A Country on the Brink
The Long, Dark, Treacherous Road Ahead
It’s only been one day. One day since Trump the Terrible was sworn in. He is plotting against America. American exceptionalism is gone. This is bad news for all of us, but will harm America’s children the most. I am already completely f*****g exhausted, embarrassed, and heartbroken. We are witnessing a steady deterioration of everything I thought America stood for. With every new executive order, every policy pushed through by Trump and his administration, it becomes harder to breathe. I’ve never been more anxious about what the future holds for this country. Something deep within us is broken. The soul of this nation is being scorched from within, by the people who should be entrusted to safeguard it.
What did Trump do yesterday? Left the World Health Organization, left the Paris Climate Agreement, expanded the death penalty, ended birthright citizenship, renamed the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, renamed Denali to Mt. McKinley, ended all federal DEI programs, gutted foreign aid programs, made it much more difficult for refugees to come to this country, imposed tariffs on Canada and Mexico, pardoned J6-ers, revoked over 70 of Biden’s executive orders that protected our most vulnerable and the environment, revoked an executive order that lowered prescription drug prices for people on Medicare and Medicaid, and much more. What did Trump NOT do yesterday? Lower the price of eggs.
When Trump was first elected President in 2016, I, along with many others were in disbelief. Surely it was just an anomaly. But here we are. Again. It’s clear now that this was not just a blip on the radar of American democracy. There is something deeply wrong with our country. I think my pediatrician friends might call this a systemic illness.
On day one of his second term, Trump’s executive orders targeted the most vulnerable in this country. Children, immigrants, the environment, public health, and the very principles of justice and equality. Everything that makes this country great, under attack. Trump’s first term was an assault on what makes this country a beacon of hope for so many. His second term will be far worse. He will be more deliberate, more vindictive, and even more evil.
The most terrifying part, Republicans have defended, cheered, and glorified Trump’s actions. There’s this growing sense inside of me that decency, the decency that was Clinton, Bush, McCain, Obama, and Biden, has no place in politics anymore. The 47th President of the United States does not care about improving the lives of citizens or protecting the most vulnerable. We are a divided nation where the rich and powerful care only about protecting and advancing their own interests. Our “leaders” are emboldened in the worst ways. In ways I never imagined possible.
And I care because I love this country. But I also can’t stop thinking about future generations.
In his second term, Trump vowed to weaponize the Department of Justice to target his political adversaries. This isn’t hyperbole. Just today, in an unsurprising move, Trump revoked the Secret Service detail of former National Security Advisor, John Bolton, despite explicit threats from Iran on Bolton’s life. Before leaving office, Biden felt compelled to grant last minute pre-emptive pardons to those who dared to hold Trump accountable on The January 6th Select Committee—Bennie Thompson, Zoe Lofgren, Adam Schiff, Pete Aguilar, Stephanie Murphy, Jamie Raskin, Elaine Luria, Liz Cheney, and Adam Kinzinger (all heroes our kids can look up to, unlike Trump). He also pardoned Dr. Anthony Fauci and Gen. Mark Milley, frequent targets of Trump’s relentless attacks. Biden was so gravely concerned about Trump’s obsession with vengeance, that he pardoned members of his own family. The fact is, Trump would do anything to hurt Joe Biden, even if it meant going after his family. Trump has repeatedly smeared them as part of the so-called “Biden Crime Family”. Sounds like an awful lot of projecting from a petty man convicted of 34 felonies and steeped in scandal. Sure, these pardons are unprecedented. But so is pretty much everything Trump has done and will do. We know what kind of human he is. His level of vindictiveness knows no limits.
And then there’s Elon Musk, the richest man on the planet, once hailed as a visionary, who we watched give multiple Nazi salutes (in German, ‘Hitlergruß’, which translates to Hitler salute) last night. It is completely and utterly disturbing, heartbreaking, embarrassing, maddening. A man with his influence, who could be using it for good, has sunk to an even lower low. His actions were no accident. They were intentional. This was a choice, a conscious decision to align himself with a symbol of hate. This is a man whose words and actions have the power to influence millions of people, especially America’s children, and yet, here he is, normalizing hate and extremism. We have sent a very dangerous message to the world.
We are witnessing the normalization of far-right ideologies in America. This is becoming more mainstream. We are witnessing a downfall. And I am terrified of what that means not only for this country, but the entire world. If we continue down this path, what kind of message are we sending to our allies and our enemies? Will there be any allies left? And what does this tell our kids about what America stands for?
What we are experiencing is a cataclysmic shift that’s pulling us further away from the values and ideals of democracy. We are drifting further away from everything this nation was founded on. We’re entering a dangerous period where hate is tolerated, where the most vulnerable are disregarded, and where the wealthy and powerful are allowed to operate with no accountability. Every day feels like a reminder of how fragile democracy really is, how easily it could all slip away…If we let it.
I don’t have all the answers, but I know we cannot sit idly by. We must stand up. We must fight for what is good and right and decent. If we don’t, we lose everything that makes this country great. And I promise you, all of this is worth fighting for. Future generations are worth fighting for, and they are counting on us.