Your Protest Sign Saves Lives
Defending democracy is our most critical work right now.
U.S. service members with Joint Task Force - Leeward Islands and members of the U.S. Agency for International Developmentās Disaster Assistance Response Team unload supplies from a U.S. Army CH-47 Chinook helicopter at the port of Roseau, Dominica, Sept. 30, 2017. (photo credit USDA)
[Updated June 14, 2025 after protests. See photo below.]
We now know, without a doubt, that we are racing against the clock to protect our democracy. The midterm elections in November 2026 will be too late if we donāt act now.
We arenāt just defending our democracy. Millions of lives across our country and around the world are at stake.
Last month Bono, the lead singer of the Irish band U2, was in the news because he made an appearance on Joe Roganās podcast. For decades, Bono has used his celebrity to advocate for justice. His unrelenting message has been to use your voice and your vote to shape government action to save lives.
Twenty years ago in July, the G8 held a summit in Edinburgh, Scotland. 2005 was also the 20th anniversary of āWe Are the World.ā
In 2005, Bono teamed up with Bob Geldoff to celebrate the anniversary of the āWe Are the Worldā recording and its precursor in the UK āDo They Know Itās Christmas.ā Geldoff had co-written the Christmas song. He also helped organize the global event Live Aid in July 1985, which was watched by an estimated 1.9 billion people around the world.
In 2005, the ONE Campaign in partnership with Oxfam organized a global effort called Make Poverty History. The campaign was organized around the G8 Summit and focused on expanding fair trade, providing debt relief, and growing international aid for the worldās poorest nations. I was there.
Richard Branson of Virgin Airlines donated seats on one of his planes to fly 100 American activists over to the G8 Summit, two from each state. The other Iowan was Rev. Kathy Gerking, a pastor in the Southeast Iowa Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
When we changed planes in London, Bono, Geldoff, and Branson held a press conference with the American activists as a backdrop. One hundred activists from the most powerful democracy in the history of the world were there to make the point that government action is the answer.
They talked about how much money theyād raised in the past 20 years since Live Aid. They pointed out that in one action by the United States or France or Great Britain, more lives were saved than all the efforts of the hundreds of millions of dollars raised through the work of the musicians and the generous donations of individuals around the world.
They werenāt arguing to do away with philanthropy and individual actions. In fact, theyād also organized the Live 8 concert to be held in Edinburgh and around the world later that week. I had a ticket. Rev. Gerking and I sat together as the crowd went absolutely wild when the Scottish duo The Proclaimers performed their hit song from 1988 āIām Gonna Be (500 miles).ā
Bono and Geldoff were making the point that the most important individual actions we can take are to use our voices, power to lobby, and our vote in our democracies to move our governments.
Bono is still at it. Last week on Joe Roganās podcast, he spent some of his three hours talking about the cuts to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and made the claim that 300,000 people had died. Social media of course went nuts, with Elon Musk personally weighing in that āzero people have diedā as reported by The Irish Times.
This headline in the Daily Beast āBono Schools Joe Rogan on āEvilā Elon Musk Unleashed on the Worldā is flipped in this headline from Fox News commentator Jasmine Baehr: āBonoās ā300,000 deadā claim over USAID cuts gets smacked down by Rogan, Musk: āLiar/idiotā: The U2 singerās claim triggers sharp pushback in debate on foreign aid cuts.ā
The reaction was a battle of identity politics. You either believed Bono or you believed Musk with Rogan platforming the debate. The dust-up between two radically different interpretations of reality of course blew away like yesterdayās clouds as the next battle of identity politics consumed all the oxygen in the room.
The real debate is what is the role of government in shaping a world where more people live better rather than more people die. In the case of USAID, the Trump Administration has attempted to destroy it, and will succeed if we let them. In fact the question isnāt āCan we save it?ā The question now truly is āWill we rebuild it?ā
USAID is government at its best. The dollars we all invested globally have been some of the most effective investments the world has ever known to make it a better place for humanity.
Here is Bono speaking in 2023 at the PEPFAR at 20 event at the George W. Bush Presidential Center.
One thing I learned about President Bush pretty early on is that he was not that interested in excuses. When he looked at this virus sweeping the continent of Africa, he didnāt just see a human tragedy. He saw a future of failed states that didnāt need to fail. He saw the loss of U.S. allies. He saw HIV/AIDS as a security threat. Colin Powell, four-star general, called HIV a WMD, for Godās sake. Very helpful description.
Support for USAID has always been bipartisan until now. The United States Presidentās Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR ) was a signature program of President Bush a Republican, and has been primarily delivered through USAID. At the G8 Summit in Scotland in 2005, President Bushās work to advance AIDS interventions, treatments, and research was exhibit A for how smart government action saves lives.
Iāve often said the most important call to make after a natural disaster is to a member of Congress. Iām not suggesting to stop giving to the Red Cross, volunteering to help with the recovery, or donating food and clothing. But itās important to remind members of Congress that Americans expect our government to use the resources we provide to do good things. While we can always improve, FEMA is a critical resource in helping our fellow Americans get back on their feet and rebuild their homes and communities. The presidentās DOGE efforts that canceled USAID are also attempting to cancel FEMA.
Government is the best, most cost effective way to do good things. Not the only way. But objectively speaking, nothing else has ever come close. And democracy, while imperfect, has delivered government better than any other form.
After World War II, America anchored social movements at home and abroad that created and strengthened democracies. Together, nations around the world, responding to these social movements, expanded education, increased equity, grew gender and racial equality, raised living standards, reduced conflict, increased mobility, lengthened life expectancies, and increased food security.
Granted it wasnāt perfect. The growth created environmental problems and by the time the twenty-first century rolled around, the good stuff was starting to flatline, and the bad stuff was starting to grow.
This wasnāt because government wasnāt capable. Itās because concentrated global wealth started to capture government by investing in social movements to undermine the forces of democratic led governments.
Forty years after āWe Are the Worldā and 20 years after Make Poverty History, the United States is now leading the world in dismantling democratic led government action, both at home and abroad.
That is the moment we are in. The hard-right, nationalist, anti-immigrant, and anti-democracy social movements that have grown globally are now led by the administrative branch of the federal government of the United States. They are breaking everything all at once because they know this is the only way they can succeed.
They know that Bono and Bob Geldoff are right. They know that expanding the good things that come from smart government driven by democracy works. Thatās why they are so committed to making sure Americans believe that government is the problem, so they can continue to capture it for their own use.
In fact itās not even about collateral damage. The damage is intentional. The suffering is necessary. The scapegoating is required. The goal is to undermine the shared values across all great religions that creation, or being in some religions, is enough.
Stoking the fires of scarcity is job one. That is why there has been so much invested in the politics of āwe need to take care of our own first.ā Itās why Vice President J.D. Vance claimed that there is a biblical order to love, loving first our family and then less love for those who are more distant from us.
Of course both former Pope Francis and new Pope Leo XIV have corrected his theology. The fact is weāre all in this together. Democratic government works to advance the good. And we can shape our world to support everyone. The unchecked mindset of scarcity always leads to violence and death.
MAGA is using the mindset of scarcity to blow up democracy. This is why they are using identity politics to attack trade, to blame immigrants, and to undermine international aid.
The resistance must come from those of us, still the majority, who believe in the values on which our democracy stands.
MAGA wants to distract by questioning the number of people who have died because of cutting USAID. They want their followers and all of us to be distracted from the fact that smart government investments save and improve lives.
The evidence is overwhelming that these investments through democratic government do make life better. If you cut them off wholesale, there is going to be a dramatic negative impact. And yes, people are going to die.
The question of āhow many people have died so far?ā is a red herring. Thereās no way to know for sure. You have to use science to determine what the impact is. And the science is clear. The benefits of these investments have been great for the entire world, including our own nation. The benefits far outweigh the costs.
So MAGA is shutting down all of the science. We have highly skilled scientists across the federal government from the National Weather Service to the National Institutes of Health to CDC to USDA Economic Research Service being forced to sit at their desks. They must clock in for 8 hours but are directed NOT to do the work weāve all been paying them to do.
Food rots in warehouses meant to feed children around the world. Life saving medicine isnāt being administered.
This is all intentional. DOGE isnāt trying to save American taxpayers money. The goal is to break the federal government. The goal is to break democracy. Because democracy works.
Those now occupying the executive branch of the United States of America are trying to capture government for their own use and power. They need us to embrace a scarcity mindset. They need us to retreat into self-preservation. They are wholly committed to make this happen. They donāt care how many people die. They need people to die.
We the people are the only antidote. We are the only foil to their plans. Protecting our democracy and then using it to get back to the work of making our lives, our communities, our state, our nation, and our entire world a better place is whatās at stake.
How we show up on June 14 will make a difference. It will make THE difference.
Make your sign and make sure you show up. Standing up for democracy on June 14 is the most important thing we can do to save lives, including our own
Me protesting in Des Moines, Iowa with Channing Dutton. Itās all on the line. State House leaders assassinated today in MN. A US Senator in handcuffs on Thursday. Marines in Las Angeles detain a US military veteran as he approached the federal building. Our bodies in the streets by the millions today, holding our signs, chanting, and showing our support for our democracy will save our democracy and our lives.
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Iām a member of the Iowa Writers Collaborative. Please take a look at this amazing group of Iowans publishing their work on Substack who are keeping community-based local journalism and commentary alive. Itās an honor to be among this group.
Not merely the most important message, the essential message for the survival of not just our democracy, but our humanity. Weāre responsible for what our present and future will be. The whole world is watching.