Make no mistake about it: History will record the next four years as the most tumultuous in our lifetimes. We will be challenged, not merely by what we say and do, but also by what the right-wing ideologues among us say and do; and by what the Supreme Court says and does. We will be judged as never before by how we react to the cold suffocating blanket of dictatorial evil that has descended upon us.

The odds are stacked against us. Now, more than ever, wealth and money are power. Immense amounts have been swindled from us, and they are being used against us. The ultra-wealthy hold $152 trillion of wealth, but they want more. Lots more. Their wealth is doubling in value every 10 years from laws enacted by legislative cowards in Congress, for cowards in the upper strata of huge wealth inheritances, as payment for financing their elections. Soon the dollar value of their misbegotten wealth will be in the quadrillions of dollars. It will be a tough fight, but one we must win.

Even the wealthiest person among us has been given free access to virtually every data bank he needs from which to take wantonly from the hundreds of millions of US workers who have honestly and willingly paid into retirement and medicare accounts in order to survive in their old age. And nearly one-half our population is willing to give it to him.

But not the strong, the brave, and those who can and will carry the fight in the days ahead. Even six members of the Supreme Court have shown us that lifetime appointments no longer assure us that they will act with honor and fairness in their decisions that affect us all. Such is the nature of cowardice coupled with dictator rule. Still, we can choose honor over cowardice. It is a binary either/or choice.

The world is watching and waiting to see if we have the courage of our calling, the strength to overcome every obstacle put in our paths, and if we will knock them over one-by-one. There is no watching from the sidelines. Doing nothing is an act of cowardice when duty calls. We cannot hide from ourselves, nor from our forebears. The moving finger of history will record every action or inaction we take or fail to take. There is no hiding from ourselves. Not this time.

Duty, honor, country. Few words say half as much, in so little space.