Last time I went to the nearest corporate chain grocery store (16 miles away), eggs still cost north of ten bucks a dozen, despite the recent claim that “egg prices have plunged 44%.” I can’t speak to the pricing where you live, of course. We live in a rural ag community, where many, many households keep chickens – and one thing I haven’t noticed is price-gouging at the local farm stand level (price-gouging is absolutely happening at the Big Ag level). All of the handmade signs dotting the state highway and backroads around here are holding steady at $4 and $5 a dozen. This, to me, is the essence of community – folks know full well that they’re selling well below market, but prices remain relatively constant. Despite the country’s political temperature, I choose to believe that most people would gladly help their neighbor and support their community if asked. (See also: “Everyone IS Welcome” / Idaho community comes out in force to support local teacher.)

On the topic of egg prices, our brilliant Secretary of Ag, the ever-helpful Brooke Rollins says, “I think the silver lining for all this is how do we in our backyards, we’ve got chickens too in our backyard, how do we solve for something like this and people are sort of looking around and thinking ‘wow maybe I could get a chicken in my backyard and it’s awesome.'”

(stunned silence)

So! Put a chicken in your backyard – even if you live in an apartment! – to combat extortionate egg prices and avian flu! Take some vitamin A for your measles! Don’t get any Real Madrid tattoos! Any other questions about the current American leadership team, friends? We’re obviously in excellent hands!

On that note, this Saturday, April 5, millions of people will join the nationwide Hands Off! protests and rallies. Within just one hour of my hard-right, deep-red county, there are at least three separate protests scheduled! Friends, it is beyond time to take to the streets. If you haven’t yet been negatively affected by this administration’s actions (obviously my USDA work has vanished), just wait – this cruel, stupid, vindictive gang of unqualified clowns is definitely coming for you, too. They’re going to take everything we need and everything we love and it will be our own fault for not standing up when we had the chance.

“Everything we cherish must be fought for in these times. That’s a terrible reality, but what we are being called to summon in this moment is worthwhile: our deep regard for one another and for everything that is worth saving. This is a time to clarify our sense of what matters and what kind of world we want. This is also a time to throw down hard in defense of whatever we believe must be saved. Our enemies are hoping that in the chaos of so much violence and harm, we will not find our footing. They plan to steal everything we hold dear while we sit with our heads spinning. We must defy their expectations and undermine them in every way that we can. Defending our local libraries and keeping those institutions alive is deeply important. I hope you will do what you can to support that fight.” –Kelly Hayes

“My oath is to the Constitution of our state and of our country. We don’t have kings in America – and I don’t intend to bend the knee to one. I am not speaking up in service to my ambitions — but in deference to my obligations. If you think I’m overreacting and sounding the alarm too soon, consider this: It took the Nazis one month, three weeks, two days, eight hours and 40 minutes to dismantle a constitutional republic. All I’m saying is when the five-alarm fire starts to burn, every good person better be ready to man a post with a bucket of water if you want to stop it from raging out of control. Tyranny requires your fear and your silence and your compliance. Democracy requires your courage. So gather your justice and humanity and do not let the “tragic spirit of despair” overcome us when our country needs us the most.” –Illinois Governor JB Pritzker

And finally, “The events of last week have presented us with two models for facing an aspiring dictator: surrender or resistance. We are free to choose our response, thereby determining the type of world we will live in. The right choice seems obvious, but many people are frightened. If we make the right choice, we will instill confidence in others, allowing them to choose correctly, as well. In that way, each of us is a leader of the resistance. This battle will be fought and won at the personal level—by hundreds of millions of Americans making the right choice for themselves. In the aggregate, those personal choices will allow us to win. We cannot lose heart over a handful of individuals in leadership positions at big law firms and elite universities who lacked personal courage. Instead, their failures should cause us to redouble our personal commitment to the cause of democracy and the rule of law.” –Robert Hubbell

David Pepper, former chair of the Ohio Democratic Party, wrote: “Have some pride, America. We are so much better than this guy thinks we are.” Are we, though? This Saturday’s events will be a chance to answer that question.

Come out April 5 and let’s show ourselves, our government and the world that we do still have pride, and that we do still believe in this country and its ideals. We are now down to the binary choice between democracy and dictatorship. We all must stand on the correct side.