Are We Watching the Death of Our Republic?

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The United States is built on the rule of law. Our system only works if everyone plays by the same rules. When a president decides the rules don’t apply to him and he is immune from accountability, what should patriotic Americans do? Or maybe we should ask, what CAN we do?

The Supreme Court has largely given President Trump and his minions the freedom to do what they want. And even when the Court rules against him, Trump ignores their rulings and does what he wants. What do we do when the executive branch becomes lawless and is no longer accountable to Congress, the courts, and the American people? As MAGA supporters are quickly learning, Trump doesn’t give a shit about anyone but himself.

Congress, as long as it is controlled by Republicans will not restrain Trump’s base desire for authoritarian power and money. They want the same.

I weep as I ponder how in the hell we have come to this. Is this the end of this great country of ours? Trump alone is not to blame. He’s the full grown baby that was birthed forty years during the Reagan administration. So cute in 1980, but now this baby has morphed into a full-grown monster who will not rest until his perceived enemies are under the heels of his Nazi jack boots and fascism rules the land.

Bruce Gerencser, 69, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 48 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

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Comments

10 responses to “Are We Watching the Death of Our Republic?”

April 15, 2025

Becky Rogers Wiren

The American Empire is slowly falling, like Trantor (Foundation and Trilogy, Isaac Asimov). Things have become corrupt, the wealthy control everything, and people are less educated every year. It gives me no pleasure to believe this.

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April 15, 2025

George J DeVos

We who compared the Dondal to Hitler were criticized for it. Having lost several relatives in the Hitler war. I studied him and the Third Reich wondering how he got power quickly. The comparison seems more ominous with each new embarrassment.
Dondal is no Hitler that’s sure. Hitler was a working class foot soldier and legitimate war hero. Unfortunately he got control of a powerful nation and set the world on fire. The Dondal is a known student of Hitler according to one of his previous wives but Dondal was tragically kept from military service and heroism was denied him. But he also quickly seized control of a powerful nation. Hopefully that’s where the comparisons end. I’m not optimistic.

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April 15, 2025

missimontana

The American Empire will fall. And it should. Hopefully, from the ashes, a new, humble, and democratic nation will arise and take it’s place as a citizen of the world.

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April 15, 2025

Jeffery Bishop

Yes, to answer your question Bruce.

Just over 3 months in, the carnage has only just begun.

The administration is purging the country vis a via the judiciary, and those judges not towing the line are ignored in their rulings and will be removed.

Trump is satisfying the evil hearts of Christian Nationalists, racists, and the thug element by blaming everything on immigrants, these are (The Other) that totalitarian use as their “wedge” to issue to sack the rule of law and unleash a police state on its citizens.

He is defunding secular Academic Institutions yet giving tax breaks to Christian and Catholic churches and schools. He has already abolished the Dept. Of Education.

His MAGA cronies like MTG just sold “shorts” on stocks and rest assured they were tipped off to do so prior to the tariff announcements. Your talking about a wealth transfer to those in the know in trillions. Mainly from 401K accounts.

He I s leaving NATO and has already abandoned Ukraine, look how his dog treated Zelenski!

I recommend your readers study Weimar Germany and the actions of the Nazi party
prior to and after Hitlers ascension to power.

What’s next, something akin to the burning of the Reichstag, here in the US? The capital Dome perhaps?

That’s when the camps go under construction.

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April 15, 2025

ObstacleChick

I agree with what others have said, except it looks like 🍊🤡 is outsourcing the camps to other countries in exchange for ______(fill in the blank). I’m creeping up the list of Type of Enemies of the People Deserving of Deportation, aka, Not REAL Americans. Why? Because I’m a vocal female atheist who doesn’t support 🍊🤡. I wonder how long it will take for larger numbers of people and politicians to stand up for this travesty. GOP members of Congress are fleeing hearing from their own constituents (not holding public meetings with constituents). GOP members of Congress aren’t stepping forward to exert the power of the legislative branch – they’re rolling over and playing dead. Will we have mid-term elections that are free and fair? I’m not so sure – the SAVE Act, if passed by the Senate, would allow states to disenfranchise millions of married women who changed their names due to marriage, or anyone who changed their name for any reason. We’ll see what happens, but we need to be loud. And if we think we’re loud now, we need to increase the volume.

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April 15, 2025

Cleora Borealis

😳 Wow, that’s an awfully large question and I am all over sites commenting with barely controlled anger about this regime! But, the one thing I have the most amazement about is the money. The regime is all about the money, of course. The mineral deposits in Greenland and Ukraine and the development possibilities in Gaza and the money for whoever controls the canal in Panama; all of that is the ka-ching in the mind of a legendary failed businessman who has control of a superpower military and never shares the money with anyone.
My amazement is why all the Trumpites and MAGAs don’t let the money issues break through their love-of-Trump bubbles. Those MAGAs, who never receive Trump’s love in return, claim prices are too high and taxes are too high and we have to rid our government of waste/fraud/abuse. Okay.
Then why do they never “follow the money?”
At this very moment in time, MAGAs are wildly applauding Trump’s disappearing of all manner of dehumanized inventory (no longer called people) in a foreign concentration camp. MAGAs further applauded the Trump/Bukele handshakes in the Oval Office to build and fill 5 more of these warehouses for the “homegrowns;” US citizens to be disappeared into these hellholes never to be adjudicated or considered again! But, the MAGAs never ask “who’s paying for this?!” Even media doesn’t follow the money. Am I alone in my anger that Congress never appropriated the $6M in cash that Bukele has already received for storing just 300 units of inventory for one year?! This is not international policy and law. It’s a business contract and only Congress can negotiate and pay contracts for us!! Isn’t that a huge part of this Constitutional crisis?! Where did the $1600/month to store each unit (used to be a human) for one year come from?
The CECOT torture camp was built to hold 20K, but has more than 40K “criminals” (El Salvador’s own “homegrowns”) jammed into it. So, if 5 more are built, that will be space to jam in at least 400K more units, mostly from the US. At the current rate/unit, that will be $12B a year! Forever and ever?
$12B!! With no contract with or appropriation of funds by Congress!! And no oversight!! Currently, Bukele has provided no invoice or list of inventory of the 300 already there. ALL OF THIS IS TAXPAYER DOLLARS AT EXORBITANT RATES DISAPPEARING INTO A HOLE IN A FOREIGN COUNTRY!!
And, not one peep about it!
Of course the lawlessness and horrific dehumanization and our own Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge are the worst thing about this Constitutional crisis. I’m just wondering why taxpayers who claim to care about the almighty dollar are not asking for an audit of this!! 🤬

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April 15, 2025

Neil Rickert

“As MAGA supporters are quickly learning, Trump doesn’t give a shit about anyone but himself.”

The MAGA cultists that I am watching have not yet learned this. They are still saying that T**** is doing it for them and for the nation. And they still claim to be Christian, even though they reject just about everything that Jesus stood for.

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April 15, 2025

Barbara Jackson

I am afraid just like you are. Trump is a complete narcissist wanting power only for himself and the hell with everybody else. We are becoming less a society and more just a bunch of competing little factions who do not care about all the individuals in society. I am afraid if they get their hands on me, I will never see the light of day again.

You do not know how much it hurts me that he is breaking up NOAA (which has satellites which help with weather predictions) and lots of thing to help with ocean conversation etc. There is also the federal group which is working on renewable energy (I do not know the acronym) which is being hurt. AND SO MANY EMPLOYEES SUFFERING simply because he likes to make people suffer.

There should be a way to get rid of a president who says Canada should be the 51st state and happy about it, or that he should be able to acquire Greenland no matter what the people there think. Someone who thinks like this is not competent enough to deal with international issues and should not be president.

I agree with the other commenters he is a fascist who wants to shut everybody else up. He has also said he thinks people me with expensive disabilities should just die.

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April 15, 2025

TheDutchGuy

Students of the Third Reich know that until the war caused civil breakdown in Germany, law enforcement and courts still functioned, albeit, under considerable duress. As I recall, the infamous concentration/death camps were mostly if not all in other countries beyond the jurisdiction of any German court that might try to interfere. Our own Fuhrer has followed suit sending deportees beyond the jurisdiction of American courts. No coincidence that a previous administration modeled on the Third Reich used the same strategy to bury people indefinitely in Guantanamo. Our Fuhrer is using tricks he learned from his predecessor tyrannical regimes. Interesting times indeed.

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April 15, 2025

MJ Lisbeth

Barbara, I also fear that if Trump’s thugs ever get their hands on me (I’m transgender) I’ll never see the light of day again.

The thing is, too many people who don’t have expensive disabilities, are cisgender heterosexuals, not members of racial, religious or ethnic “minorities” still believe they have nothing to worry about. Authoritarians don’t stop with the “undesirables;” soon enough, they go after their perceived enemies or people they simply don’t like.

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