Every day, and well into the night, the President says or posts something divisive, absurd, obscene, ridiculous, irrational, crude or blatantly false.

Linguists might suggest his command of language is limited at best. He reduces law and order to martial law, which has repercussions. The number of innocent persons he has condemned is difficult to calculate. Those who would gather the stats have been fired. Suddenly, science is corrupt or irrelevant, and illness natural. The Commander in Chief, who lied to his Draft Board, is a Patriot. A foreign war Veteran is not. There’s either a rich, extensive Russia connection, or nothing more than a fondness for beautiful things and Bitcoin. Grandma, who arrived on the Mayflower, was just deported to Angola for growing jalapenos and being old, both of which are criminal. Conspiracies and fiction are limitless. Anyone can participate.

There are currently different versions of the truth, which obligate truth-seekers to dig deeper in search of the facts. Since there’s little time and less incentive, democracy is on life support.

Alec Lyall

Middlebury