The fact that I don’t need to mention Trump’s name demonstrates the power of his loathsome authoritarianism now. There’s an ancient saying: “De mortuis nil nisi bonum” -- “Say nothing but good of the dead.” The fact that it’s still quoted in Latin dates it back to Ancient Rome, but it’s even older than that. The same slogan is found in both Ancient Greece and Hebrew Torah writings. It is an age-old marker of civilization.
And of course, Trump felt the need to breach it in his disgraceful response to the tragic deaths of Rob and Michelle Reiner at the hands of their son. He declared that Reiner, “a tortured and struggling, but once very talented star…has passed away due to the anger he caused others through his massive, unyielding and incurable affliction with a mind crippling disease known as TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME…. (caps in the original) He was known to have driven people CRAZY by his raging obsession of President Donald J. Trump, reaching new heights as the Trump Administration surpassed all goals and expectation of greatness, and with the Golden Age of America upon us, perhaps like never before.”
If that were not enough, shortly thereafter Trump added plaques under the portraits of former presidents which hang in the White House –- after demolishing its entire East Wing to build a giant ballroom. A plaque under the photo of President Barack Obama says he “was one of the most divisive political figures in American History,” who “passed the highly ineffective ‘Unaffordable’ Care Act.” Going further back in time, Trump proclaimed under Ronald Reagan’s portrait that Reagan supported Trump’s desire to become president –- years before Trump had that ambition and when Reagan was suffering from Alzheimer’s. Under a photograph of an autopen, with which Trump replaced the portrait of Biden, the plaque begins: “Sleepy Joe Biden was, by far, the worst President in American History. Taking office as a result of the most corrupt Election ever seen in the United States, Biden oversaw a series of unprecedented disasters that brought our Nation to the brink of destruction….”
Just today, December 19, 2025, the New York Times reported that Trump had his name added to the Kennedy Center, whose performances have tanked since Trump put his own board in place there. Another piece condemns ICE for arresting parents as they bring their children to schools; a third states that ICE will set a quota for “denaturalization” of new citizens who Trump’s government doesn’t like. I wrote a blog about ICE, or “Immigration and Customs Enforcement,” that I called “Our Gestapo.” The word Gestapo, which committed horrendous crimes in Nazi Germany, got its name from a shortening of the German words meaning Secret State Police.
So where will all this end? Are we doomed to become a new Third Reich? Or are there reasons to believe that we can overcome this dreadful regime?
I deeply believe that it can be defeated. First, Trump’s approval ratings have dropped dramatically, far more than those for other presidents. His claims to bring prices down have completely failed. Many Americans will soon lose health care, thanks to the “Great Big Beautiful Bill” which he shepherded through a supine Senate.
But increasing numbers of Republicans, especially in the House, are leaving his sinking ship. They need to run for re-election in November –- and I strongly believe there will be elections in November. A number voted against Trump to release the Epstein files and I think increasing numbers will follow, largely to save their own skins.
But even more importantly, Americans all over the nation are organizing against this government. The most recent U.S. protest, the No Kings March of October, took place in over 2700 locations and attracted 7,000,000 people, making it the largest political protest in our history. Another march is planned for the spring. Indivisible, a powerful protest organization, has too many groups to count: each week, the leaders read off 10 new groups that have formed and have to leave many out. More and more average citizens are demonstrating against this regime. To give one local example, when ICE tried to arrest immigrants in New York City’s Chinatown recently, average citizens overwhelmed them and prevented them from capturing anyone. The election of Zoran Mamdani as mayor demonstrated that a Democratic Socialist can defeat better financed, more conservative candidates.
Moreover, these elections and rebellions are happening all over the nation. From Grijalva in Arizona to Wu in Boston, new figures are winning elections. And people realize that except for Native Americans, we are all immigrants. Many industries, from restaurants to farming, are feeling the loss of such workers.
So, I have hope for the future. I think Americans will increasingly protest and reject this horrible authoritarianism. Like our forbears in the 1770s, we will defeat a tyrannical regime. I urge you to join in if you haven’t already and to exhort your families and neighbors to act as well. That is the way that we can all have a Happy New Year!