So much of the activity circulating around our heads in the Spring of 2025 is designed to overwhelm and silence opposition to the assault on Democracy currently being waged in the United States. Demagogues use the democratic framework to mask their actual goals. Truth does not exist, only perspective. There are ways to understand and respond to these assaults. Each of us has an innate moral compass. There are basic questions about who benefits and who is harmed by an action. When we hear about a proposed policy, remember that it is “aspirational”, what the speaker would like to happen. It does not become “operational” until others comply with the action. We each have choices. Some of those choices may involve personal distress, pain, or displeasure. But there is always a choice, even if the choice leads to an undesirable outcome. We must identify and weigh our choices. We do not have to comply.