The Party told you to ignore the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command. George Orwell, from the novel,1984.
1984 is here and we’re in grave trouble, America. The reasons why or how no longer matter. We’re nearing a crucial tipping point from which there could be no return. Historians, assuming there will be any, will long debate how we got here. Right now, it’s too late for that. Time necessitates we state the obvious and courageously chart a new course.
President Trump’s modus operandi, imbued with his narcissism and fanned by his faithful followers, has succeeded in eroding our basic freedoms as spelled out in the First Amendment to our U S Constitution. Gone is “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.” Far-right religious leaders, like the Rev. Franklin Graham repeatedly points to unrest, like the recent shooting of Renee Good, as largely the result of Godless secular values antithetical to Christian doctrine and calls for our nation to return to the true Word. Trouble is the First Amendment doesn’t call for us to be a Christian nation. Quite the opposite. Such rhetoric is actually antithetical to our democratic belief in religious freedom and only fuels further division.
2026: Ignore what the Constitution says.
Gone is “there shall be no law abridging the freedom of speech or of the press.” Here, Trump assures us he knows our true history, conveniently disconnected from the uncomfortable parts including the quests for equality by many disenfranchised groups. And freedom of the press? For some time now any news that does not validate Trump’s views is quickly dismissed as fake.
Voices have gone silent in our classrooms and universities. Media newscasters, reporters and journalists are increasingly bowing to censorship. Many law makers now fear for their political, or sometimes, actual lives. The tragic irony is that they, along with the U S Supreme Court, have become complicit, cowering in silence and eliminating guardrails leaving only one functioning branch of government, the Executive.
2026: Ignore all except for what I tell you.
Gone is “there shall be no law prohibiting the right of the people peaceably to assemble.” And here we are today. Regardless of how you view the many videos of the shooting of Renee Good, the bottom line remains. She was not posing an imminent threat. She was attacking no one. She was trying to get away from a volatile situation. If detainment had been the goal, shooting the tires on her vehicle would have sufficed. But that was not the goal.
2026: Ignore what you think you see or it could cost you your life.
It would be bad enough if his pathology only impacted our country. Perhaps, we could live with his illusion that if he says something, no matter how unsubstantiated, it’s true. For example, the 2020 election was stolen or the January 6th insurrection was simply a peaceful protest.
Perhaps we could tolerate his delusional belief that the White House is his personal property, permanently marring its glory by destroying an entire wing, or proudly denigrating the walls with disparaging comments under the portraits of former Presidents.
Perhaps we could even try and ignore that, for the first time in our history, people are being rounded up off the streets and hauled away without any due process. Perhaps we could try hard to silence the cries of all those in hiding, a chilling reminder of the Jews in Nazi Germany. Families being torn apart.
But now it’s not just our country.
Many of us watched in abject disbelief as Putin invaded Ukraine. Now, it’s us. In what universe has it become okay to invade and take over a sovereign nation because we want their oil or believe it’s in our national security interests? Only in Trump’s universe. Gratefully, in response to Mr. Trump’s claim on Greenland, our NATO allies had the courage to stand up and support the many Greenlanders wearing red hats that read, “Make America Go Away.”
2026: Ignore what our allies are saying. I know what’s best for the world.
But perhaps the most disturbing, the final red flag that should jar anyone still sleeping awake was his recent vengeful remarks and declaration, after not being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, “No one deserves the Nobel Peace Prize more than me.” This reveals something even more troubling than narcissism, more dangerous than an inherent sense of invincibility. It reveals a school-yard pathology disconnected from any true sense of self or reality.
And this man thinks his power is only limited by his own mind.
Americans, will we ignore the evidence of our eyes and ears or will we stand up, speak out, and show up as if our very lives depended upon it?
Because now, it does.
Stephanie Rutt 