THEY ARE US

Audio-book Review
By Chet Yarbrough

(Blog:awalkingdelight)
 Website: chetyarbrough.blog

The Storm is Here: An American Crucible

By: Luke Mogelson

 Narrated by: Rob Shapiro

One must ask oneself, who is this author? The following is a brief review of Mogelson’s life, noted on the internet.

1. Luke Mogelson is an American reporter who is known for shooting the riot footage of the US Capitol video.
2. He was born in 1982 in St Louis, Missouri, United States of America. Fogelson is of American nationality having a white ethnic background.
3. Currently, Luke Mogelson’s age is 38 at the time of this writing.
4. Luke Mogelson does not have an official Wikipedia and bio made in his name.
5. As such, there is not much information about his family and educational qualifications.
6. Luke is a daring and brave reporter and has covered reports for the New Yorker on the Syrian War and West Africa’s Ebola epidemic.
7. He has lived in places such as Paris and Mexico. On the other hand; Luke Mogelson has not officially revealed to us his wife‘s name and her current whereabouts.
8. Luke is also a famed contributing writer at The New York Times Magazine and won the prestigious National Magazine Award in 2014. His work has appeared and allegedly been well-appreciated in The New Yorker, The Hudson Review, The Paris Review, The Kenyon Review, and many more.
9. He has written books titled; These Heroic, Happy Dead: Stories which was released worldwide in 2016.

At the least, Mogelson is a respected, brave, and well-travelled reporter, published in several national and international publications. If “The Storm is Here” is viewed as only an echo chamber for Trump haters, one should measure Mogelson’s credibility as a reporter and respected writer, published by notable national and international papers and magazines.

Mogelson begins his book with freedom loving Americans who resent Michigan Governor Whitmer’s autocratic response to the Covid 19 pandemic. She orders businesses to be closed and mandates masks to protect Michiganders from spread of the virus. The consequence devastates local businesses that needed income to survive during the pandemic.

Mogelson focuses on an elderly barber’s business and his refusal to close his doors during the pandemic. His business becomes a rallying cry for freedom fighters who believe freedom is more important than what became over 1,000,000 American deaths from Covid19.

Mogelson recounts the tumultuous years of the Trump presidency. Every listener will have a visceral response to Mogelson’s reporting. In the end, all one can conclude is that “They are Us”. America, like all countries of the world, has a flawed form of government.

They know who they are and still hope to be vindicated by history. Mogelson reveals how misled the Republican party has been by a showman. Trump has no understanding or concern about how destructive his actions have been to the potential of democratic equality and freedom. America has taken two steps back from the one step forward. The last step forward is in the Obama years of governance. This is not to suggest Obama is an exemplar of the best America can be but that he advanced democratic equality and freedom by one step forward.

We must be judges of ourselves by clearing understanding “they are us”. Many of these activists who support Trump believe in white supremacy, and the inferiority of others based on skin color or place of birth. It is not a matter of forgiveness but recognition of the threat of authoritarianism in democracy. Trump is not the first President (Democrat or Republican) of the United States to martial the hate of Americans for others. He will not be the last.

Mogelson’s facts are here for all to hear, believe, or disbelieve. The real message is “they are us” and democracy is, and always will be, a work in progress.