Country will someday recover from Trump

By Thomas P. Hagen

(NOTE: This article was published in the Mankato Free Press, Jan. 18. However, due to a paywall, it's not accessible to everyone. The editors of Vox Verax have taken the initiative to publish it due to its importance and timeliness.)

I am living in a country at war. People are anxious, fearful. Prices continue to rise as families tighten their belts. Hired goon squads in masks spirit people away to detention or worse.

This Trump-inspired war on America has seen immigrants vilified, criminals pardoned including those who attacked our Capitol, foreign nations bombed, our traditional allies alienated, whole governmental agencies dismantled, aid to the poor of the world eliminated.

Political opponents have been labeled as public enemies, the legacy press labeled as fake news, scientific and medical conclusions called a hoax, and fair elections erroneously claimed stolen.

We should not blame Trump alone. The Republican party is complicit. It nominated him, campaigned for him, and once he was elected, empowered him through their silence, putting political position before country and constitution.

The portion of the citizenry in thrall to this demented narcissistic felon are true believers. Like Jim Jones’ followers, who drank their poison-laced Kool-Aid, they too see his insanity as the highest truth. Some fear that this Trumpified America will continue to get worse and maybe last forever.

But one day Trump will be gone, no one lives forever. One day this war in America will be over. And just like the end of World War II, a cheer will go up across the nation. There will be dancing in the streets, bells will ring, horns will honk, glasses will be raised in celebration, and we will wake from this sad national nightmare.

It will take a long time to recover, to rebuild our institutions, and to regain our trust in the news, in our neighbors and in ourselves. And that day can’t come soon enough.

Thomas P. Hagen lives and restores old farm buildings in North Mankato, Minnesota.