prescient, wise words of Adam Gopnick, the New Yorker May 20, 2016

[Grasswire2]

[link:http://

Link to tweet

?s=20|

[alwaysinasnit]

1. K&R Thanks for posting.

[elleng]

2. Drinks + etc necessary.

He put into clear words what I think I've been thinking/recognizing.

[Grasswire2]

3. this got me:

...the wound to hope and order will never fully heal.

[elleng]

6. Ditto.

Thinking of future of my little grandkids.

[Grasswire2]

8. me too

A forty-something family member of mine told me yesterday that he is thinking of buying a hand gun for protection of his family and home. He thinks things will get very bad before this is over.

[elleng]

9. OY!

My son in law is a deputy sheriff, in whom I have confidence. Hope that's sufficient. That covers just 2 of 4 grandkids.

[CTyankee]

10. My son is a prosecutor with the Brooklyn DA's office and I feel as you do...

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that the good and decent among us will be our bulwarks for the future. So I like to think that the good guys will win in the end. But I am fearful and an ill wind blows...

[NCLefty]

11. Same.

[brush]

15. Yep, turns out the Constitution doesn't provide a way to oust...

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an unfit, rogue president when it's glaringly necessary.

The checks and balances are not really there if the rogue's party is in power in all branches of government as the repugs were before 2018, or only partially in power after we took the House in the Blue Wave of 2018 because the rogue's stonewalling and refusal to allow testimony will be upheld by a complicit Senate.

The 25th Amendment is not sufficient and impeachment is too slow in an emergency. There needs to be a speedier, more direct way to deal with trump. No telling what he's agreed to already or will in the near future. We've already seen him abandon the Kurds overnight and fork over their tenuous hold on territory to Putin, Assad and Erdowan. What else has he done and will do?

[triron]

19. Not sure the founders could have foreseen this.

[Garrett78]

4. "learning that its institutions are that fragile and their ability to resist a dictator that weak."

Yep.

[Stargazer09]

5. A sad K&R

I appreciate you posting this.

I’m sad to read the words and realize how painfully true they are.

[Grasswire2]

7. very sobering

I think about all the personal relationships that have been damaged. And the unavoidable conclusions we must see when we look at the Trump "base" in all its glory. There can be no repair, can there? No enlightenment. They will hate us even more when Trump comes to his end.

[OnDoutside]

12. The institutions are holding...just. However, another Trump win and

I don't think they could hold out any longer.

[dustyscamp]

13. I think the American experiment started dying around the Civil Rights Movement

The Racists and Religious from that time never really let go of their hatred for liberal ideas and those standing up to them so they did everything they could to halt progress. They raised bitter children and elected progressively corrupt politicians to enforce their beliefs. All this hatred they produced over the years has been slowly poisoning and killing the Country. America right now is pretty much dead or close to it. I don't think Trump really needs to do much more.

[mnhtnbb]

17. I think it started when JFK was assassinated

and, of course, that was only a year before the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

[Kablooie]

14. I agree. Even if Trump is removed or voted out...

We will all know that everything weve trusted for centuries about America could be destroyed in a few years and the residue of maga trumpeenies will remain as well as Fox News and they will both continue to work tirelessly to destroy America.

[crickets]

16. As much as I appreciate the message, never surrender hope. Never. K&R

[mnhtnbb]

18. You can't put the genie back in the bottle.

We can't undo the hatred and fear of "the other"--whether immigrants, people of color, powerful women, or equality for LGBTQ-- that has been spread all over the country. White male supremacists are not going to give up their control of the culture without a fight. They were fine with the words of "All men are created equal" when they defined men as white and excluded women from the equation. Now that our culture has moved to include all people in those rights--regardless of sex or skin color--they aren't so sure they like what that means. And they are willing to give up on the ideals espoused in our founding documents in order to ensure their control over the culture.

It's sick. It's sad. It makes me glad I have no grandchildren. If I were 10 years younger I'd be looking seriously at moving to another country because I fear that many of the more than 300 million guns in this country are going to be used by angry mobs of white male supremacists. I really do fear there will be serious violence. These are not nice people that have supported Trump.

[renate]

20. I'm glad he mentioned Germany because that does give me hope we can recover

Admittedly, the other examples he gave take a little of that hope away....

[Grasswire2]

21. the comments on twitter are well worth reading

Many wise and thoughtful people have shared there.