Like It Or Not, We Are At War

An open letter to the American People

My Fellow Americans,

At this critical moment in our nation’s history, I believe we need a reframing of the current situation.

We are not in a global pandemic.

We are at war.

The enemy is invisible and all around us. And yet we stand divided, willing victims to slaughter.

In this moment more than any other in the history of this nation, it is not about Democrats and Republicans.

It is about only one thing. Life and Death.

I sit here writing this in the eery yellow light of an apocalyptic morning in California. The fires are so bad that the sky is glowing radioactive orange like I’ve never seen and ash is falling like snow.

We’ve been in quarantine for 6 months, with no end in sight.

We have massive problems.

The question is, how do we unite against a common enemy when we are more divided than ever?

The answer: We must understand that this is war.

Because that is what it is.

This is a moment like never before where we all must enlist as soldiers, each and every one of us, to fight an invisible enemy that can and does lurk everywhere. Whether you ride a Harley or drive a Prius. (And in my family we have both, and believe it or not, that’s possible.)

This is the most insidious enemy we’ve ever faced. In the span of months it has taken hundreds of thousands of lives, ravaged our economy and eviscerated life as we know it within our borders. And we’ve let it.

If this kind of damage had been inflicted by a foreign nation, we would’ve united and taken up arms to fight against it months ago, proudly waving the battle flag. Instead, we have argued about its very existence.

Meanwhile it has taken advantage of our weakness and continued to wreck havoc as we bicker and take half measures.

There is no ignoring this enemy or wishing it away. The more we do that, the more it wins.

It won’t stop unless we stop it. And we can’t stop it unless we unite.

After 9–11 we came together as a nation to support and defend our land and people. More people have died in New York alone from Covid19 than in the attacks on 9–11, and yet, we still remain divided. Why?

Going to war hasn’t always been an easy decision, but in this case, we have no choice.

The enemy is coming for us whether we believe it or not.

This is not about politics. There are moments greater than that and this is one of them.

This is about saving our collective way of life.

If we can’t all enlist to fight this enemy, by wearing masks, by not congregating en masse, by locking down, by doing whatever it takes to win, we will lose.

Because if even a small percentage of us refuse to fight this battle, the enemy will continue to thrive.

If you’re not fighting against it, you’re aiding and abetting the enemy.

And we must see it that way.

I have never been a war monger. But I am now. We must go to war against this virus and eradicate it from our land.

It will take months and possibly years.

It will require hard work and sacrifice from all of us.

It will not be easy.

But, it will be worth it.

To see your friends again, to go to the movies or a bar again, to see your child go to school safely, to hug a family member without fear, to get your hair cut, attend a wedding, eat at a restaurant, go to a baseball game, worship at your church, see your coworkers. The list goes on.

But we must stop pretending we aren’t afraid.

If you’re not afraid you’re not paying attention. Being brave does not mean willfully ignoring the enemy. It means FACING IT.

If we face it together, we can can and will overcome it. If not, the enemy wins. And if there’s anything we can all agree on as Americans, it’s that we hate losing.

And right now, sitting at home for 6 months because I can’t go to work because I might contract a virus that could be deadly to me or those I care about, it feels like we’re losing. It feels like we’re losing losers that lose when we can’t even all acknowledge the truth of what’s happening around us.

We’ve been invaded.

And we’re doing nothing about it. That is not the America I thought I knew. I thought we were a land of fighters. Not people who fight amongst ourselves, but who fight our common enemies.

I’m asking, begging us all, to remember who we are as Americans, and come together to fight this virus.

I’m not sure why we don’t have the leadership we need now to sound this battle cry. So I’m doing it.

If you’re a soldier in this fight, please recruit others. We need every one of us on board, or we all lose.