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One year ago, the situation was entirely distinct. Ahead of the national election, considerate residents could recognize America's deep flaws – its injustices and disparity – but they could still see it as America. A free society. A place where constitutional order held significance. A nation led by a dignified and upright public servant, notwithstanding his elderly years and declining health.

These days, in late October 2025, countless Americans hardly identify the land we inhabit. People alleged as undocumented migrants are detained and forced into vans, sometimes refused legal rights. The left side of the presidential residence – is being torn down for a grotesque event space. Donald Trump is targeting his adversaries or perceived antagonists and demanding legal authorities hand over an enormous amount of public funds. Armed military personnel are deployed across metropolitan centers under fabricated reasons. The military command, renamed the War Department, has – in effect – liberated itself of regular press examination while it uses what could amount to almost one trillion dollars from citizen taxes. Institutions, attorney offices, news companies are yielding under the president’s threats, and wealthy elites are regarded as nobility.

“The United States, only a few months ahead of its 250-year mark as the world’s leading democracy, has tipped over the edge into authoritarianism and totalitarianism,” a noted author, stated in August. “Ultimately, swifter than I believed likely, it did happen in America.”

One awakes amid recent atrocities. And it's hard to comprehend – and painful to realize – how deeply lost our nation is, and the speed at which it occurred.

Nevertheless, we understand that the leader was properly voted in. Following his profoundly alarming initial presidency and despite the cautions that came with the awareness of Project 2025 – even after the president personally declared plainly he intended to rule as a tyrant solely at the start – sufficient voters chose him over the other candidate.

While alarming as today's circumstances are, it’s even scarier to realize that we are just nine months under this leadership. How will an additional three years of this deterioration position us? And what if that timeframe turns into a more extended duration, as there is nobody to restrain this president from determining that additional tenure is required, perhaps for national security reasons?

Certainly, all is not lost. We will have legislative votes the coming year that could bring a different balance of power, in case Democrats recapture the Senate or House of Congress. We have government representatives who are striving to exert some accountability, for example representatives currently initiating an inquiry into the attempted cash appropriation by federal prosecutors.

And a presidential election in the next cycle could begin our journey toward restoration just as the prior selection put us on this regrettable path.

There exist numerous residents demonstrating in public spaces across municipalities, like they performed last weekend during anti-authority protests.

Robert Reich, commented this week that “the great sleeping giant of America is awakening”, similar to past after the Communist witch-hunt era during the fifties or during the sixties activism or throughout the Watergate scandal.

On those occasions, the listing ship finally returned to balance.

The author states he knows the signals of that resurgence and sees it happening now. As evidence, he references the recent massive protests, the broad, cross-party resistance against a personality's dismissal and the largely united refusal by journalists to sign military mandates they only publish approved content.

“The dormant force perpetually exists inactive before certain corruption grows too toxic, some action so disrespectful toward public welfare, certain violence so noisy, that the giant has no choice other than to stir.”

It's a positive outlook, and I respect the author's seasoned opinion. Possibly he may be validated.

In the meantime, the big questions remain: can America regain its footing? Can it reclaim its standing globally and its devotion to constitutional order?

Or must we acknowledge that the historical project worked for a while, and then – suddenly, utterly – failed?

My cynical mind suggests that the second option is true; that everything might be gone. My hopeful heart, though, tells me that we need to strive, in whatever ways we can.

Personally, as an observer of the press, that’s about encouraging reporters to adhere, more thoroughly, to their duty of scrutinizing authority. For others, it might involve engaging with election efforts, or organizing rallies, or finding ways to protect ballot privileges.

Less than a year ago, we existed in an alternate reality. A year from now? Or after another term? The fact is, we cannot predict. All we can do is to attempt to persevere.

What’s Giving Me Optimism Currently

The interaction I encounter with students with aspiring reporters, who are both visionary and practical, {always