America on the Brink: How Did We Let a Small Man Bring a Great Nation Down?

By Gary A. Johnson – Publisher (Black Men In America.com)

Under Donald Trump, America isn’t just divided—it’s degraded. We must decide if we will let this chapter define our future.

“Donald Trump is a symptom of everything that’s been wrong with America, not the cause. But he may well be the accelerant that burns it all down.”

Donald Trump is a symptom of a lot of things wrong with America. I don’t hate America. What I dislike is the history of systemic racism and the infrastructure of oppression of people who are different—people of all colors, nationalities, and races. However, with this administration, Black and brown people are targeted in large numbers with Executive Orders designed to strip away hard-won civil and equal rights gains.

Donald Trump and the loyalists who cling to his orbit are part of a disease that threatens to ruin what’s left of our democracy. Power is intoxicating. Many who work for Donald Trump openly despise him, but they crave proximity to power more than they value principle. Don’t believe me? Reflect on what they said about Trump—and what Trump said about them, their spouses, and their families—before they fell in line.

“How in the f@#k did we get here? Honestly, I wish I had a decent answer to my own question.”

Don’t even get me started on the “religious segment” of America. If you believe the polls, about half of this country overlooks the fact that Trump is a morally bankrupt human being. He lies, cheats, steals, betrays, and thrives on cruelty and division. Yet countless people who claim to be God-fearing, scripture-quoting, Bible-highlighting Christians have decided he’s somehow anointed by God to save America.

I literally got up from the breakfast table this morning, sat at my desk to check emails, and found myself typing this piece out of sheer frustration. From my viewpoint, the country is drowning in “Trump Fatigue.” I hardly watch television news anymore because of the obsessive Trump coverage. But when I do, it only confirms the danger.

Consider this: Paramount just caved and paid Trump to settle what nearly every legal expert called a frivolous lawsuit against the television news magazine “60 Minutes.” That’s how easily truth—and a free press—can be bullied when money and power are on the line.

Moments ago, I turned on the TV and saw coverage of the devastating floods in Texas. Trump dismissed any notion that federal budget cuts to weather and emergency agencies might have worsened the disaster. Instead, he called it a “Biden setup.” The last time I checked Joe Biden’s been out of office for over six months. Facts don’t matter with this guy and his followers.

Donald Trump is a morally corrupt man. He reminds me of a puppy who’s never been trained: crude, selfish, peeing and shitting on everything, then trotting off to the next sofa leg. His only requirement for loyalty is endless praise.

Have you ever watched one of his cabinet meetings or photo ops? They all start the same way:

“Thank you, Mr. President, for your leadership…”
“Mr. President, because of your courage and vision…”

I worked at the White House. I never saw that kind of groveling before. People need to understand: Donald Trump is a small, insecure man with a gaping need for validation. That’s why he surrounds himself with sycophants he can bend to his will. He wants to be a mob boss—and thanks to the Supreme Court, he’s behaving like one.

The Court’s recent rulings all but grant him immunity from prosecution, effectively crowning him above the law. Let that sink in. Once the Supreme Court becomes complicit, the guardrails are gone.

Meanwhile, ordinary Americans largely go on with their lives. Some shrug, some cheer, others shake their heads in quiet despair. This normalization of Trump’s blatant corruption and cruelty may be the most dangerous development of all. Because once you normalize corruption, incompetence, racism, xenophobia, misogyny, and petty cruelty at the very top—where do you stop? What becomes unacceptable?

People often ask: “Is this really who we are?” The sad truth is, yes—at least in part. We’re also the nation of Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, the Tuskegee Airmen, Cesar Chavez, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and John Lewis. But right now, we’re seeing just how fragile that progress is when millions are willing to trade it away for the illusion of dominance.

So where does that leave us? It leaves us needing to fight harder. Organize smarter. Speak louder. Vote as if our lives—and the lives of people with less privilege—depend on it. Because they do.

History is watching. More importantly, our children and grandchildren will be living with the consequences. I refuse to believe the last chapter of America will be written by a petty conman with a fragile ego who also happens to be a horrible human being.

We still have a chance to write something better. But only if we wake up—and stay awake.