Building the Counter-Coup: Time Is Running Out
The Heritage Foundation did not create its plan for
authoritarian takeover overnight. It spent years assembling Project 2025,
a nearly 1,000-page blueprint for dismantling democracy and consolidating power
under a single leader. That plan is the guiding document for the Trump movement
and its backers.
On the other hand, we have less time. If we are to preserve
the republic, organizing a counter-coup must begin now. We will not have the
luxury of producing a thousand-page treatise, but we can, and must draft a
clear, forceful plan in just a page and a half or two pages. The first step is
not volume but vision.
Learning from History
Every successful countermovement in history has been built
on preparation, coordination, and a willingness to recognize danger before it
strikes. We must study the past to understand how coups were resisted, how
authoritarian regimes were weakened, and how democratic resistance movements,
from Europe to Latin America, found ways to prevail.
We must also examine the present. What are the pressure
points in Trump’s system? Where are the institutions most vulnerable? Which
levers of power, economic, legal, political, and military, can be mobilized to
resist?
No Time for Silence
Unlike Heritage’s plan, ours does not require secrecy. They
operated in the shadows for years, hiding their intentions until the moment was
right. We cannot afford that. The counter-coup must grow from open dialogue,
visible opposition, and broad support. The more sunlight, the better. We must
write, publish, and speak, gathering momentum from every corner of civil
society.
The Urgency of Action
We cannot wait until Trump’s term ends, because he may never
leave willingly. We cannot wait until the next congressional election, because
elections may no longer function as a remedy. The counter-coup must be
conceived before democratic institutions are hollowed out beyond repair.
A Skeleton Plan
The plan must begin with a skeleton framework:
- Mobilization
of Civil Society — unions, universities, journalists, professional
associations, faith communities, and veterans must form a united front.
- Legal
Strategy — courts must be prepared to challenge authoritarian decrees,
and lawyers must coordinate on the defense of the constitutional order.
- Economic
Pressure — businesses and investors must be compelled to resist
alignment with authoritarian power through boycotts, divestment, and
pressure campaigns.
- International
Alliances — democratic allies abroad must be encouraged to stand firm
against authoritarian drift in the U.S. and apply external pressure.
- Public
Education — Americans must understand the stakes: this is not politics
as usual, but democracy versus dictatorship.
The Work Begins Now
The Heritage Foundation has had years to prepare. We have
months at best. But clarity of purpose can compensate for a lack of time. We do
not need 1,000 pages. We need a rallying cry, a framework, and a movement that
refuses to surrender the Constitution to an authoritarian cabal.
The counter-coup begins here, with the recognition that it
will be necessary, and the determination to start drafting it today.
William James Spriggs
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