In his Feb. 18 guest column on these pages, Rob Okun asked each of us; “How will you know when the United States has crossed the line?” He was referring to the slide toward authoritarianism we are experiencing at the hands of the current regime in Washington and its enablers.
Anyone who has their eyes open knows that what they are seeing is not healthy for the United States, nor would it be for any democracy. The question we must each answer is where is our red line and what will we do when it is crossed?
For many of us, that red line has already been crossed, whether when ICE used a 5-year-old boy to lure his parents out of their house to detain them, when the First Amendment was stomped on by killing peaceful protesters, or maybe a long time ago when the president mocked a disabled person or ridiculed a Gold Star family. Maybe when he claimed he could shoot someone on New York’s Fifth Avenue and not face consequences.
The challenge now is to confront and cast aside our inertia and act on what we know is right and necessary. What we all also need to do is work to inspire everyone we know to do the same. Go back and read Okun’s piece. Copy and share it with everyone you know and ask them to share it with everyone they know. It speaks to each of us and we can help it to be heard.
Reed Schimmelfing
Northampton