WHEN YOUR ENEMIES KNOW WHAT YOUR FRIENDS CAN'T BELIEVE.

"Sometimes your enemies know what your friends can’t believe."--Rebecca Solnit

Be Cool in 95 degrees on the National Day of Protest, April 5, 2025. (Author Photo)

Hope recognizes the uncertainty of things. It is not like optimism, which is certain of a good outcome, or pessimism, which is equally certain but of a bad outcome.

More than this, hope takes the long view. Sometimes what appears to be a loss now is a victory waiting to happen in the future, a victory slow in coming perhaps, but perhaps coming nonetheless.

The experiences of three parts of society show the truth of these things: Law firms, universities, and Tesla.

Law firms at first capitulated. They signed agreements with the regime that are still not made available to us to see. At first, there was despair that all the lawyers would capitulate if these the richest lawyers gave up without a fight.

Then one firm, Perkins Coie, was the first to stand up and fight back. There have since been others, but there is always one who is first, and in this case, that was Perkins Coie. They have been joined by hundreds of lawyers, hundreds of law professors, dozens of other law firms, hundreds of retired judges, and many more I for one never heard about until I visited the PACER online Court file of Perkins Coie's lawsuit.

It also seemed at first that universities would throw in the towel after Columbia University reportedly capitulated to the regime's demands (and, in Columbia's case, only to be smacked with more demands from the regime). Despair again set in that this would always be so.

Until Harvard. Harvard became the first to say "No." They underscored their "No" with a lawsuit to stop the regime from illegally impounding funds that have already been appropriated by the U.S. Congress.

To round out this trio of despair followed by a huge dollop of success, there is Tesla. When this all began on or about January 20, 2025, it seemed at first that Elon Musk, like the poor, would always be with us.

Individuals and small groups began picketing at Tesla dealerships. It is worth recalling that back at the beginning, they were mocked; they were told that they couldn't possibly affect the world's richest human being.

Tesla stock fell.

Elon Musk's enormous fortune has lost more value than the GDP of some countries.

The share price of Tesla and its profits have fallen so far that Mr. Musk has now told shareholders and investors that he is going to spend less time dismantling what used to be the United States and more time trying to build up Tesla.

Despair is unrealistic. Each one of these examples shows that.

Hope takes uncertainty as it is, and moves forward anyway. In the long run, despair is unrealistic. We hear often about the disappointments. Sometimes actions can produce results we should be proud of. Sometimes we have to remember that in the face of the uncertainty in the moment.

“Save Doe, Museums, Libraries / Restore Voting Rights” Sign, April 19, 2025. (Author Photo)

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