There is no doubt that we are in the midst of an authoritarian take over of our country. Trump said he would be a “dictator on day one” and he meant it. All his actions since taking office have been intended to seize unlimited presidential power.

In 2017, we hoped that Trumpism was a fluke and would self-destruct. We hoped his ignorance, incompetence and harmful policies would turn even conservative Republicans against him. But 2024 proved this notion wrong. We can no longer hope that “this too shall pass.”

“What is happening now is not normal politics. We’re seeing an assault on the fundamental institutions of our civic life, things we should all swear loyalty to – Democrat, independent or Republican... It’s time for a comprehensive national civic uprising.” This is the call to action from David Brooks, a journalist and conservative commentator for the New York Times (“What’s Happening Is Not Normal. America Needs an Uprising That Is Not Normal,” April 17, 2025).

I wrote about this in 2025 and this article revisits my thoughts on organizing a peaceful people’s revolution to impeach America’s first and only authoritarian dictator. We are in extraordinary times that require extraordinary action by many people. So we have to organize now to elect candidates in November willing to immediately impeach.

Impeachment is the only answer to our current situation. It is very clear that a divided Congress will not stop Trump’s undemocratic power grab. The Supreme Court has failed to reign in his obvious illegal and unconstitutional actions. The only hope left is for people to elect enough representatives and senators to impeach Trump and his administration.

The list of impeachable offenses is extensive. Almost every action Trump has taken since January of 2025 has been illegal or unconstitutional. He has largely ruled by decree issuing an unprecedented 270 executive orders, 82 memoranda and 164 proclamations during his second term.

He has bypassed or usurped Congress’s control over spending and war making powers.

He has declared major changes to existing laws and programs while creating  whole new government activities without congressional authorization or funding appropriations.

He has ignored court rulings that did not support his agenda. These are the actions of a dictator and not the president of a democracy.

In several recent speeches President Trump has continued to repeat false and misleading claims about the integrity of our elections. He repeated debunked claims about the 2020 election.

He said “no country can be great without fair elections.” A true enough statement, but he also falsely claimed that the electoral system falls “catastrophically short” of being fair. His remedy is to push the SAVE America Act which is a voter suppression action that will disenfranchise an estimated 21 million legal voters. Once again Donald Trump – a known, documented serial liar – is misleading the public.

As has been has been repeatedly documented and adjudicated, there is no evidence that the electoral process – what happens at the local polling places, the integrity of mail in ballots, the accuracy of voting machines, the counting and certifying of the ballots by local and state officials – is in any significant way flawed, manipulated or fraudulent.

The purpose of Trump’s false and misleading statements is not to ensure “election integrity” or improve our very undemocratic system. It is to delegitimize the mid-term elections and lay the groundwork for refusing to accept the results if the Republicans loose control of Congress (Trump’s definition of a “rigged” election is one he looses).

The truth is our country has never been more than nominally democratic. The huge amounts of money poured into elections, the massive misinformation and attack ad campaigns, numerous  voter suppression efforts throughout our history and undemocratic structural arrangements like the Electoral College are proof.

But incidences of individual voter fraud are infinitesimal rare and our electoral system – despite its flaws – is functioning accurately. The real problems are the buying of political influence and the control of our government done openly and legally by the ruling class.

Impeachment is the only way to restore democracy and stop the Trump wrecking crew. This will require electing a solid majority in the House and two thirds of the Senate. But it is questionable whether the Democrats can achieve this in November.

Even if they do, their past performance raises doubts about their willingness to take decisive or immediate action.

What is needed is a people-driven movement to support candidates pledged to vote for immediate impeachment. This must be a bipartisan, non-partisan, “big tent“ movement.

Given the historic record of third party failure, it is unrealistic to hope for change from third parties alone. But they can contribute to the impeachment effort by running candidates or endorsing Democrat candidates pledging to impeach. Again there must be a concerted collaborative effort by many people of various political philosophies to end the authoritarian coup we are experiencing.

This will take an extraordinary, grassroots uprising by the people to demand and implement change.

The successful candidates must be prepared to pass articles of impeachment for the president and vice president immediately on taking office. There will need to be some organizing of the new Congress, but there is no need to waste time holding hearings or investigating the administration’s impeachable offenses. We all know the myriad of justifications for impeachment.

Within a few days the House should pass articles of impeachment, the Senate should vote to impeach and the new Speaker of the House should be installed as president.

Once Trump is removed from office the new Congress can pass legislation and propose constitutional amendments to establish a truly democratic, multi-party electoral system that abolishes the current system of big money corruption and undemocratic election procedures.

There are many reforms that have long been needed, discussed, and advocated for by many groups and individuals. In the past these reforms have been ignored, or undermined, by both the Democratic and Republican parties. With new leadership they can become possible.

Will people rise to the occasion?

Will they organize a peaceful revolution to overthrow the tyrant and to create a real democracy?

Either all people of good sense will come together for this effort – despite any and all ideological or party differences – or we will all lose any hope of making America what it should be.