Did We Wake Up in Time?

I didn’t wake up all at once. I stirred. I grumbled. I hit snooze a few times. And like always, by the time I finally opened my eyes, the fire had already started. I cant express what I need to say. I research. I pour every bit of data and every knot of dread in my stomach into an AI tool. What it spat back wasn’t just accurate, it was alive. A scream I’d muted. A truth I’d numbed.

This letter is that scream. Tweaked? Yes. Filtered through my rage and hope? Absolutely. But make no mistake, these are not “alternative facts.” They’re the embers we’ve ignored.

My plea,

I write this not as a politician, activist, or expert, but as someone who still believes in something that resembles love and one another. What I’ve witnessed in recent weeks has shaken me to my core, not because of political battles, but because the very pillars of this country are being dismantled in plain sight. Let me share with you what the headlines won’t say clearly enough.

1. A Constitutional Crisis Is Here, And It’s Worse Than You Think

The Trump administration, aided by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), is openly defying federal courts. Judges have ordered the reinstatement of frozen funds and halted layoffs, yet the White House refuses to comply. Vice President JD Vance even invoked Andrew Jackson’s infamous defiance of the Supreme Court, declaring, “The chief justice has made his ruling. Now let him enforce it” . Legal scholars warn this could collapse the separation of powers, a system that has held for 234 years .

Ask yourself: if the executive branch can ignore judicial rulings, what prevents future presidents … regardless of party … from ruling by decree, especially if, when questioning the state of our democracy, we must ask what alternative system can better protect us from unscrupulous individuals seizing what is rightfully ours?

2. Elon Musk’s Unchecked Power: A Private Citizen Running a Shadow Government

Musk, a billionaire with no Senate confirmation, now controls access to the Treasury’s $6 trillion payment system, including Social Security and federal salaries. His DOGE team has locked USAID employees out of their offices, labeled the agency a “criminal organization,” and attempted to abolish it—despite Congress legally mandating its existence . Worse, DOGE’s budget doubled to $14.4 million in weeks, even as it claims to “save” money by slashing diversity programs and foreign aid .

Ask yourself: Why is a man whose companies hold $15.4 billion in government contracts allowed to access taxpayer data and dictate policy?

3. Your Privacy Is No Longer Protected

DOGE has accessed the Treasury’s payment systems, which hold Social Security numbers, bank details, and medical histories for millions. Legal experts say this violates the Privacy Act and IRS Code, which even restrict presidential access to tax data . A federal judge temporarily blocked this, but Musk called the ruling “corrupt” and vowed to defy it .

Ask yourself: If a foreign hacker accessed this data, we’d call it an act of war. Why is it acceptable when done by a billionaire with a meme-inspired agency?

4. The Silent Dismantling of Democracy

USAID—an agency that feeds famine victims, fights pandemics, and counters Chinese influence, is being gutted. Democrats call this a “gift to Russia and China,” but Republicans argue it’s about “efficiency” . Meanwhile, federal workers are coerced into resigning via deferred pay offers that may violate federal law.

Ask yourself: If Congress alone holds the “power of the purse,” why is a tech mogul deciding which agencies live or die?

5. The Playbook of Authoritarianism

Historians compare Musk’s tactics to Hungary and Poland, where leaders eroded democracy through legalistic maneuvers, not tanks . By flooding the system with chaos, defying courts, purging civil servants, and seizing data, DOGE aims to break institutions faster than they can recover. As one scholar warned: “Destruction is rapid; rebuilding is painfully slow” .

Ask yourself: Is this the “innovation” that was voted for, or a blueprint for autocracy?

A Final Plea

I am not asking you to protest, donate, or even agree with anyone but yourself. I am asking you to question. Question why a man who owns satellites, electric cars, and social media platforms now controls your Social Security number. Question why Congress, your representatives, stands idle as its authority evaporates. Question whether “efficiency” justifies abandoning the homeless, the hungry, and the vulnerable overseas.

This is not about left vs. right. It’s about whether we still believe in a government of the people, by the people, for the people. If we sleepwalk through this moment, we may wake to find that “we the people” no longer exist, only subjects of a system where power is concentrated in the hands of the unelected and unaccountable.

Did we wake up in time? Not sure just yet.

Sources:

This letter synthesizes verified reporting from CNN, AP, TIME, Al Jazeera, and legal experts. Fact-check it yourself. Then decide.