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Twelve months back, the situation was completely different. Ahead of the national election, thoughtful citizens could recognize America's significant faults – its unfairness and disparity – but they continued to see it as the US. A democratic nation. A place where constitutional order held significance. A country guided by a honorable and upright public servant, notwithstanding his older age and increasing frailty.

These days, in late October 2025, many of us barely recognize the land we inhabit. Persons suspected of being illegal immigrants are detained and forced into transport, occasionally denied due process. The left side of the “people’s house” – is being destroyed for an obscene dance hall. The leader is targeting his political rivals or supposed enemies and demanding the justice department surrender a huge total of taxpayer money. Uniformed troops are deployed into American cities with deceptive justifications. The defense headquarters, rebranded the Defense Ministry, has – in effect – rid itself of day-to-day journalistic scrutiny during its expenditure of potentially totaling close to a trillion USD from citizen taxes. Colleges, legal practices, media outlets are yielding from leader's menaces, and rich magnates are treated like aristocracy.

“The United States, shortly prior to its 250^th birthday as the globe's top democratic nation, has tipped over the edge into autocracy and totalitarianism,” a noted author, wrote recently. “Ultimately, faster than I imagined possible, it occurred here.”

Every morning starts with fresh terrors. And it's hard to comprehend – and painful to realize – just how far gone our nation is, and the speed at which it occurred.

However, we know that the leader was legitimately chosen. Following his profoundly alarming initial presidency and despite the cautions linked to the understanding of Project 2025 – following the leader directly stated openly he planned to rule as a tyrant solely at the start – enough Americans selected him rather than the other candidate.

Frightening as the current reality may be, it's more daunting to realize that we are just three-quarters of a year into this administration. Where will another 36 months of this deterioration position us? And suppose that period becomes an prolonged era, as there is nobody to restrain this ruler from opting that another term is essential, perhaps for national security reasons?

Granted, not everything is hopeless. There will be legislative votes next year that may create a new political equilibrium, in case Democrats recapture either chamber of Congress. We have public servants who are trying to exert a degree of oversight, like lawmakers who are initiating an inquiry into the attempted cash appropriation from the justice department.

And a national vote in the next cycle could initiate us down the road toward restoration exactly as the previous vote set us on this disappointing trajectory.

There are millions of Americans marching in the streets throughout communities, as they did last weekend at democracy demonstrations.

Robert Reich, stated lately that “the dormant powerhouse of the nation is awakening”, just as it did following the Red Scare during the fifties or amid the sixties activism or throughout the Watergate scandal.

In those instances, the unstable nation ultimately corrected itself.

He claims he knows the signs of that revival and observes it occurring at present. As evidence, he points to the recent massive protests, the extensive, cross-party resistance regarding a broadcaster's firing and the almost universal rejection by reporters to sign the defense department’s demands they report only authorized information.

“The slumbering entity consistently stays inactive till specific greed becomes so noxious, some action so disrespectful of the common good, some brutality so loud, that it is compelled but to awaken.”

It's a hopeful perspective, and I respect Reich’s experienced view. Possibly he may turn out correct.

In the meantime, the big questions remain: is the US able to regain its footing? Can it reclaim its position internationally and its commitment to the rule of law?

Or should we recognize that the 250-year-old experiment functioned for a period, and then – abruptly, completely – collapsed?

My pessimistic brain tells me that the latter is accurate; that everything might be lost. My positive feelings, though, convinces me that we must try, in whatever ways available.

Personally, as an observer of the press, that involves urging journalists to commit, more fully, to their mission of overseeing leadership. For different individuals, it might involve participating in political races, or planning demonstrations, or finding ways to protect ballot privileges.

Under twelve months back, we existed in an alternate reality. In the future? Or after another term? The truth is, we don’t know. All we can do is to attempt to persevere.

What Offers Me Encouragement Today

The engagement I encounter during teaching with new media professionals, who are equally idealistic and grounded, {always