*** “At what point, then, is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer, if it ever reach us, it must spring up amongst us….If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide.” [ Abraham Lincoln ]
America is a different society, a different country, than it was in 2015. America has been INFECTED with a destructive virus: antidemocracyism. Calculating and cynical forces have been unleashed. Hatred, greed, suspicion have been unleashed. Religious intolerance, masquerading as “religious freedom,” has been unleashed. YOU have been told to be afraid – of “them.” The mass middle class prosperity of 1947-73 has been DELIBERATELY DESTROYED. Norms of decency and respect for others have been destroyed. “Democracy” isn’t just rules and laws. “Democracy” used to be how we as Americans treated each other. “Democracy” is intent to “..promote the general Welfare..” America is not, never has been perfect – but from 1901-1980, America was, BY INTENT, taking strides toward achieving a real Democracy. But – step-by-step, since 1981, mass democracy – one that tried to “..promote the general Welfare..”, has been DELIBERATELY SABOTAGED. By whom ???
By. TEAM FAR RIGHT – by “supreme court” corruption, by tax laws favoring already obscenely rich, by a coordinated propaganda war to convince YOU that black is white, by legislation at state and federal levels taking away 1901-1980 democratic reforms.
Since 2015 – all this deliberate antidemocratic destruction has been on steroids. A man whom some have called “a fascist to the core,” “a moron,’ “a flawed person,” a man whom many describe as having two priorities: greed and revenge – has been INFECTING America with his warped conduct; most especially with his LYING; his often monumental cruelty; his poisonous rhetoric; his transactional conduct; a man who has desecrated the office once held by Washington, Lincoln, FDR, Eisenhower; a man whi has weakened the very soul of America.
*** “Liberty lies in the hearts of men and women; when it dies there, no constitution, no law, no court, can save it.”
[ Judge Learned Hand ]
{Note: following are excerpts from David Brooks’ May, 2025, The Atlantic article: “Everything We Once Believed In…Trumpism has replaced conservatism’s core values with just one: the raw pursuit of power.” As an American, YOU OWE it to yourself to read the entire article. ]:
1]. “I have thought of America as a deeply flawed nation that is nonetheless a force of tremendous good in the world…Since January 0, 2025.. I have watched America behave vilely…the best description for what I”m feeling is moral shame: To watch the loss of your nation’s honor is embarrassing and painful. George Orwell is a useful guide to what we are witnessing.”
2]. “Russell Vought, Donald Trump’s budget director, sounds like he walked straight out of ..”1984″…”we want them to not want to go to work, because they are increasingly viewed as the villains…We want to put them in trauma.”…Trump has caused suffering…..suffering…..suffering…..Trump..isn’t just declaring war on ‘wokeness”; he’s declaring war on Christian service – on any kind of service, really.”
3]. “If there is an underlying philosophy driving Trump, it is this: Morality is for suckers. The strong do what they want…Day after day, the administration works to create a world where ruthless people can thrive…His first term gradually eroded norms and acclimatized America to a new sort of regime…he’s making the globe a playground for gangsters…Trumpism has become a form of nihilism that is devouring everything in its path.”
4] “..Trump may have campaign as a MAGA populist..he governs as a Palm Beach elitist…The MAGA elite rode to power on working-class votes…they don’t care about the working class…Trump and his crew could have taken office with actual plans to make life better for working-class Americans…These faux populists have no interest in that.”
5]. “It turns out..when you mix narcissism and nihilism, you create an acid that corrodes every belief system it touches. This Trumpian cocktail has eaten away at Christianity…if Trumpianism has a central tenet, it is untrammeled lust for worldly power….The Nietzschean Ubermenschen – which Trump and Musk clearly believe themselves to be – offer the premise of domination over those sick sentimentalists who practice compassion.”
6]. “Trumpian nihilism has eviscerated conservatism. The people in this administration are not conservatives…Trumpism trashes moral norms in every direction…Trump bulldozes checks and balances…the Trump administration couldn’t care less about promoting democracy – or about human dignity.”
7]. “..we have reached a point of traumatic rupture. A demagogue has come to power and is ripping everything down..what’s likely to happen is..the demagogue will start making mistakes, because incompetence is built into the nihilistic project…Authoritarian nihilism is inherently stupid…They are pathologically self-destructive. When you create an administration in which one man has all the power and everybody else has to flatter his voracious ego, stupidity results. Authoritarians are also morally stupid. Humility, prudence, and honesty..are practical tools that produce good outcomes. When you replace them with greed, lust, hypocrisy, and dishonesty, terrible things happen…. When Trump creates an unnecessary crisis, its unlikely to be a small one.”
8]. ‘..although Trumpism’s collapse is a necessary condition for national recovery, it is not a sufficient one. Its demise must be followed by the hard work necessary to achieve true civic and political renewal.” [ Brooks provides six things America must do to repair the damage to US that Trumpism has caused. ]
Think of Trumpism as a plague, a pandemic. It has attacked the body of American democracy. America will NOT. BE. HEALTHY. until the last vestiges of Trumpism have been expunged. The cure will be more democracy. It will be a return to what was achieved between 1947-1980 economically – a SHARING of America’s wealth, NOT tax cuts for the rich. It will be a return to government that cares about ordinary people – NOT one that cuts funding for health, education, government services. Itr will be one in which civil rights are once again available to ALL Americans – a simple decency, one that thinks most people are good, NOT “bad.” It will be a society in which WE strive for love and respect – NOT one in which some people get rich by promoting hatred, some get rich by LYING and spreading falsehoods.
Donald Trump has been a cancer. America will not be healthy as long as he and his disciples have ANY power, are listened to by ANYBODY. Trump as president isn’t just a NIGHTMARE – him being elected twice is an embarrassment. People around the world look at America differently BECAUSE ‘we’ elected him. What is wrong with the Americans? How could they have been so stupid?
But – unfortunately, Trump isn’t alone. The greatest mass murders of al, time – Stalin, Hitler, Mao – didn’t kill millions. Their followers did. Trump hasn’t murdered American democracy by himself – his followers, his enablers, his funders, his apologists did. The beginning of the end of the Trumpian nightmare MUST start with individual acts of courage from people like YOU. Must continue with the 2026 elections. Must continue until no fragment of the Trumpian virus infects OUR society and government. The post- World War II Germans have shown us how it can be done. WE can do this. BUT – let YOUR voice be heard, please.
*** “The darkest places in hell are reserved for those who maintain neutrality in times of moral crisis.”
[. Dante Alighieri ]
With Justice For All 