in the sand, and then vote, as they have always voted, at the General Election, just checking off the candidates in their GOOP/MAGA Party! "The Warning" allows me to vent my frustration at what is going on, but it is preaching to the crowd. So is MSNOW! I scream at the TV screen, to the interviewees-don't tell us, tell this to the trumpers, tell this to the rest of America!
I grew up with the positivity influencers and people who advocated to not "rock the boat". People did not feel their emotions, they supressed them pushing them down to the belly and creature comforts. Fraud proliferated along with all the addictions, easy believisms, denialism and all the social problems that come with "prosperity" and status. The doctors were always there to push their pills and treatments, many of them unnecessary and unhealthy. "...you wouldn't be here unless you wanted our help".
We tolerate outrageous abuses of physical autonomy and acts of irresponsibility. A third of the internet is porn-related, to address that addiction you'd probably have to have only a tenth of the resources of porn dedicated to de-bunkers, exposing how the fantasy does not show the emotional trauma and wreckage, the physical toll taken by violations of personal health and autonomy. The commercial powers are too great to counter their wasting influences.
The vilest mental case on earth is in the most important public-service job there is.
Just finished reading Steve’s “Keep the Faith” this morning. I needed this “Buck up” . Big time. 74 years old, recuperating at home from foot surgery, limping around and feeling sorry for myself. I needed this. The news that Trump, pathetically but predictably, accepted another’s Nobel Prize was more good news - underscoring there is literally nothing redeeming about Dear Leader. China’s trade deal with Canada, further rebuking Trump’s idiotic grade school tariff “diplomacy”, more good news, as is the deployment of EU troops to Greenland 🇬🇱. It’s all crumbling about the Administration’s feet of clay. In this time of Patriots and Traitors, like US Grant, I’ll stand against Trump, his Administration of corruption and incompetence, and stand with fellow Patriots until the end…
Exactly. The flag belongs exclusively to those who honor, uphold, and defend the Constitution. Full stop.
The American flag as a symbol has been hijacked by MAGA. I really don't like seeing people wearing the flag, but it's all a matter of choice, I guess. I wish those opposed to this Administration's actions would not carry upside down flags because opposition is right side up. Protestors should feel free to carry the flag, the more the better. That's the point. They protest on behalf of America.
Your words are encouraging, Steve, but I disagree with you about not blaming the people who voted for Trump. After all of the crimes he committed, including, the January 6th insurrection, for them to have voted for him shows a lack of morals. Most of them voted for him for selfish reasons. All they cared about was paying less for eggs. They didn't care about his threats against brown people and transgender people. They ignored the warnings about Project 2025. All of the death and destruction caused by Trump and his regime is their responsibility to share. I will never forgive them.
We do have to blame the people who voted for this. And it is not just the top, but the people who have elected Kristi Noem, Pam Bondi, Tommy Tuberville, Marsha Blackburn, Lindsey Graham, Ron DeSantis, Mitch McConnell and on and on and on. A rogue’s gallery of the worst in this country and they all have won elections. Pathetic.
Agree. No Washington insider made people vote for Trump or stay away from the polls. This on those voters who let Trump back into power.
We have endured an exhausting ten years with constant anger, vitriol and now murder of peaceful citizens. Yes, we must maintain faith that right will prevail and overcome the fascist virus that controls our government. Peaceful demonstrations, which of course are precisely what the fascists suppress with brutality as they invite armed resistance, are the only thing that we can do until a leader emerges to inspire those who are lost. A leader who an control the daily narrative that trump has usurped for years. The message must be centered on our founding principles of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Affordability? Yes, but coupled with inspiration for those ideals that most of us believe in. Basic decency cannot be so hard to promote even with the iron fist of unleashed thugs in our streets and at our doors. Violence is trump's answer to everything but we must maintain fait that peaceful protest will prevail, despite more bloodshed.
Well said, Andrew. We are a troubled citizenry in a troubled time awaiting a strong leader. Where is our next John Kennedy, Franklin Roosevelt or Martin Luther King?
Yes Andrew. One galvanizing leader is our only hope. Without that, we are a mighty force bouncing like lost electrons generating insufficient current.
“I will save my anger for Donald Trump…”
WRONG
Donald Trump is merely the razor sharp Clovis point at the tip of a spear being wielded by the voting majority thats being driven into the belly of the other half.
What action will it take
to transfer your anger from the symbol, to the trigger men? When the violence that’ll likely follow the next impeachment arrives will you remain indifferent to the writ large J6 mob until the injured (or worse) includes your own associates, your friends, your family, you?
You are relegating the voting majority as quasi-innocent drivers of a get-a-way car, and reserving pique for the mastermind alone.
It takes a village of criminals to pull off the greatest heist in history and while we can’t prosecute every traitor who pulled the monkey’s lever, we cannot be indifferent to their shame.
These MAGA morons have no clue about sacrifice and what the flag truly means. I feel for the souls that paid the ultimate price on behalf of this nation. They are all looking down in disgrace
The flag is spectacular.