On 2025: And the Year Ahead

Standing, Speaking, and Being Courageous

Reporting on Year 2025

Why 2025 Mattered

This past year tested our democracy in ways many of us never expected to see again in our lifetime. Across the country, fear was used as a political tool, truth was bent, and basic constitutional norms were treated as optional.

Yet this was also a year of resolve.

Together, many of us chose to stand rather than look away — to speak rather than stay silent — and to insist that dignity, law, and conscience still matter.

What Was Done

Over the past year, I worked with others to strengthen the moral spine of our community in Madison, Wisconsin by:

Organizing public gatherings and conversations rooted in democratic and constitutional values; notably the August 2nd Crosswalk in Madison against “government cruelty.”
Speaking openly about the dangers of blurring the line between local policing and federal immigration enforcement.
Affirming that police exist to protect people, not to enforce fear.
Writing op-eds in local and national media.
Interviewing on local radio.
Being active on my Facebook and Substack accounts.
Encouraging dialogue between community members, faith leaders, and local police grounded in accountability and trust.

This work was not about protest for its own sake. It was about preserving the integrity of institutions that only function when the public trusts them.

What Was Learned

Democracy does not fail all at once — it erodes when good people remain silent.
Local leadership matters more than national rhetoric.
Police officers are strongest when they are guardians of rights, not instruments of political pressure and serve to protect all residents of their community.
Courage spreads when someone takes the first step.

The Work Ahead

In the coming year, my focus is simple and urgent:

To encourage local police leaders to publicly affirm that they will protect all residents — and to insist that federal immigration enforcement operate lawfully, transparently, and with accountability in their communities.

This means calling on local police leaders to publicly affirm they will:

Refuse participation in immigration actions lacking lawful warrants or clear legal authority.
Intervene and report when any agency violates civil rights or due process.
Affirm that constitutional protections apply to everyone, regardless of immigration status.

This is not radical. It is our rule of law and their Oath of Office to protect our Constitution and their professional Code of Ethics.

An Invitation

The health of our democracy depends on ordinary people choosing responsibility over retreat.
If you believe, as I do, that justice must be practiced locally to endure nationally, I invite you to stay engaged with this blog — to speak, to listen, and to stand with those working in your community to uphold the Constitutional values we, as a nation, claim to share.

History is written not only by those in power, but by those who refuse to look away and stand up.

With resolve and gratitude,
David