civil resistance to authoritarian regimes can, under the right conditions, be extraordinarily effective.
..................... a “color revolution” is a widely used term for the nonviolent uprisings that overthrew some of the autocratic regimes that emerged after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The most famous of these uprisings was the 2004 Orange Revolution that brought democracy to Ukraine. Ukrainian democracy has had its ups and downs since then, but it’s still standing — and still standing up to Russia’s brutal attempts at conquest. ................ Early in the second Trump administration it was clear that something like a color revolution was the only way to reverse the destruction of American democracy. Empowered by a corrupt Supreme Court that gave him blanket immunity and unconstitutional powers, fueled by a tidal wave of billionaire money, and abetted by a sycophantic Republican party, Trump was able to steamroll any opposition. Elites and elite institutions, from big corporations to law firms to many universities, capitulated without a fight. .................. And despite the massive turnout for the No Kings Day protests, it wasn’t clear if American patriots were tough enough, determined enough, to succeed where elites had failed. One day of marches at which the atmosphere was, if anything, festive, isn’t the same as the grim business of standing up to an autocratic regime, one willing to employ violence, on a sustained basis. Do Americans really have what it takes? ................. Yes, they do — in Minnesota and, I believe, in the rest of the country. ................... We’re fortunate that Trump is too impatient, too addicted to violence, to pursue the salami tactics Viktor Orban used in Hungary — slicing the institutions of democracy away gradually and insidiously until there was nothing left. Trump, instead, is trying to speedrun the process, shocking and aweing the nation into submission. The siege of Minneapolis was clearly meant as a show of force that would intimidate not just undocumented immigrants, but blue states as a whole and opponents in general. ................... MAGA has clearly been shocked by the way the people of Minnesota responded. Rather than rolling over in submission, ordinary citizens quickly organized highly effective resistance. Although they haven’t stopped ICE’s reign of terror, they have thrown a lot of sand in its gears. ....................... A week before Alex Pretti was executed at the hands of ICE, he suffered a broken rib in another protest. And he died trying to protect an innocent woman who was being brutalized. Nor was he alone in his courage and selflessness. As you watch the video of his murder, listen to all the whistles blowing, look at all the people who continued to film after multiple shots were fired. .................. MAGA can’t understand the willingness of so many people to endure so much hardship and run so many risks out of a sense of civic duty and care for their fellow man .................... Every social theory undergirding Trumpism has been broken on the steel of Minnesotan resolve. The multiracial community in Minneapolis was supposed to shatter. It did not. It held until Bovino was forced out of the Twin Cities with his long coat between his legs. .................. Tom Homan, the “border czar” replacing Bovino, brings menace rather than conciliation. Earlier this month he told Fox News that he was pushing to create a database of protestors, which would be used for retribution: .................. We’re going to make them famous. We’re going to put their face on TV. We’re going to let their employers, in their neighborhoods, in their schools, know who these people are. ....................... the news from Minnesota is horrifying but also hugely encouraging. Ordinary Americans are showing more strength, more resolve in defending our fundamental values, than almost anyone expected.
A poem inspired by “Minnesota is the Beginning of an American Color Revolution” by Paul Krugman — capturing its spirit, struggle, and the vivid colors of a momentous place and moment: (Paul Krugman)
Minnesota Colors
In the north where rivers bend
and winter lights linger long,
a thousand colors rise beyond the snow—
not just amber dusk or frozen gold,
but the deepest blue of steadfast hearts,
the red of courage drawn like breath,
and green—hope rooted in common ground.
Here they stand in Twin Cities’ streets,
not merely bodies, but living hues,
every shade a story told in whistles blown,
in ribs broken, in unwavering gaze—
a palette no decree can dim,
no iron boot can crush to gray.
The sky above Minneapolis and St. Paul
is a shifting canvas of resolve—
azure when resolve transcends fear,
scarlet when courage flares at dawn,
and violet in the twilight of doubt,
melding into something fierce and true.
Minnesota is not quiet.
It is not frostbound resignation—
it is color, motion, chorus loud,
an unafraid brushstroke across a nation’s frame—
where ordinary lives refuse to fade
and paint the future bright enough
to make the darkest fear relent.
Here, the hues of human spirit bloom—
in rallies ringing deep and long,
in common cause that outshines cold,
in every heartbeat that says still:
We are here. We stand.
We are the colors of our own becoming.
Minnesota Colors
Before the shouting,
there is the lake at dawn—
steel-blue, unbroken,
holding the sky like a promise
it has kept for centuries.
Pines stand dark and patient,
green that does not beg for attention.
Fields rest under snow,
white not as absence,
but as waiting.
Winter teaches discipline here.
It teaches staying.
It teaches how to build warmth
from neighbors, from work,
from doing the right thing
even when no one is watching.
Then spring arrives—
muddy, stubborn, undeniable—
and the Mississippi loosens its grip,
brown water carrying old ice south,
making room for movement again.
Summer spills color everywhere:
corn deep as belief,
lakes flashing silver,
sky so wide it feels like a vote
cast by the earth itself.
Autumn speaks in fire—
maples burning red and gold,
streets layered in crunch and memory,
a reminder that change
can be both beautiful
and irreversible.
And through it all, people—
steady as the seasons,
quiet until they are not.
When they rise,
it is not sudden.
It is accumulated weather.
Minnesota does not riot like a storm.
It shifts like climate.
Slow.
Relentless.
Impossible to ignore.
Its colors are not slogans.
They are earned.
Blue of resolve.
Red of sacrifice.
Green of shared ground.
White of clarity after long cold nights.
This is how revolutions begin here—
not with flames,
but with permanence.
Not with noise,
but with color that refuses to fade.
Minnesota Colors
Blue holds the lakes.
White teaches patience.
Green waits its turn.
Red comes slowly—
first in leaves,
then in voices.
Change here is not loud.
It is permanent.
Minnesota Colors
Minnesota’s colors do not shout; they endure. Blue is the discipline of lakes that hold their shape through storms. White is the patience learned in long winters, when survival depends on fairness and trust. Green is the quiet agreement that no one thrives alone. Red arrives last—not as rage, but as resolve—first in autumn leaves, then in voices that have waited long enough. Change here is not a spark; it is climate. And once it shifts, it does not shift back.
Minnesota Colors (Poem) @paulkrugman @BarackObama @MichelleObama @AOC @NYCMayor @ZohranKMamdani https://t.co/VYCz6xikaq
— Paramendra Kumar Bhagat (@paramendra) January 28, 2026
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