January 10th, 2026
I wrote something insane last night.
Like, the kind of essay that could cost me my job, lose me hundreds of followers, inspire wellness checks.
It was unhinged, full of rage and despair, my words as vindictive and cutting as a pair of scissors laced with cyanide.
It was actually pretty fucking rad.
I wrote it because I felt it, because I couldn’t stop feeling it, because I couldn’t stuff down deep how I was feeling, because writing and art is how I deal with life. And then I went to bed and woke up in the morning and decided that I didn’t need to share those words with the world.
Because that is actually one of the very few things only humans can do.
We are eminently capable of hurting others and also have the ability to choose not to.
Everyone has an opinion on what the teams are. Obviously, it’s us versus them, but how do we decide? Is it red versus blue? Rich versus poor? Up versus down versus sideways?
I want to make it clear that none of what is happening in this country is political anymore. The last decade has decimated the ideas of decorum and policy and that old-fashioned game is over. Instead, we have watched every person around us reveal who they are morally: through their posts and arguments and alignments and actions and what they actually stand for.
And it turns out that there are a fair number of people whose only ideology is agreeing with what Donald J. Trump and his authoritarian administration said today.
That’s it. They have no ethical legs of their own to stand on; their moral framework is unrefrigerated Jell-O, transparent and eager to fill any available mold.
And I see their words daily and their actions daily and I am reminded: a human being can choose to not hurt others.
And that’s when I figured out what the real teams are.
It’s human beings versus the inhumane.
That’s it.
Those are the teams.
And this is why so many of us are heartbroken and furious, crying and screaming into notebooks and laptops and cell phones and pillows. We’re human beings on the side of human beings, unable to accept the inhumanity of the world that is.
I wrote something insane yesterday because I feel insane, and I didn’t share it because I don’t want to hurt anybody.
That means something.
Honestly, today, that means everything.
And I have come to the conclusion that I could lose my job and hundreds of followers and be subjected to countless wellness checks but, as long as I’m on the side of human beings, as long as I retain my compassion and kindness and humanity, I’m totally cool with that.
I could die well with that.
Anyway, no human being is illegal on stolen land and America needs to deal with the shadows of its past, as well as its Constitution-shredding present. I could not be more proud of Minnesota and my community here; keep up the good fight and I’ll do everything I can to support you. All my love.
The Den 