the power of unarmed truth

Jan 15, 2026

“This is no longer left versus right. It is conscience versus collapse. This is no longer about winning elections. It is about whether a civilization remembers who it is supposed to be.”

- Michael Jochum | January 7, 2026

The audio recording of this Morton Train is available to paid subscribers here.

In the story of Pinocchio, during his journey to becoming a real boy, whenever he tells a lie, his nose grows quite long. I remember as a kid having such compassion for him in those story moments, when the lie would bring shame upon him and literally alter his being.

In the fable, The Emperor’s New Clothes, swindlers convince the vain emperor that his glorious robes are invisible to anyone who is disloyal, unfit for their position in the court, or just plain stupid. So the people of the court, all the townspeople, and even the emperor himself lie and claim that they can see the glorious robes. It’s a collective delusion that perpetuates until an innocent child speaks the truth, “The emperor has no clothes.”

Both of these world-renowned, classic stories frame honesty as a virtue and truth-telling as courageous. The stories teach us that lying is tangled together with fear and disorientation.

But, for Pinocchio, it is a lie that humiliates him. And in the fable, the emperor is humiliated by Truth.

***

There is a Judeo-Christian term that I find quite beautiful, something known as “the still, small voice within.” Because the still, small voice is, historically, a religious term, it is usually attributed to being the voice of the Holy Spirit or of God. But what if the still, small voice within is actually (or also) the voice of our deepest humanity.

After all, the still, small voice within is unique to each of us (just as our humanity is) while also connecting us to one another and to the collective.

It is the still, small voice within that speaks the language of conscience, inspiration, intuition, integrity, compassion, wisdom, and love.

It is the still, small voice within - the inner knowing - that tells the truth even when the truth is uncomfortable or inconvenient.

***

Sociopaths, by definition, have no still, small voice within. Sociopaths are also masters at coercing people into ignoring or discounting their own still, small voice. The still, small voice is, ultimately, a person’s inner authority and, therefore, a threat to an authoritarian/ sociopathic regime.

Sociopaths are also without virtue. So, truth being a virtue… they simply have no regard for it. That is why they can speak words of and commit acts of hypocrisy with such malicious ease. That is why they can lie with such abandon, enforcing their own rules and reality.

This Regime is being run completely by sociopaths and/or malignant narcissists. All of them - Vance, Vogt, Miller, Noem, Hegseth - take full advantage of the demented sociopath at the helm, the complicity of his enablers, the blind loyalty of his followers, the insatiable greed of the oligarchs, and the entrenched propaganda coming out of right-wing media.

The good news is that we, the sane and the virtuous, far outnumber them.

The good news is that Truth is on our side.

The good news is that Truth is ours to wield.

Robert Reich assures us of this: “The more Trump’s tyranny is exposed, the stronger the resistance and bigger the backlash. The more vicious his regime becomes, the more powerful the alliances being formed at every level of society to stop him.”

***

Last week, while the Regime was actively rewriting the story of the Insurrection on its 5th anniversary, Pamela Hemphill a.k.a. “MAGA Granny” spoke at a hearing. “Once I got away from the MAGA cult and started educating myself after January 6th, I knew what I did was wrong. I pled guilty to my crime because I did the crime.” She then made a heartfelt apology to the Capitol Police and ended by saying, “I want others who feel like me to know that we must stop the lies being pushed by many Republican leaders, and by Trump himself.”

This woman followed the command of her still, small voice within and - knowingly putting her life in danger - courageously told the truth. Just like the Epstein survivors. Just like Kilmar Abrego Garcia. Just like Mahmoud Khalil. Just like Jack Smith.

The day after Ms. Hemphill’s testimony, Renee Good was murdered in broad daylight by a masked thug in Minneapolis. Within minutes, the sociopathic Regime bombarded us with brazen lies about her, her killer, and about the incident itself. They’ve since doubled down on those lies, amplifying their outright propaganda.

In contrast, Renee Good’s widow made a public statement that was honest and humane. She said plainly, “We had whistles. They had guns.” She wrote that “the people who did this had fear and anger in their hearts, and we need to show them a better way.”

We The People responded immediately to the shooting with nationwide marches and vigils and acts of resistance. (The name Renee means “rebirth” - her name literally means the rebirth of good.)

This is a time when Truth is getting louder and louder. This is a time when Truth has taken to the streets.

The not so still, not so small voice of We The People has - out of necessity - become the loud and visible conscience of this country.

We are encouraged by the prophetic voices from our nation’s past. From George Orwell (“in a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act”) to Bayard Rustin (“speak truth to power”) to Maggie Kuhn (“speak the truth, even if your voice shakes”) to MLK (“unarmed truth will have the final word”).

***

So here’s what’s true at the start of 2026: Despair is not an option. Silence is not an option. Resignation is not an option. Looking the other way is not an option.

Truth-in-Action, in whatever form that takes, is all of ours to do now.

Marianne Williamson sums it up perfectly: “This is not the time for a soloist,” she says. “This is the time for a choir. And they cannot shoot a song.”