When our current president got elected, I remember being incredibly disappointed.  I was not a big fan of him the first time, and was not looking forward to a sequel.  Still, I held on to some hope that it “wouldn’t be that bad.” 

That was 216 days ago.  I’m starting to lose hope. 

Yes, the media has made a bigger deal out of some things than is due, so I try to stick to the facts.  The facts are that a convicted felon who lost the last election fair and square has been reelected and is using his office to take revenge.  Revoked security clearances.  FBI agents fired for doing their jobs.  Purge of military leadership that resisted some of his less than stellar ideas from the first term.  DOJ investigations into anyone that the President arbitrarily feels should be investigated.

But I expected these things. 

I even expected the “third term” bullshit that starts, then stops, then starts again (he only means it until someone asks him about it, then he’s “just kidding”). 

What I didn’t expect was the complete and total apathy of our Congress and Senate, and also of the Supreme Court.

As a quick government 101 reminder for those that have forgotten, (and 47, who never learned it in the first place), within our tri-branch government there exist checks and balances, arguably so that no one branch can run rampant over the other two.  It’s like rock-paper-scissors.  You can beat one or the other, but have to watch out for one or the other, and everyone has to get along.

But we have finally reached a point where the Senate and the House are more concerned about keeping Donald the Menace happy than they are about exercising the appropriate controls.  Here are just some of the things that never should have happened, but did.

The President fired the Inspectors General without the required 30 day notification to the Legislative Branch.  That Legislative Branch responded by…doing nothing.

The Supreme Court ordered that the President expedite the return of someone sent to an El Salvadorean prison “by mistake.”  He did not, the man was there for a long time, and the Supreme Court did…nothing.

The Quatar government tried to bribe our President with a $400M airplane, which is absolutely against ethics regulations; the Senate, the House, and the Supreme Court all did…nothing.

The President promised not to touch Medicaid…and in his “big beautiful bill” touched Medicaid.  No one said much.

In an interview, the President says he “is not sure if he has to defend the Constitution,” even though he is on record on January 6^th 2025 as swearing an oath which says “defend the Constitution.”  Again, not a lot of outcry from our elected representatives.

Any one of these, while a big deal, is not the end of the world.  But all of these, with no action by our elected representatives to even try and stop the abuses, is scary.  No, it’s not the end of democracy as we know it…but you can see it from there.   What’s next?

What if the Orange Menace decides he doesn’t want to give up the nice shiny desk in 3.5 years, and declares an “invasion” by immigrants so he can “postpone” any elections?  What if he does that in 1.5 years for the midterms?  Will the Senate and the House suddenly find their spines at that point, or will it be too late?  Let’s keep in mind that he has already ordered both National Guard and US Marines to the streets of Los Angeles due to “violence.”  I put that in quotes because the actual disruption was way less than what happens in most US cities when their home team wins some sort of championship. 

Mitch McConnell, who comes in at numbers two, three, and seven on my list of ten most hated Republicans, in an interview in about early March of this year, said that he “wanted to vote for impeachment but figured that the civil and criminal courts would hold Mr. Trump accountable.”  How did that work out for you, Mitch?  Toeing the party line for the GOP worked out really well, didn’t it?  Not so much, either for you and for the country, it turns out.

When something needs to be done, real leaders do it themselves, no matter how distasteful.  They don’t stand by and hope someone else cleans up their mess.

I’m doing what I can, peacefully and according to the law as it stands right now.  I am writing my representative two or three times a week, reminding her of her promises, her duty, and her oath.  I’m writing my senators less often, but still doing it.  So far the results haven’t been great.  I ask specific questions of my representative, Congresswoman Young Kim.  In response I get form letters that sort of kind of address my original question if you squint hard and don’t worry about details or anything specific. 

I will sum up what I see happening.  Please, tell me where I am wrong.  A narcissistic felon who lied about losing an election has been re-elected.  He has broken promises, broken the federal government, proposed increasing the deficit, and used the government as his personal goon squad on those who he feels wronged him (which is pretty much everyone who has not made a pilgrimage to kiss his ass).  He has released countless people who attacked police officers in his name.  He has “joked” about running for a third term, he has threatened the press, and he has accepted a bribe from a foreign government.  He has started several trade wars, threatened military action to take Greenland and the Panama Canal, and alienated our closest European allies.  As a cherry on top, he allowed a picture of himself dressed as the pope to be released on social media, and then claimed he knew nothing about it.

The Senate has said very little about it; the House slightly less.  The Supreme Court has said things, but has been ignored, and then the Senate and House stayed quiet on that as well.

I don’t have all the answers.  But I do know that if a whole lot of people, from us common folk on up, don’t start asking questions, we are going to be in a lot of trouble. 

And I only have one question for those that did vote for our current oval office occupant:  is THIS what you voted for?