Common Sense Take 2 – Good Grief

Common Sense: Take 2, A Call to Renew Democracy, contends that the United States is confronting not simply a political crisis but a deeper crisis of democratic capacity. Written by Russ Travers, a career public servant across multiple administrations who retired as Acting Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, the book focuses on the institutional, civic and cultural work needed to address this crisis.

Over the last five weeks, members of The Steady State have provided commentary on each of the book’s five themes.

This essay, written by Douglas Clapp, brings this series to a close.

Common Sense, Thomas Paine’s hugely influential tract published in 1776, laid out the case against arbitrary rule by a monarch in clear, convincing language, swaying American opinion and igniting action for independence from Great Britain in the American Revolution. Today, 250 years into America’s bold experiment in republican democracy, Russ Travers’ book Common Sense: Take 2 argues anew for public action to restore and revitalize that experiment, freeing America from an arbitrary, cruel, corrupt and lawless regime. Travers reminds us to think of our individual and collective civic responsibilities, not as mere passengers on the ship of state, but rather as stewards of our nation, actively invested in keeping the ship on its lawful, constitutional course.

Like Charles Schulz’s beloved cartoon bully fighter, Charlie Brown, Americans ping-pong between horror and hope over the daily torrent of breaking news and stunning authoritarian assaults on our democratic rights and institutions. A sudden and very costly war erupting apparently on presidential whim. Masked agents in our streets and homes, terrorizing the public and trampling civil and human rights. The Department of Justice treating rule of law, due process and court orders as “optional.” Blatant and unprecedented pay-to-play government corruption.

I often feel as though we are living in a Charles Dickens novel. It seems the best of times for the corporate elite and the wealthy oligarchs but the worst of times for the rest of us. Wisdom versus foolishness, scientific facts versus utter lies, justice versus unbridled corruption, constitutional order versus authoritarian whim co-exist and vie against each other from separate competing bubbles.

The sum of this daily barrage of unethical, illegal and unconstitutional governmental overreach is overwhelming, exhausting and depressing to the average American. A 2025 American Psychological Association “Stress in America” survey found 62% of U.S. adults report societal division as a significant source of stress in their lives. The future of the nation was confirmed to be weighing heavily on Americans, with three quarters of all adults (77%) reporting that as a major stressor in their lives.

As Charlie Brown would say, “Good Grief!”

Since January 2025, Americans have been increasingly grieving the current regime’s rapid and comprehensive assault on our democratic norms, rights and institutions. Feelings of dread, loss of trust, depression and powerlessness threaten to overwhelm us and tempt many to withdraw from or ignore the ongoing battle for the law-abiding soul of our government we once proudly treasured. Growing numbers are even fleeing the country, causing a skill and creativity brain-drain. Sadly, such grief responses are understandable but also inure to the benefit of the anti-democracy elements controlling our government and trampling our rights. As Travers points out, “When decent people disengage, the loudest voices control the agenda. When thoughtful people decide that participation is futile, the field is left to the most aggressive, the most extreme, or those who are most willing to exploit confusion or stoke the fires of chaos.”

Shared Grief Can Become “Good” Grief

However, there can be a brighter side to our national grief. This sense of shared grief can motivate us to better understand the threats to our democratic traditions and participate in acts to defeat the lawless corruption. We can harness its emotional power into acts of community unity and strength through our shared sense of loss and toward a vision of democracy restored and revitalized.

Can Americans rise to the challenge of sustained committed civic stewardship and democratic renewal and turn the energy of our cultural exhaustion and grief into “good” grief? It’s a concept not unlike civil rights icon John Lewis’ “Good Trouble,” volitional acts exercising our human and constitutional rights, investing personal effort and risk on behalf of democratic restoration and revitalization.

The process of institutional repair will not be quick or easy. Anti-democratic agendas will never completely disappear. Thus, we must begin with a widespread acknowledgement of our basic responsibilities of citizenship: building community, staying informed, actively participating in choosing and supporting competent public servants, and regularly exercising our constitutional rights. Democracy requires an all-hands effort, a culture of participatory citizenship, community by community, understanding that protecting our democracy is a lifelong responsibility of our precious, yet ever-vulnerable civic life.

By turning our horror and exhaustion over the chaos and corruption into “good grief,” we can start the process of rededication to and renewal of our democratic ship of state.

It’s simply Common Sense!

Douglas Clapp, Captain USCG (Ret.) is a member of The Steady State. His career service in Maritime Safety & Security culminated as Deputy Director of the Coast Guard’s Training & Education System, Reserve Component, and Leadership/Diversity functions. In his post-military career, he served as Senior Analyst for the Operations Directorate, USNORTHCOM as a missions expert in Defense of the Homeland and Defense Support of Civil Authorities for emergencies and disasters. He is a member of The Steady State.

Founded in 2016, The Steady State is a nonprofit 501(c)(4) organization of more than 400 former senior national security professionals. Our membership includes former officials from the CIA, FBI, Department of State, Department of Defense, and Department of Homeland Security. Drawing on deep expertise across national security disciplines, including intelligence, diplomacy, military affairs, and law, we advocate for constitutional democracy, the rule of law, and the preservation of America’s national security institutions.