Caller 10

If you've never had the pleasure of seeing Vermin at a protest, he's essentially a rodeo clown for riot cops, and his example taught me a lot about how to communicate to a group of angry, scared people in tense situations. Those lessons came in handy for me back in 2020. But the George Floyd uprising is now almost five years in the past. Trump is once again in power.

Very little seems to stand between him and the exercise of a kind of arbitrary dictatorial violence that this nation has seldom seen within its own borders, but has often sponsored elsewhere, including El Salvador, where Trump has sent hundreds of American residents and plans to send thousands, perhaps tens of thousands more.

Very little seems to stand between him and the exercise of a kind of arbitrary dictatorial violence that this nation has seldom seen within its own borders, but has often sponsored elsewhere, including El Salvador, where Trump has sent hundreds of American residents and plans to send thousands, perhaps tens of thousands more.

Very little seems to stand between him and the exercise of a kind of arbitrary dictatorial violence that this nation has seldom seen within its own borders, but has often sponsored elsewhere, including El Salvador, where Trump has sent hundreds of American residents and plans to send thousands, perhaps tens of thousands more.

The purpose of this essay is to provide my predictions for the next six months to a year. What I'm writing here is speculative, but it is based on the best data I have available and numerous conversations I've had with activists, current federal employees, former soldiers and retired law enforcement.

The purpose of this essay is to provide my predictions for the next six months to a year. What I'm writing here is speculative, but it is based on the best data I have available and numerous conversations I've had with activists, current federal employees, former soldiers and retired law enforcement.

The purpose of this essay is to provide my predictions for the next six months to a year. What I'm writing here is speculative, but it is based on the best data I have available and numerous conversations I've had with activists, current federal employees, former soldiers and retired law enforcement.

There are a million places where I could start, but I feel like the most responsible place to begin is by answering this question. Is now the time to panic? Last year, after Biden's disastrous debate performance, I put out a podcast essay titled Don't Panic. It was my most shared episode of this podcast that year, and I felt pretty good about the response.

There are a million places where I could start, but I feel like the most responsible place to begin is by answering this question. Is now the time to panic? Last year, after Biden's disastrous debate performance, I put out a podcast essay titled Don't Panic. It was my most shared episode of this podcast that year, and I felt pretty good about the response.

There are a million places where I could start, but I feel like the most responsible place to begin is by answering this question. Is now the time to panic? Last year, after Biden's disastrous debate performance, I put out a podcast essay titled Don't Panic. It was my most shared episode of this podcast that year, and I felt pretty good about the response.

Until Trump won again, and I found it briefly impossible to take my own advice. Since January of 2025, the fascist takeover has only accelerated, and I have lost count of the number of people who've asked me, is it time to panic? The answer to that is still no, but not because there's no reason to panic. In fact, panic is a natural reaction to our present moment.

Until Trump won again, and I found it briefly impossible to take my own advice. Since January of 2025, the fascist takeover has only accelerated, and I have lost count of the number of people who've asked me, is it time to panic? The answer to that is still no, but not because there's no reason to panic. In fact, panic is a natural reaction to our present moment.

Until Trump won again, and I found it briefly impossible to take my own advice. Since January of 2025, the fascist takeover has only accelerated, and I have lost count of the number of people who've asked me, is it time to panic? The answer to that is still no, but not because there's no reason to panic. In fact, panic is a natural reaction to our present moment.

If your fight-or-flight reflexes haven't been triggered, well, they might be broken. Even so, don't panic, because in combat, in disasters, in any dangerous situation you might find yourself, panic is what will kill you as surely as anything else. There's a concept in military theory I bring up often, something introduced to soldiers undergoing training today. It's called the Oda Loop.

If your fight-or-flight reflexes haven't been triggered, well, they might be broken. Even so, don't panic, because in combat, in disasters, in any dangerous situation you might find yourself, panic is what will kill you as surely as anything else. There's a concept in military theory I bring up often, something introduced to soldiers undergoing training today. It's called the Oda Loop.

If your fight-or-flight reflexes haven't been triggered, well, they might be broken. Even so, don't panic, because in combat, in disasters, in any dangerous situation you might find yourself, panic is what will kill you as surely as anything else. There's a concept in military theory I bring up often, something introduced to soldiers undergoing training today. It's called the Oda Loop.

It describes the process people go through while acting and reacting under fire, and particularly while deciding how to act and react under fire. It stands for observe, orient, decide, and act. If you can interrupt any part of that loop, you can stop your enemy from fighting back effectively.

It describes the process people go through while acting and reacting under fire, and particularly while deciding how to act and react under fire. It stands for observe, orient, decide, and act. If you can interrupt any part of that loop, you can stop your enemy from fighting back effectively.

It describes the process people go through while acting and reacting under fire, and particularly while deciding how to act and react under fire. It stands for observe, orient, decide, and act. If you can interrupt any part of that loop, you can stop your enemy from fighting back effectively.

The basic principle of the OTA loop functions on the grand strategy scale as well as it does in a gunfight. This is the point behind the flood-the-zone strategy orchestrated by Stephen Miller and the other intellectual luminaries behind Trump II.