The May 23, 2025 Chicago Tribune comic strip “Prickly City” showed its skunk representation of President Donald J. Trump with a marker pen changing the “We” to “Me the People.” I believe my stockbroker voted for him but just said we have never had a president so close to being a dictator. He asked where the House and the Senate are. Isn’t it their job to do a lot of the things Trump is doing to overrule the actions taken by a President acting as a Dictator?

            The Soviet Union and new Russia has been trying to bring down our country for almost a century. They have subverted many Americans with blackmail, money, and love. Many secrets have been passed to their Russian handlers in the past couple of decades but none of that compares to the destruction of our governmental bodies and democracy. Our investigative agencies have been gutted, ordered to not investigate certain activities and has cowered the Legislative bodies. Trump has ignored orders from the Judicial Branch and persuaded the Supreme Court Judges to make anything he does do a Presidential Power. Imagine what the other two branches would be saying and doing if a previous President had done them!

            The United States is alienating our former Allies while being neutral or giving lip service to our enemies’ aggression. The damage being done will take many years to repair, if ever. At least most of the hatred other peoples are feeling is mostly directed at Trump. The rest of us are just collateral damage.  

Too often people are elected to an office after an election with only thirty percent of the electorate voting. Those people go into office with him or her to do what that small number of constituents want done. If a person voted against the official then they have the right to complain but if they didn’t bother to vote, they don’t have the moral right.

Of fifty, sixty, or even seventy percent of voters staying home a small number of people are able to take control of a government and its people. Adolph Hitler came into power with the support of a few thousand actual believers who controlled a few million supporters who thought his propaganda goals was needed. Of course his Brown Shirts beat up or killed those who complained or were the objects of his scorn. In Germany’s 1930s and 1940s the organization was called Nazi for “NAtional SoZialistiche Deutsch ArBeiterparteI.” Is the Maga-Movement the same just because it has all the same markers? It has the personality, lack of political experience, devotees, lies, political violence, minorities to suppress, and desire to destroy the justice and government.

If Americans value Democracy then they must vote in every election or lose what we value most!

        I heard many people blame President Joseph Biden for a bad economy. The reason we have some inflation is because we have a hot economy, low unemployment, and high consumer demand. If the number of unemployed skyrocketed the Fed would stop raising rates so if your neighbor is out of work, it’s great for you.

            About one person in four considered democracy threatened as a high priority of who they voted for this time. Too many Republicans said they would only accept the result if they won. Do we have that many children running for office? Democrats and many moderate Republicans thought Vice President Al Gore was cheated in his run but he was gracious in his concession speech to President Bush. Those who keep pushing “The Big Lie” should remember what happened in Germany in the 1930s and Russia a decade ago. Once we start down that road to authoritarianism Liberty gets rolled over.

            The only hope we have after this election is the trials in many cities and states will put a stop to the brewing insurrection. If for some reason those efforts fail then it is up to every right-thinking voter to stop our country from going down the path of destruction of the American Dream. The Founding Fathers thought they ensured this would not happen but the Civil War and today’s insurrectionists have proven their efforts were not enough. The minority who has been deceived need to open their eyes before it is too late.

            Chuck Todd on NBC’s Meet the Press June 12 episode presented some astonishing poll results. The respondents answered questions this way: Do they trust government? In October 2001 60% said yes but today 20% said yes! In 2001 52% of Democrats said yes with 68 % of Republicans. Today it is 19% and 9%. Do those who run do so to serve their community? Overall 21% said yes, 19% of Democrats and 24% of Republicans. When asked if people run to serve their own interests, 65% said yes, Democrats 66%, and Republican 63%.

            Todd did not present the same questions prior to 2016 but I remember polls gave much higher numbers. Millions of Americans have been bombarded by one lie after another by Trump and repeated, enhanced, and more lies originated by Fox and podcasts. The purpose on Fox is to be divisive as Roger Ailes intended when he founded the network. Today we have millions of Americans who watch only divisive media. Some of the left wing media like MSNBC and podcasts aren’t as divisive but still radiate an agenda.

            How can we bring honest moderate people back into office with the trust so law? Do we have a broken democracy that can’t be fixed? Do dictators around the world say their authoritarian control is the best choice when Americans can’t trust their government?

What have we learned about the Iowa caucuses and the hanging chads of Florida to name a few instances of voting problems? Neither of these was because of foreign interference. How much interference the Russians caused in 2016 and 2018 will be kept secret for another forty-two years.

I only used the punch machine once when paper was not available. It may be “ancient” technology but, if nothing else, we have found paper ballots, counted on an air gapped machine, and phoned to the county clerk is the most reliable. A paper follow-up report and keeping the ballots until challenge period is over is the most reliable.

Mailing ballots is very efficient but, to me, not very reliable and safe. Internet voting is even worse and perhaps foolish! Save a few trees and use recycled paper to protect our votes and democracy!