Why We Fight

Remember, for the days to come

Trump has only been in office two months, and the left’s counter-attack has already begun. The lower courts, in a seemingly coordinated effort, are throwing roadblock after roadblock into the path of his reforms. Leftists are in the streets protesting spending cuts and committing violence against Tesla showrooms and cars — to stick it to Elon for helping identify government waste.

And now desperate political battles are taking place, as Democrats turn their full energy toward regaining lost ground. In some cases, as in Wisconsin, they are winning. Many have already noticed a lack of effort on the Republican side. In the PA State Senate race, turnout was only 29%.

Over the next four years, you may be asked to help in some way, to get more active in politics or to donate money. This may seem a bit much, given that many of us just spent time and money helping to win 2024. And you’re partly right. Normal people live for their families, friends, and personal ambitions.

The problem is that leftists live to spread leftism, and they’re not going to stop.

So we can’t stop either. This post is intended to give you a little energy, to remind you of the stakes involved, by providing just a few recent examples of what it has meant for ordinary people — people like yourself and those you love — for Democrats to be in power.

The Case of Marc Fogel

Marc Fogel was detained by Russian authorities on August 14, 2021, at Sheremetyevo International Airport in Moscow. He was arrested in Russia with his wife, Jane, while on vacation, when customs officials discovered about 17 grams of medical marijuana in his luggage, which he used to treat chronic back pain. He was subsequently convicted of drug smuggling and sentenced to 14 years in a Russian penal colony.

The Biden administration did not secure his release, but it did secure the release of Brittney Griner, a WNBA player who had refused to stand for the national anthem and who was popular on the left. Brittney had been arrested by Russian authorities on December 8, 2022, after they found vape cartridges containing cannabis oil in her luggage. She was sentenced to nine years in prison following a trial, but Biden negotiated her release in exchange for Viktor Bout, a convicted Russian arms dealer known as the "Merchant of Death," who had been serving a 25-year sentence in the US. Viktor Bout is now back in business, trying to broker the sale of small arms to Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi militants.

Marc Fogel had to wait to be released until President Trump took office. He was released on February 11, 2025, in exchange for Alexander Vinnik, who had pleaded guilty to money-laundering charges in the US.

If you’re a friend of the left, Democrats look out for you. If not, you’re screwed.

The Case of Douglass Mackey

In 2016, it was reported that posts were being circulated on the internet suggesting that voters could cast their vote via text. Two of those documented having made such posts are Douglass Mackey (aka Ricky Vaughn), a social media influencer, and Kristina Wong, a comedian and social media personality. Mackey published a post claiming that Hillary Clinton supporters could vote by texting, and Wong published a post claiming that Trump supporters could vote by texting. As a practical matter, none of the posts of this kind being circulated likely had any significant effect as it’s generally understood how voting works, and both Mackey and Wong in particular stated that their posts were harmless attempts at humor, fully protected by the First Amendment.

Nonetheless, Mackey was arrested in January 2021, charged with conspiring to interfere with voting rights under the Ku Klux Klan Act, and convicted in March 2023 after a trial in Brooklyn. The Department of Justice sought a 10-year sentence. He was sentenced in October 2023 to seven months in prison.

Wong was never arrested and her post was dismissed as friendly satire. We likely wouldn’t even know about it except that someone took a screenshot before she closed her Twitter account.

“Free speech” it seems is a flexible concept in the hands of Democrats, and two-tier justice is, of course, a hallmark of corrupt left-wing governments, going all the way back to the USSR. If Democrats win again, we can expect more of this.

The Case of Jane Doe of Henderson County, NC

Hurricane Helene hit North Carolina in late September, 2024, with devastating effect, leaving thousands homeless and in distress. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is supposed to provide rapid relief to those suffering in such disasters. However, in this case, the agency utterly failed to do much of anything. Relief that was promised by the Biden administration never arrived, or arrived late, while families and the elderly waited in the cold in tents or make-shift shelters. Roads were left uncleared and promised temporary housing trailers never materialized.

Worse yet, when small amounts of relief finally came, FEMA agents deliberately passed over victims with pro-Trump signs or American flags.

It’s unclear where FEMA’s money was actually going, but after Trump was elected, plans by FEMA to spend $1.35 billion to “protect against climate impacts and promote racial equity” were cancelled. For context, this is four times the amount that was even promised NC but never arrived.

In 2015, months after Helene, the body of an unnamed 96-year-old woman was found in Henderson County, NC. She had recently frozen to death. FEMA had months to help her but had never done so. Her death can be squarely attributed to Democrat failure to perform simple government functions responsibly. It simply isn’t their priority or why they even want power. We can’t let them win power again.

The Case of Catherine Engelbrecht

In 2014, Catherine Engelbrecht witnessed voting irregularities while volunteering to work in a polling station, and became aware that this was part of a broader pattern. A patriotic and frankly heroic American, she decided this needed to be addressed. To that end, she started True the Vote, an organization intended to promote election integrity. However, upon filing for non-profit tax-exempt status for True the Vote, she was subjected to no less than fifteen audits and inquiries by federal agencies including the IRS, OSHA, BATF, and FBI. These are no small things. For each, she had to stop everything she was doing, gather paperwork, hire lawyers, attend meetings, etc., and all under the anxiety of being charged with a crime.

She persevered, nonetheless, and despite it all True the Vote kept growing. The Biden administration tried to shut down Engelbrecht through continued harassment, even imprisoning her for a time. That an organization dedicated to election integrity receives such abuse should tell you something about the left’s real attitude about elections — and democracy.

The remaining window for election integrity to be restored is limited and depends completely on whether Republicans can hang on long enough to make it happen.

The Case of Edward Lang

I had never heard of "diesel therapy" until reports emerged about it being used extensively against J6 prisoners. It’s a practice whereby prisoners are subjected to prolonged, repeated, grueling and unnecessary transportation between prison facilities. Prisoners are shackled—hands and feet chained, often with a "black box" device restricting wrist movement—and loaded onto vehicles for trips that can last days, or even weeks. Breaks for food, water, or restrooms are limited, and conditions can be harsh, with reports of overflowing toilets, no air conditioning, and cramped seating. The routes can seem random, and inmates are rarely told their final destination or timeline. “Diesel therapy" is a form of psychological torture, and an obvious violation of the Eighth Amendment, which forbids cruel and unusual punishment.

One of the people subjected to diesel therapy was Edward Lang. Here’s his father telling what diesel therapy is and what was done to his son. I recommend listening.

Bear in mind this was not done in secret. The prisoners involved complained via their attorneys to all the relevant parties within the Biden administration and the Bureau of Prisons and to the Courts.

As for the conditions Lang suffered through in DC itself, the prison there is called the DC Gulag, and with good reason. Reports from detainees and their advocates describe mold, rust in the water, vermin like mice and cockroaches, and inadequate food. A 2022 letter signed by 34 January 6 detainees claimed they faced "brown stains" and "pubic hair" on returned laundry, "worms" in meals, and malnourishment leading to health issues. The unsanitary conditions have been known for some time, and were confirmed by the US Marshals Service via inspection in October 2021. Nothing was done about it.

This is the official jail of the US government. It’s located in our Capitol, steps from all the monuments and museums celebrating our democracy. So how can it be like this? It’s operated under the authority of the local DC administration, which is solidly Democrat and has been for decades. Elections matter.

The Case of “Data Republican”

When DOGE began revealing mountains of data that indicated corruption and waste in many bureaus of the federal government, what they had was just that — mountains of data. Unfortunately, ordinary people have no way of simplifying that data or accessing it in an easy manner that would allow them to truly understand what it means. Enter a formerly little-known X account run by a little-known deaf woman who called herself @DataRepublican (small r).

The person behind the account is Jennica Pounds, a software engineer from Utah. Her efforts have focused on tracking taxpayer-funded grants, nonprofit finances, and political campaign donations, making this information more accessible through her website, datarepublican.com.

Among other things, she developed tools to map connections between government officials, nonprofits, and funding recipients, revealing patterns that indicate inefficiency or self-dealing, and has helped DOGE identify potential savings — in the billions of dollars.

You would think she would be hailed an American hero, a champion of above-board transparent democracy, and given her infirmities would be embraced by those who seek to promote such people into positions of influence. But no.

Instead, the left turned its guns against her. She was doxxed in February, 2025. Shortly afterward, she reported receiving death threats and was forced to flee her home in Utah to temporarily relocate to Florida, pulling their elementary-aged sons out of school in Utah to escape the harassment. Her husband’s business also became a target. Left-wing critics posted negative reviews and attempted to damage its reputation, with some even suggesting his business might need to shut down. Some of her husband’s business associates turned against him. The left plays dirty.

The campaign against her took its emotional toll. She carries on, but imagine what would happen to her without the shield of a Trump administration, indeed what could happen yet if Democrats regain power?

The Case of Jord Meacham

Jord was a quiet, family-oriented young man who worked on his family’s Utah ranch, loved outdoor activities like hunting and fishing, and had a passion for history and music. He was one of ten siblings and spent summers working at a fishery in Alaska, where he built many friendships. On January 6th, 2021, at the age of 19, he attended the US Capitol protest, and like so many others was waved in, through open doors. He remained inside for all of nine minutes, peacefully wandering around with a Trump 2020 flag, before being escorted out.

In July 2023, more than two years after the event, Jord was arrested and charged with four offenses related to his presence in the Capitol. His arrest was highly publicized. That was part of the campaign against J6rs like Jord, to expose them to public ridicule and hate. This quiet, introverted young man was unprepared for that exposure and for the mental torture of our Kafka-esque legal system.

His initial court appearance occurred on August 15, 2023. On August 28, 2023, just 13 days later, driven to despair, and without hope, Jord walked into a room, locked the door, and killed himself.

Jord should never have been put in this position. But the people who drove him to this would do it again in a heartbeat. We can’t let them regain power.

So Keep Up the Fight

There are obviously many more such examples. The two parties are by no means the same, and indeed have gotten further apart over time.

It’s a miracle that Trump won and has both houses of Congress, if barely. But this was just one battle in a much bigger, longer war, a war we could easily lose.

Which brings me to this Solzhenitsyn quote:

"I understand, I sense that…You're tired, but the Communists who want to destroy your system are not; they're not tired at all."

We can’t allow ourselves to be tired either. Donate generously, volunteer, and vote. Keep up the fight.