This Dark Road

His presidential portrait glowers at us, and he looks like in the next moment he's going to pull a gun from the pocket of his baggy suit and start shooting - at a homeless man on the corner, an innocent child or an immigrant working in a noisy kitchen.

Sitting in the Oval Office at this very moment is, God help us, an arrogant, vindictive man who is utterly unfit for the presidency. We have at the helm not a leader who cares about our future or the people of our country, but a man who is corrupt, heartless and morally bankrupt.

All you have to do is watch him. This is a man who is filled with greed and a bottomless hunger for power and admiration. He yearns to grab the world in both hands and to devour it whole. He grovels before world leaders and bristles at the least criticism. He's desperate to be admired and easy to manipulate. He is putty in the hands of dictators and billionaires, and doesn't give a damn about regular people like you or me.

This is a man who is deeply sick. He relishes cruelty for its own sake and loves to show his power in each cruel act and word. He is shameless, unfettered by trivial ethical concerns. His incoherent rants hint at growing senility.

Where are the men and women who we trust to protect our democracy and keep it strong? The people who are supposed to restrain him? Most of them look the other way and say nothing. They've been cowed into submission - or, worse, are clinging to him to enhance own power and wealth.

So we watch as the rich saunter down the halls of power counting their money, while the selfish and the shallow grovel at his feet and the people who voted for him applaud his lies and cheer at every turn. And even worse, standing right behind him are the architects of a frightening new government, whispering in his ear and urging him on.

Every day I read the news with disgust and horror. I can hardly recognize the country we have become in just nine months.

It started with firing of nearly 60,000 people and the dismantling dozens of agencies. Programs that make life better for all of us and that help the most needy countries of the world disappeared with the flourish of his black pen. Painstaking, admirable work done over decades was smashed and scattered to the winds.

Soon innocent people were being beaten, rounded up, crowded into filthy camps and then spirited away to other countries. Soldiers were marching down city streets.

His tariffs began driving prices sky-high. Now the food in our cupboards is dwindling, our jobs are being snatched away and allies are turning away from us.

The latest outrage? Anyone who criticizes him is declared a traitor. He's begun pressuring corporations to fire comedians and journalists. Even more terrifying, he and his cronies have started to imply which people they'll go after next. Are you trans? Gay? Look out.

I could go on and on. From the day he took power we have watched the foundations of democracy dismantled before our eyes. If we all stood together we could restrain him, but so many in power have been silenced. And he ignores the law at every turn, and has the Supreme Court in the palm of his hand.

I am so ashamed. I love my country, loved it, at least, when it was at its best, was proud of it when it was a beacon, a leader, working for freedom. But now - look at us! We've become one of the world's bullies: self-obsessed and dangerous, run by cunning and greed rather than ideals.

Okay - let's stop. Let's take a deep breath.

This is what I think most of us have been saying for months now, isn't it? You and I and the millions of other Americans who are outraged and terrified by the dark road our country is traveling these days.

But let's look for a moment at some of the good things that have been happening behind the scenes. There are good things, you know. Behind the awful news we hear blasted every day in the media, many, many people are working hard to fight back.

Let's talk about Congress, for instance. There's this perception that Congress is in perpetual gridlock and never accomplishes anything positive. But they actually passed over 600 bills last year, often with bipartisan support. And state legislatures? Just so far this year states have introduced more than 135,000 bills and passed them at higher rates than at the federal level, addressing not just the budget shortfalls that the "Big Beautiful Bill" has caused, but also other needs and issues that affect us all, from data privacy to microplastics to climate change.

And let's not forget people like you and me. We're not just standing aside, wringing our hands. I'm proud of the way I see so many people taking action! We're doing what needs to be done: holding up the signs by the road, making the phone calls, cancelling our subscriptions, making donations and doing every single thing we can to make our voices heard and protect our democracy.

We need, every one of us, to treat this like the four-alarm fire it is and do everything we can while there's still time. And there's a lot more to do. It's a long way off till the elections! But in the meantime, we can still do so much to call our leaders to be accountable and to fight for our country and all the people who live here.

So don't despair. Let's keep speaking out and do what we can to keep the country we love a free and strong democracy. Let's work together and try listen to each other, too, and rebuild some of those bridges we've lost over these past years. And most of all, let's not forget to take good care of ourselves and our loved ones.

See you soon! I'll be holding a sign by the road with the others. Honk as you go by - or join us if you can.