In many ways, I’m at a loss for words about what to say here.

Seeing how far we’ve come in just the past 12 months is, in one sense, not surprising given what we experienced during the first Trump term. In many other ways, my shorter-term fears are much greater, even though I still hold long-term hope that this government’s actions will eventually be rejected and reversed.

The recent killing of Renee Good & Alex Pretti by ICE officers is the latest and saddest example of where we have ended up after a year of an all-fronts assault by the Trump administration. If you haven’t watched the actual analysis of the position of the agent relative to the car and the events leading up, it’s worth a watch.

The details of what happen and the immediate reaction matter, because this is exactly how violence gets normalized: stripped of context, flattened into slogans, and waved away as inevitable. Almost immediately, both were labeled terrorists, and we were told the cases would not be investigated. That could change, but regardless of your politics, that should be terrifying.

I made the mistake of looking at Facebook once, and all of the people I expected were either joking about it or posting some version of “FAFO.” These “don’t tread on me,” Second Amendment absolutists sure have a narrow definition of tyranny. When ICE agents are repeatedly linked to January 6 and extremist movements, that selective outrage starts to make more sense. Slowly, state violence becomes acceptable, as long as the people on the receiving end are deemed to “deserve it” or are in the out group. Every single one of us, even those here illegally, deserve due process.

What’s wild to me is that the government could legally enforce our immigration laws and detain or deport people without random chaos, bloodshed, or inhumane treatment. This is not about immigration enforcement – this is about indiscriminate violence, impossible quotas, and the weaponization of a paramilitary force against those who oppose Trump. That is what people are protesting. Pew consistently finds support for border enforcement and due process and humane treatment at the same time.

In some ways, I can completely believe we are where we are now. This is the culmination of more than 20 years of asymmetric assaults on institutions, truth, and democratic norms, combined with a relentless push to elevate culture war fights while the country is quietly hollowed out. What truly separates us as Americans is not red versus blue, but the 99 percent versus the 1 percent. The ultra-wealthy understand that if they can keep us divided over cultural nonsense, they can loot the country and slip away before most people realize their future has been mortgaged.

If you strip the R or the D away from many of the real issues facing the country, there is broad consensus on what actually matters. Yet the wealthy and powerful work tirelessly to keep us divided, because division is how power is protected and expanded. Look at the data. The middle class is struggling, and by almost any metric, outcomes related to health, education, personal wealth, and the affordability of everyday life are moving in the wrong direction.

Silencing people through violence and coercion while destroying our social safety net and the global world order isn’t the type of “Freedom” most folks voted for. The specifics may differ for each person, but it is worth stepping back and thinking about our definition of the word outside the shallow comfort of flag-waving and slogans. To me, it means:

• Freedom to choose who represents us, with confidence that our will is respected.
• Privacy from government snooping and interference. We should not be tracked by systems like Flock or monitored by ICE simply for existing somewhere.
• Economic freedom to live with moderately low taxes and real choice as consumers.
• Security that makes those choices possible. A baseline welfare state, including healthcare, Social Security, and unemployment support, is what allows people to take risks and exercise real economic freedom.
• Fair enforcement of laws so that people genuinely have equal opportunity, even if outcomes differ, because the playing field was made as level as possible.
• Freedom to believe and worship, or not, any god you choose.
• Freedom to live your life as you see fit, as long as it does not harm others.

On top of encroachments on our ability to live our lives in peace, we’re now seeing other breaches that bankrupt us and make us less safe:

• Deregulation of key industries that further entrenches the largest and most powerful corporations. These entities are now so dominant that regulation without breaking them up is increasingly meaningless.
• Personal profit from the presidency. By last count, Trump’s family has made roughly $4 billion this year by leveraging public office for private gain.
• Conducting foreign policy as if the president were a king, sidestepping Congress at every turn. Whatever happened to small government?
• Using ICE, now funded at levels comparable to the military budgets of entire nations, to sow fear and chaos at home.

You know what all of this rhymes with. Authoritarianism. The danger we face is not one man or one election. It is the normalization of authoritarian methods in the name of patriotism and security. Fascism does not arrive all at once. It arrives when violence, surveillance, and corruption are tolerated, even celebrated, as long as they are directed at the “right” people. That is where we are now.

One question I try to ask myself about every politician I have supported is simple: what would I think if this person had an R next to their name? For my conservative friends, think about the things Barack Obama did that outraged you. Now think about what Trump is doing, and ask yourself whether you would accept the same behavior from a Democratic president. One day, Trump will be gone. The norms he has shattered and redefined will remain, ready to be exploited by whoever comes next.

I honestly do not have much hope for people who have supported Trump since 2015 and still do. If you voted for him in 2016, I can understand the impulse to shake things up. If you voted for him after 2020, after January 6, and after everything that has followed, I am genuinely shocked. If you can witness all of this and still support him, it is worth looking in the mirror and asking what you truly value. Because it no longer aligns with any serious definition of conservatism, Christianity, or traditional Republican principles.

If you’ve supported Trump in the past and think what you’ve seen in the past year is too far, it’s not too late to turn your back on him. If you’ve long opposed this type of leadership, we’re going to have to work twice as hard in the coming years to save something we love from people hell bent on destroying much of it.

“When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” – Sinclair Lewis