Let me apologize up front. I didn’t want this column to be a rant on the state of America. I’ve worked hard to avoid that approach because it’s most often not productive. The better approach is to tackle specific issues and demonstrate where faults lie, while proposing plausible solutions.

Sometimes reality gets the best of us. 

Russia fired its largest missile and drone attack of the three-year war against Ukraine this past Sunday. In the assault, Russian drones also crossed into Poland airspace, causing NATO forces to scramble its defenses and shoot down the Russian intruders. NATO leaders have called the incidence the closest they’ve been to war since the end of WWII.

And Donald Trump thinks he deserves a peace prize?

Less than 12 months ago, Ukraine’s defense was solid, Russia was reeling, and NATO was stronger than ever after being boosted by the admission of Finland in April 2023 and Sweden in March 2024. The U.S. defense of Ukraine was unflinching under President Joe Biden and the prospects of Ukraine withstanding Russia’s assault were high. 

The change after nine months of Trump as president is stunning. The reasons are obvious, but they all boil down to Trump’s weakness and stupidity. 

During the presidential campaign, Trump boasted he would end the Ukraine-Russian war on Day 1. Today, Trump whines that Russian President Vladimir Putin defies his feeble attempts at negotiating, all the while patronizing Putin as a leader he admires. 

Putin, meanwhile, considers Trump a patsy who will back down when pushed and has taken advantage of that opportunity to press an unprovoked war of aggression without fear of American leadership coming to Ukraine’s aid. The example sets the stage for stronger militaries to overtake weaker ones in a dog-eat-dog world. It’s not a comforting thought. 

For 75 years, military alliances worked to keep military dictators in check — and relatively successfully — until Trump’s rise to power in his second term. Today, Russia’s Putin runs unchecked while Israel’s Netanyahu is threatening to overwhelm Gaza and obliterate Hamas no matter what the costs. China, meanwhile, is playing for the long-term — not only dominating Trump on economic policy but building up its military resources while assuming the mantle of the stable world power as Trump — in a matter of months — has eroded America’s decades of real power built on trust and mutual benefits. Instead, Trump relishes in false displays of machoism — punitive tariffs and school-yard taunts. 

What Trump doesn’t seem to understand is that standing on firm principles and maintaining international respect as a responsible world leader were America’s source of power. Standing for self-determination and democracy and against unlawful aggression by dictators meant something when President Biden backed up Ukraine with the nation’s steadfast support, and the support of its allies.

Under Trump, America is no longer trusted by its allies and no longer feared by its opponents.

 China, no doubt, looks at Trump as Putin does — a useful idiot they can manipulate to undermine America’s many strengths while gaining the upper hand.

And it goes far beyond military power.

 By waging war against America’s leading universities, Trump is also undermining America’s leading export: our superior higher-ed system that has kept America’s industries ahead of the curve on most developing technologies. American leadership on AI and on medical advancements (pharmaceutical and technological) was already being challenged by China but is now being handed to them on a platter as Trump and his administration weaken the very institutions that are a source of so much of America’s innovation.

Most recently, Trump’s impulse to slap restrictions on Chinese-made medicines and medical advances in an attempt to protect American companies (or rather his billionaire friends who have invested money in American firms that can’t keep up with their Chinese counterparts) is the type of protectionism that dooms innovation and competitiveness. It’s not that Trump believes in any particular economic theory, but rather that his friends (and family members) will benefit or be hurt by one policy versus the other. 

And when a president’s decision about the nation’s economy is dictated by how policy affects his or his friend’s personal fortune, you know you’re in trouble as a country.

Yet, that’s where America is today. Its foreign policy is dictated by the whims of an egotistical, fascist without principle who responds to flattery. Its economy is being led into decline by a president who’s is intent on killing academic leadership and stifling education. The nation’s energy policy harkens to the dark ages as foreign competitors will soon dominate the energy companies of the future. Our nation’s intelligence agencies are being corrupted, our national forests and wilderness areas are being exploited and beggared by a loss of funding. Our social services are hemorrhaging, our health care and retirement system is under threat, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is in chaos and could cause serious harm to millions of American children, and society is being dumbed down by a regulatory failure to restrain the deliberate spread of misinformation on social media by those who benefit from conspiracy theories and lies. Meanwhile, cuts to school funding at every level will prevent Americans from becoming more educated in what we all know will forever be a knowledge-based economy for those countries at the top — and an impoverished future for those countries who fail to keep up.

On the flipside, China and others are investing more in education and training and taking over where America has led for the past 100 years. Trump’s legacy is likely to be that America’s resources were wasted on tax cuts the wealthy didn’t need, while squabbing over which friends (oligarchs, if you will) benefited the most during his reign. If that sounds like where Russia is today, there’s a reason.

Where we’re headed is absolute idiocy at almost every turn.

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What can we do about it? Protest until the majority rights the very wrong direction MAGA and Trump are taking the country. Speak up, speak regularly and support those who do, while resisting any attempts to silence critics. 

In a story in today’s Addison Independent that profiles Vermont Gov. Howard Dean’s rise to national fame in his brief run for the presidency, he says he’s optimistic today because he doesn’t believe America’s next leaders (defined as between 35 and 50) will condone Trump’s dictatorial aspirations. It’s a story that sheds light on the present by revisiting the past and looking forward. It’s a good read and Dean is refreshening straightforward. Let’s also hope he’s right.

Angelo Lynn