Thanks for your support: 30% off 💙 40% off 💙 50% off 💙 60% off 💙 80% off Two years ago, we all sat in disbelief and watched as a convicted felon, an insurrectionist, a rapist, and worse was declared the winner of the 2024 election. That was a hopeless day. We knew bad things were coming. It didn’t feel as if we had the power to resist. His actions weren’t as bad as we feared—they were worse. On November 5th, 2024, I didn’t give decent people much of a chance of surviving until the midterms. The criminal had threatened he’d be a dictator on day one. I fully expected him to form a secret police. I expected him to embolden awful men and give them the protection of badges and guns. I knew he’d send his minions out to do harm against the innocent. He did all those things. We’ve all watched in horror as the entire republican party stood aside and allowed this awful man to commit his endless crimes. Our last ray of hope came in the summer of 2024 when he was found guilty of business fraud related to election interference. He was scheduled for sentencing. But based on the dubious election result, he was never obliged to pay his debt to society. This is a man who has never paid a debt. But from our initial shock and sense of hopelessness we found our resolve. Over the last two years, we’ve fortified each other. We’ve built communities. We’ve organized, and we’ve discovered our power. The debt must still be paid. We the people of the United States of America haven’t forgotten what is owed. We’ve meticulously added up each additional crime and added it to the ledger. On November 3rd, 2026, I fully expect that the people will make their voices heard. I expect that we’ll take a massive step towards ensuring that justice is finally served. No matter what happens in the midterms, our resolve is not going to shake. Whether we win, or whether there is the appearance of manipulation, we will continue to battle. We will continue to organize. We will continue to pressure our elected representatives to actually do the job of representing us. We will remind them that they serve us, it’s not the other way around. No matter what happens, today marks the end of a chapter. This period that began in November of 2024 ends in November of 2026. We will be moving into a new reality starting on Wednesday, November 4th. I just wanted to say that I’ve seen how hard everybody has worked during these desperate times. We’ve managed to push back against the cruelty of republican, authoritarian rule. I applaud you all. You’ve been diligent. You’ve made sacrifices. You’ve worked yourself to exhaustion and beyond. You’ve saved lives. My heart is open to the possibility that when the dust settles, we will find that our peaceful activism, our diligence, and our steadfastness, has allowed us to take back control of our country. We will have done it peacefully and lawfully. That will be cause to celebrate, but our work will not be done. Some will be tempted to say that our concerns were foolish if we emerge from the election victorious. But I want to remind you all that if our very worst fears do not come to pass, it will be as a direct result of our resistance. Our anxiety was real. The danger remains real. A peaceful victory would be a tribute to our campaign. I will also remind the detractors that many people did lose their lives in these last two years. Many people were tortured. Criminals were allowed to go free and inflict further pain on humanity. It was all done in the name of republicans. Keith Porter, Renee Nicole Good, and Alex Pretti were executed by this republican regime. We must bring their murderers to justice. We owe that to decency. We owe that to their families. The agents who pulled the trigger are guilty, as are all the republicans who stoked the flames of hate. The conservative members of the Supreme Court are also guilty, the ones who attempted to give a declared tyrant unlimited power. These actions are betrayals of our most sacred assumptions. The president and his cabinet are also guilty. We, the people, need to demand justice for our fallen citizens. We need to demand justice for all the survivors who have still not had their stories heard. Particularly those that have had evidence gathered and sealed in the Epstein files. Over these last few years, it’s been my privilege to meet hundreds of courageous people. I’ve seen them work with tireless commitment. When any of us has faltered, the others have been there to help us carry on. In these last two years, I’ve made friendships that will last a lifetime. People have separated themselves from the indifferent status quo. People of astonishing integrity have risen to the occasion. I’ve seen them work openly, and I’ve seen them labor alone, in quiet, where nobody else could see. So many people have worked so hard, not because they were seeking accolades, but simply because they wished to be in service of humanity. I’ve seen them. They’ve filled my heart with joy. We’ve come together. We’ve created a new community. We’re organized. We’re ready. A chapter ends today. The fight continues. We know the assignment now better than ever. This period of malice and wrongdoing and injustice, which was brought by the republican Party, is over. We’re going to make the pendulum swing the other way, and then weld it in place so it can never swing to the right again. We’re going to dismantle the cultural norms that support mechanisms of cruelty. We will act with care to preserve as much as we can, but any part of this nation that cannot endure without the suffering of the innocent does not deserve to survive. A shameful chapter has ended. We have seen the light—enough of us to lead the others. We have to allow our children to get educations without being subjected to predatory loans. We have to fund health care and stop allowing our declining health to be used to generate profit for cruel men at the expense of the hard-working innocent. We have to stop allowing our representatives to lecture us instead of listen. We have to hold lawless men accountable. What I’ve learned in the last two years is that we all have a lot more access to the levers of control than we were led to believe. All you have to do is get involved in your local communities. Find candidates. Join campaigns. When one of those candidates wins or loses in a primary, you move the needle. Governments are interconnected. Once you’re in, you will have access to everyone eventually. Get involved. Do not sit around and dwell in your anxious despair. When you get out and you’re active, you meet good people. You meet other people who are willing to make a change. You can encourage and fortify each other. When you build that community, you create a whole that’s greater than the sum of its parts. Ours is a movement that’s based on love, and love is self-perpetuating. The forces of hatred are well-funded. They control all the social mechanisms, they control the media, they control the means of distribution. But our opponents are limited in number, and they are fueled only by toxic and self-destructive hate. Cruelty ideology creates a parasitic class. They require us in order to survive. All we have to do is to stop carrying water for them. All we have to do is to stand up and say enough is enough. Today is Tuesday, November 3rd, 2026. It’s the day of the midterm elections. It’s a day when the American people have reached the end of two hard years of conservative rule. For two years we’ve watched the Republican Party inflict pain upon the innocent, even as they enabled evil men to walk free. I fully expect that today is the day that we will all stand together and say no more. We have created a new identity. We’ve created new communities. We’re standing up to declare that we will no longer be bullied. We want accountability. We want justice, both for the survivors and for those that didn’t survive. A new chapter starts today. Our work continues. Thanks for your support: 30% off 💙 40% off 💙 50% off 💙 60% off Get full access to I'd Rather Be Writing at walterrhein.substack.com/subscribe
