When I first started this Substack, four years ago to the day, I was feeling hopeful about the state of the country. We had come together to elect Joe Biden; a COVID vaccine had been made available; we seemed to have a handle on stopping the spread of the disease; Democrats controlled both the House and the Senate and there was hope that major legislation could be passed.

There were, of course, serious signs that all was not well. Donald’s big lie that the 2020 election had been stolen from him gained traction within the Republican Party and began to spread. Much more worrisome was the fact that not only had Donald gotten away with his attempted auto-coup on January 6, 2021, the entire Republican Party has since become complicit in his attempts to re-write history.

Despite all of the horrors of the first Trump administration; despite Biden’s getting us through COVID and doing everything in his power to fix the economy Donald almost destroyed; despite Republicans’ clearly articulating their intentions in their fascist playbook, Project 2025, to gut federal agencies, vilify immigrants, and weaken our rights: four years later, the Republican Party—a party of fascist authoritarians who do not represent the interests of the vast majority of the American people—are in control of every single branch of government.

In the ten months since Donald re-entered the Oval Office, he and his minions have taken a wrecking ball to our institutions, our rights, and our standing in the world. Due to his utter ineptitude, the American economy is on the brink of disaster, and the global economy is at risk. Individuals, regardless of their status, are being illegally detained and in some cases disappeared. The Trump regime is engaged in lawless attacks on alleged “narco-terrorists” having thus far murdered at least 66 people.

The corrupt, illegitimate super-majority of the Supreme Court has made Donald nearly invincible. Adding to his sense of impunity: the continued complicity of media corporations, white-shoe law firms, and academic institutions have not only capitulated to the Trump regime’s outrageous demands, but they have also further enriched him.

. . .