When They Stop Hiding It

Christine Merser, August 6, 2025

A few years ago, now and again, I would say to a friend, “Well, that’s a thought that will fester.” And we’d laugh, in that half-hollow, half-knowing way you laugh when you both understand that festering thoughts are the tax we pay for paying attention.

Now, those thoughts don’t just fester. They multiply. They braid themselves into my bloodstream, rewiring my nervous system, setting up a daily negotiation between serotonin and sheer rage. And so, like many of you, I curate what I take in. I ration the headlines. I scroll carefully. I self-censor not because I’m afraid of the truth, but because I already know too much of it.

But one thought keeps circling back, knocking louder than the rest.

Why aren’t they hiding it?

Why is Texas announcing, with a straight face, that it’s being reconfigured to add five congressional seats for Trump five years ahead of the census timeline? Why did Trump say it out loud, into a microphone, without blinking? Why is Greg Abbott proud of it, smiling as if gerrymandering the state into a fascist-friendly chessboard is just another day in the Lone Star State?

Why are they talking about the new detention centers being built in red states like they’re opening amusement parks? Why are the contracts public? Why are they sharing numbers about daily roundups of so-called “illegals,” which we really must only refer to as undocumented workers people, like they’re bragging about units sold on QVC?

Why aren’t they hiding it?

They could. They used to. We’ve lived through decades of covert operations, black budgets, and redacted documents. But now it’s out in the open. Not leaked. Not hinted at. Declared. And, they know that the town hall in Nebraska the other day is a country simmering in rage. They don’t care. They are not worried about mid-terms. 2026? Who cares?

So what changed?

One theory I can’t let go of, the chilling one, is that there’s no need for secrecy anymore. The frog has boiled. The door has already shut. The illusion of democracy is still playing on loop, but the building has been sold and the audience is asleep. Maybe the 2024 election really was the end of the free and fair era. And maybe all the so-called irregularities that were flagged and filed and quickly ignored weren’t anomalies. Maybe they were trial runs. And now they don’t need trial runs. They own the stadium.

Another possibility is that they’re still testing. Still checking our vitals. Seeing how far they can push the line before someone screams fire. It’s one thing to announce a migrant center. It’s another to call it a concentration camp. So they call it the first thing, while building the second, and wait to see who notices. Who objects. Who gets dragged for overreacting.

But here’s what I keep circling back to. If they were afraid of us, they’d be quieter. If they thought there was meaningful resistance on the horizon, organized, loud, relentless, they’d go back to smoke and mirrors. They’d hide it again. But they’re not. They’re flaunting it. So maybe, just maybe, they’ve concluded that no one is coming. No one’s organizing. No one’s paying attention. And the people who are? We’re too busy self-medicating on rage or retreat.

And maybe that’s the point.

They’re throwing so much at us, so quickly, with such flagrant force, that it becomes impossible to pick a place to land. To fight. To even think. It’s the tyranny of the to-do list. The more that’s on it, the less you do. And they know it.

So maybe the way forward is not to react to everything, but to choose one thing. Pick your poison. One issue, one battle, one front where you will show up consistently. Where you will resist, persist, and commit. Where you will go deep, not wide. Where you will not look away. Split up the list.

We cannot let these constant explosions keep us from organizing ourselves. It’s time to divide and conquer. More to follow on this.

In the meantime, here are a few places to plant your flag. Pick one. Dig in.

Healthcare

Reproductive rights

Immigration

Public education

Book banning and censorship

Climate justice

Voter suppression and election access

Criminal justice reform

Media accountability

Workers’ rights

Gun violence prevention

LGBTQ+ protections

Housing and homelessness

Surveillance and civil liberties

Religious extremism in government

Pick one. Just one. And start.