This essay is a follow-up to my previous article, History Repeats Itself. George Santayana warned the world, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” He asserted that we need to remember the past, or we will repeat mistakes from the past.

Trump and his MAGA minions diss Santayana. They aren’t driven to remember history. They are driven to rewrite history.

So, the question is, who in the Republican Party in Washington will stand up to Trump? While you ponder that question, the Democrats and many judges are doing so. That is the backstory.

Ginger and I were having dinner the other night. I fed Ginger and made one of my favorite culinary pièces de resistance meals: teriyaki chicken, bacon bits, and Jarlsberg cheese wrapped in a tortilla. After baking it in a panini press, we watched A Few Good Men.

I’ve seen that movie many times over the past three decades. Tom Cruise’s character is a lawyer, Lt. Daniel Kaffee. He is a defense attorney representing two Marines stationed at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base. The two Marines faced charges of killing another Marine on the base. Cruise calls Col. Nathan R. Jessep, played by Jack Nicholson, to testify during the trial. Cruise wants Nicholson to explain why, as the commander at Guantanamo, he ordered a code red, a hazing technique. That order resulted in the death of a Marine.

It was during Cruise questioning Nicholson that I experienced a eureka moment.

If anyone needs a metaphor for what Trump is doing as the Orange President, that scene presents an excellent example. To address the issues facing America, the Democrats need to act. I’d suggest starting by looking for mentors and emulating Sen. Cory Booker. Watch the end of Booker’s speech, a 25-hour and 5-minute-long oration in the Senate.

Booker became a rallying point for all Americans to stand up to Trump. He is a mentor. I wrote two essays about his oration: The Man and the Moment and Booker’s Summation.

Another mentor is Sen. Chris Van Hollen. He flew to El Salvador and met with Kilmer Abrego Garcia. Trump claims he can’t ask El Salvador for Garcia, even though he wants to make Canada and Greenland a part of the United States. Then, he will invade Panama and seize the Panama Canal.

Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are an interesting combination of mentors. Bernie is a year older than I am, while AOC is thirty-five. This is the twosome at a rally in Missoula, MT.

This is a segment of AOC’s address to the audience in Missoula.

This is a short part of Bernie’s speech.

This is Sen. Elizabeth Warren standing up to Trump, who wants to get rid of Jerome Powell, the head of the Federal Reserve.

All Americans need to wake up and resist what Trump has been doing and what he promises to do. The early colonists wanted to replace King George III with a democracy. Interestingly, George III died deaf and delusional at the age of 82.

This video is of Sen. Chris Van Hollen’s press conference after returning to the States.

This is Stephen Colbert’s take on Trump.

This is the complete video of AOC and Sander's speech at Missoula, MT.