Sometimes you just want to know. Sometimes (these times? yes!) you just want to bust right out with the question, “Is American Democracy Going to Die?” …and get a good, strong answer from a good, strong historian.

Meet (if you haven’t yet had the pleasure) Ruth Ben-Ghiat.

Dr. Ben-Ghiat is not who you turn to when you want warm fuzzies, or discussions about M ‘n’ M’s and Gary the Apple Guy. For that, see my previous posts about Heather Cox Richardson and Joanne Freeman–both serious historians who often take a break from the serious. I have never seen Dr. RBG (yep, RBG!) do more than crack a smile; I’m not sure if she knows how to giggle.

That’s fine. Sometimes I need it straight. Like her book…which pretty much predicted our current predicament. (Click here to buy it from your favorite indie bookstore.)

If part of what bolsters you, in these fraught days, is the notion that this shit HAS happened before…that there IS a playbook for what’s happening in Washington DC…and that said playbook HAS been defeated…look no further than Dr. RBG.

I will leave it there for now. Stay strong, folks. Pay attention to the wise ones. Then pick whatever you can do and do it!

Read Dr. RBG’s book. Join a phone bank. Help someone register to vote. Talk to your loved ones. Keep your chin up.