I find myself wondering when the truth became irrelevant.
I visited the website of the US Department of Agriculture, partly because I couldn’t believe what I had heard was posted on its main page. Yet there it was, in a huge font screaming off the page, a completely partisan anti-Democrat rant that not only blamed the Democrats for the government shutdown but included the statement that Democrats were “holding out” for healthcare for illegal aliens and “gender mutilation procedures.”
Even Grok, Elon Musk’s AI offspring, was clear that these two claims were false and misleading. Yet our Republican “representatives,” if you can call them that, are doing nothing to clarify the actual demands that are at the core of the impasse.
I’ve done enough research into different philosophies of government and politics to know that there is plenty of room for debate about what is the best way to do things. Our Constitution was written with full awareness of that fact, while at the same time providing for a system capable of governing in the face of the different goals and needs that our citizens might have. It has worked well for almost 250 years.
I don’t think the Constitution says that lying is okay. I don’t think it says that ignoring the rule of law is okay. I don’t think it says that the power of the President surpasses the power of Congress and the judiciary; it says quite the opposite, in fact. We have three co-equal branches of our government precisely because the founders were trying to guarantee that our nation would never again be pressed under the thumb of an autocratic ruler.
Yet here we are. Our President makes unilateral decisions even when the Constitution requires congressional approval; the Senate conveniently ignores the conflict of interest and doesn’t seem to mind that they are being revealed as cowards, so much do they fear the wrath of Donald.
The House of Representatives is not even being allowed to come to work, and to seat a newly elected Democratic member, for fear that our representatives might be forced to take a position on the release of the Epstein files. We can’t ask them to say what they really think!
I know that our system of government needs improvement, and many people who voted for Trump believed that was what he was going to do, along with lowering prices and keeping us safe from criminals. Is it an improvement to fire almost everyone who works in huge government agencies like the Departments of Education, Energy and Interior and install inexperienced replacements whose main qualification is agreement with the views of the President? If you believe that this “streamlined” federal government isn’t an accident waiting to happen, you just haven’t been affected yet.
One of the most cringeworthy episodes of the past couple months was the pep talk given by Fox News personality Pete Hegseth and reality TV personality Donald Trump to hundreds of senior military officers who had been summoned from duty stations around the globe. I felt a curious mix of pride in the demeanor of the officers, whose oath requires defense of the Constitution, and embarrassment for the demeanor of the President and the Secretary of Defense, one a draft dodger and the other cosplaying a soldier. I pray someone stops Trump before he asks those officers to carry out an illegal order.
Americans are Americans first, and diverse individuals second. Our unity has always been based on fundamental values that stress personal freedom within the limits of a cooperative and mutually supportive society. We don’t always live up to our ideals, but never before have we abandoned them altogether.
I refuse to believe that the average American wants millions of our children to go hungry because billionaires need their tax cuts. I refuse to believe that our system will ultimately support a man who believes that being elected President allows him to do whatever he wants.
Aside from raising our voices to our elected representatives, and telling them this is not who we are and not how we want to be represented, the midterm elections a year from now will be our next opportunity to stand up and show the world who we really are.
Don’t you find it curious that Trump and the Republicans seem to be trying to make it harder to vote? They want to shorten or eliminate early voting opportunities; eliminate voting by mail; require more elaborate methods of identification from potential voters.
Meaningful cases of voter fraud are virtually non-existent, though they will say that’s what they are trying to prevent. Do they really think Americans are going to be fine with having to line up on Election Day and wait hours for their turn to vote? Patriotism only goes so far.
How about if National Guard troops were stationed in Bandera, over the objections of our elected officials? What if peaceful demonstrators were attacked and brutalized? Are you ready for you and your neighbors to be considered more of a threat to our nation than Russia or China?
Trump and his cronies think all Americans are going to roll over just like the Republican Senate has done, but they are wrong. If there’s one thing that unites us all, it’s our desire to control our own destiny. We will vote. We will show them that we are still the land of the free, and the home of the brave.
Susan Hull is a retired clinical psychologist, a horse trainer, and an Independent voter. She hopes everyone will ask themselves, “Why is this okay with me?” the next time a new outrageous presidential overreach is announced.
.png)
