(#5887) Home of the free and land of the brave?

     Not anymore. I don't see it anyway. As hopeful as I am I must admit to reality when it is all around me. I don't see the freedom that is implied in the header. I do see some freedom but everyday I see less and less. Instead what I see is a trump administration that is determined to limit freedom instead of expand it. As to bravery there are amongst us many who show me bravery through defiance and protest. not on some battlefield where it is expected but in everyday life where the conviction to principles of freedom, liberty, and justice are challenged. Not enough though because the inevitable march by the trump crowd continues mostly unabated.
     Where the most bravery exists in this current environment happens to be in the court system. Our judicial process is what is blocking many more losses of freedom. How long they can hold out in the atmosphere of intimidation and threats is concerning. What will be left when the courts are bullied into submission and the rampage of trump's ego is unchecked? We the people are what will be left and our choices will be limited in our response. I have no illusion that if trump wants our military to support his freedom denying policies they will also likely conform. We are just a few stops away from being neutered as an enlightened and wise society.
     None of the coming dismantling of our democracy is a surprise to me but still it is shocking that we as the American people would let a conman who is incapable of empathy destroy our civilized way of life. We are no longer the home of the free and land of the brave. I would call Ukrainians as having that mantle. We Americans on the other hand have become too absorbed into our own fears and prejudices to even qualify as a beacon of freedom where the defense of our realm is absolute. What is coming is not going to be easy to stomach by those of us who saw this coming and warned of its looming arrival. But those who stood on the sidelines and ignored and/or voted for trump are going to be taught a brutal lesson that hopefully will guide them to yearn for the principle of home of the free and land of the brave.