Defeatism is self fulfilling
“Fear is the mind-killer”
That line is from “Dune” by Frank Herbert and seen in the movies is a constant mantra throughout the series. It is interpreted to mean that to be a strong leader one must overcome fear and move forward with courage.
The full litany is a mantra used to control fear by acknowledging it, permitting it to pass through the individual without resistance, and emerging from it with an unbroken inner self.
Why do I mention that odd science fiction theory? Because we have a crisis of doubt, fear, and defeatism in the pro-democracy and Democratic movements that has to be taken head on and cast aside. Too many of our fellow Americans, Democratic voters, and activists have simply declared that we are lost, that we cannot beat back the extremism of the MAGA movement, and we won’t win elections…if we have them at all!
Defeatism is simply surrendering in advance and giving in to the fear that Donald Trump wants us to feel.
Donald Trump and his evil henchmen win simply by making us quit before even trying.
Fear is the democracy killer.
Champions believe they can win
I try to avoid sports metaphors as much as possible but we all know what happens when defeat is expected at the start of a season. They generally meet that expectations. (Hello long time Cubs and Red Sox fans!)
Winners believe they can win. They go into a season ready to do what needs to be done but they start off with a winning mindset.
Right now, so many in our movement simply don’t see that. I have had the opportunity to speak quite a bit in my region of St. Louis in the last month and a to several diverse audiences. I have increasingly found a persistent minority of good hearted folks who simply believe that all is lost, Democrats can’t win, and there is no point in even trying.
Some of the comments I’ve heard in the last week alone:
“When will Democrats realize there isn’t going to be another election?”
“Don’t run as a Democrat there is no way you can win here.”
“Look at the polls. The Democratic brand is totally broken.”
“What’s the point? Donald Trump is never leaving office.”
Those are just a few of the comments and questions I’ve heard. I get it. I really do. It’s easy to be despondent right now. Things look bleak. Trump keeps getting away with things. His fellow Republicans keep ignoring the will of the people. The rich keep getting richer and laughing at us.
But, I have the unique personal experience of literally facing situations of life and death multiple times and I went into each of them knowing I had a good team, I had the experience and training to win, and would fight until my last breath to succeed.
I am approaching this next year and a half or so the same way.
I have the distinction of having been involved in not one, but two, invasions of Iraq. I was in leadership positions both times. The first was back in 1991 as we prepared to cross the Iraqi border against what was at the time the 4th largest military in the world. One battle hardened by 8 years of war with Iran and a massive propaganda effort to discourage us. We knew it would not be an easy task.
To add to the pressure on my mind as we set to cross the border from Saudi Arabia I lost an aircrew during the air campaign phase. Just a few days before our scheduled ground invasion we lost two of my men in a scout helicopter crash flying a reconnaissance mission at night.
Our Apache company felt the pressure. What we didn’t feel was doubt. We knew we had trained for years for that moment. We were flying some of the most sophisticated aircraft in the world. Our weapons were suited for the mission and we knew how to use them.
We knew we would win and we did.
Flash forward 12 years later and I found myself once again sitting on the Iraqi border preparing men, women, and machines to cross the border. Our enemy was less formidable but dangerous nonetheless.
I had no fear. I had no doubt. I had prepared for that moment. I had trained. I had a great unit. We had a good plan. We had great leaders. We had faith we would execute it aggressively.
I learned lessons from losing my men the first time and made myself the promise I would do everything humanly possible to accomplish our mission, defeat our enemy, and bring every single soldier home with us when our goals were reached.
I was a rigid disciplinarian to do it. I was the guy that made them dig foxholes next to helicopters in the desert. I was the pain-in-the-neck that chewed their asses for not wearing helmets when dismounted. Even the lunatic that stopped them from driving their vehicles recklessly through the FOB.
Everyone came home.
Hope with a plan
I didn’t do this just on hope. We did it by planning, training, building a great team, and following our carefully developed SOP’s. We had no doubt we were going to win because that’s what we had prepared to do. We didn’t allow the cancer of defeatism to enter into the discussion or our minds at all.
We can do the same thing now. Look at what is happening across the country. Millions of Americans are protesting in the streets of their hometowns and Washington D.C. We had over 4,000 people in the rain on Manchester Road April 5th for Hand’s Off and another 7,000 people line that major artery going through west St. Louis County for No King’s Day on June 14th. A bunch of veterans organized at least 15,000 on the National Mall and tens of thousands across the country for Unite for Veterans on D-Day.
People are stepping up to run across the country even in the toughest races. The Republicans are absolutely panicked with Trump desperately begging red states to conduct mid-decade redistricting and gerrymandering to give him more potential seats in Congress and avoid facing accountability next session.
He is deploying troops, and intimidating Democratic strongholds out of fear, not strength. He is scared. He knows his time of unlimited power is already coming to an end.
Will he try extreme measures to stay in power? Yes.
Will he try to use military forces and federal agents to intimidate us? Yes.
Will we choose to be strong or give in to his threats? Yes….we must.
Before we defeat the MAGA machine and take back our Constitutional Republic from those who don’t understand that’s a form of democracy, we must first defeat fear. Fear of loss. Fear of harm. Fear of Donald Trump. Fear of losing it all for the greater good.
Fear is the mind killer.
Defeatism is a self-fulfilling prophecy.
For me. I am not doing it. We will step into the breach. We will push back against his insane attempts to stop us. We will never for one moment give him and his henchmen a moment of confidence that they will remain in power after they are defeated in a free and fair election.
That choice is yours. Don’t choose the path that they want for you.