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Twelve months back, the environment was utterly separate. Prior to the US presidential election, reflective citizens could recognize the nation's significant faults – its inequities and imbalance – however they continued to identify it as the US. A democracy. A land where the rule of law carried weight. A country guided by a respectable and ethical leader, even with his elderly years and growing weakness.

These days, this autumn, many of us hardly identify the nation we live in. Individuals suspected of being undocumented migrants are detained and forced into vans, sometimes denied due process. The East Wing of the “people’s house” – is undergoing demolition for a grotesque ballroom. The president is targeting his adversaries or supposed enemies and demanding the justice department transfer a massive sum of taxpayer money. Uniformed troops are deployed to US urban areas under fabricated reasons. The military command, rebranded the War Department, has effectively rid itself of routine media oversight as it spends potentially totaling almost one trillion dollars of taxpayer money. Universities, attorney offices, news companies are yielding from leader's menaces, and rich magnates are handled as aristocracy.

“The United States, only a few months ahead of its quarter-millennium anniversary as the globe's top democratic nation, has fallen over the brink toward dictatorship and fascism,” Garrett Graff, commented recently. “Finally, faster than I thought feasible, it transpired in America.”

Each day begins to new horrors. It is difficult to grasp – and distressing to accept – how deeply lost our nation is, and the speed at which it occurred.

However, we understand that Trump was properly voted in. Despite his deeply disturbing previous administration and even after the alerts that came with the awareness of Project 2025 – despite the president personally declared plainly he planned to be a dictator solely at the start – enough Americans selected him over Kamala Harris.

As terrifying as today's circumstances is, it's more daunting to recognize that we are just several months into this presidential term. Where will three more years of this downfall leave us? And if that timeframe transforms into something even longer, because there is nobody to stop this leader from deciding that additional tenure is required, maybe for national security reasons?

Certainly, all is not lost. We will have legislative votes in 2026 that could bring a different governmental control, if Democrats regain either chamber of the legislature. There exist public servants who are trying to apply some accountability, such as lawmakers currently initiating an inquiry into the attempted cash appropriation from the justice department.

And a leadership election in 2028 could start us down the road to recovery exactly as last year’s election placed us on this regrettable path.

There are millions of Americans marching in public spaces of their cities, like they performed recently during anti-authority protests.

An ex-cabinet member, commented this week that “the dormant powerhouse of America is stirring”, just as it did post-McCarthyism in that decade or during anti-war demonstrations or during the Nixon controversy.

In those instances, the listing ship finally returned to balance.

Reich says he recognizes the signals of that revival and notices it unfolding at present. For proof, he cites the recent massive protests, the broad, multi-faction opposition regarding a personality's dismissal and the almost universal defiance by media to agree to government requirements they solely cover what is sanctioned.

“The slumbering entity perpetually exists inactive until specific greed becomes so noxious, some action so contemptuous of societal benefit, some brutality so disruptive, that it is forced other than to stir.”

It's a hopeful perspective, and I respect his knowledgeable stance. Perhaps he will be validated.

Meanwhile, the big questions persist: is the US able to ever recover? Can it reclaim its status globally and its commitment to the rule of law?

Or must we acknowledge that the national endeavor succeeded temporarily, and then – swiftly, totally – ended?

My negative thoughts tells me that the second option is correct; that all may indeed be gone. My optimistic spirit, however, tells me that we must try, in whatever ways possible.

In my case, as an observer of the press, that’s about encouraging reporters to commit, more fully, to their mission of scrutinizing authority. For others, it might involve engaging with political races, or organizing rallies, or developing approaches to defend voting rights.

Under twelve months back, we existed in a very different place. Twelve months later? Or in several years? The fact is, we don’t know. The only option is to strive to persevere.

What’s Giving Me Encouragement Today

The engagement I experience during teaching with young journalists, who are equally hopeful and grounded, {always