Seven Months In

If you live in the U.S. and are not tuned into politics, the country probably doesn’t seem any different today than it did just a few years ago. People are out and about shopping, socializing, attending sporting events and concerts, heading to work and going about their day. You might even wonder what people are so worked up about.

I’m one of the unlucky people who’s tuned into politics, however, and there is cause for alarm. To summarize, here’s just a small sampling of what’s raising alarm bells:

• For months, a federal agency has been abducting people off the streets, purportedly to “round up the illegals,” but citizens have often been caught up in these raids. The coverage on this is vast, so rather than select them at random, I’ll share a search link: https://www.bing.com/news/search?q=ICE+raids&qs=n&form=QBNT&sp=-1&ghc=1&lq=0&pq=ice+raid&sc=10-8&sk=&cvid=CD4A2DDAF6124FE9AD2713EB07BC1EBA

• Taking another cue from the authoritarian playbook, Donald Trump has instituted a federal takeover of the D.C. Metropolitan Police, and has deployed the National Guard to fight an imaginary crime wave. (Crime is actually down in DC, but in typical fashion, Trump dismisses that as fake news.). Chicago appears to be next on his list.

• The Supreme Court continues to expand executive power, sometimes overturning decades-old precedent to do so. In so doing, they’ve reversed numerous lower court rulings issued by judges appointed by both parties, including by Trump himself. These rulings would have kept the executive branch in check. SCOTUS seems biased towards a monarchical president. This trend started when the court granted him immunity for any acts committed while performing his official duties.

There is much more, and more seems to be unfolding even as I write this. We are seven months into this administration, and in seven months, Fascism has taken root firmly. If we want to exorcize it, and its enablers, from positions of power, we have to turn out the vote in such numbers that we can overcome what is sure to be massive cheating by the GOP. They’ll do what they can to prevent or dilute our votes in 2026, so overwhelming turnout at the polls is crucial.