This should not be happening. We have a constitutional democracy created nearly 250 years ago with the goal of serving the needs of its people by providing for their “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” And for those nearly 250 years, it has worked.

Of course, it was never perfect and it still isn’t. There were no women or people of color at the table when white men, the Founders, created our Declaration of Independence and then our Constitution. Indeed, slavery was part of the culture and despite a civil war fought to end it, its effects are still with us today.

But despite that very imperfect history, the rules and laws that our country were built on have served us well. This is true, but only because, for the most part, we have all agreed to abide by the Constitution and the laws that our elected officials have put in place. Once those officials depart from respecting the rule of law, we will find ourselves in grave danger.

And that’s where we are today. By a slight majority, the country put back into office a man who for the first time in our history, refused to accept his presidential loss and attempted to remain in office. Fortunately, his coup attempt did not succeed, but only because there were still enough people who respected the rule of law and the Constitution to stop him — judges, prosecutors, military leaders, police, senators, congresspeople and civil servants of all kinds.

So, here we are, having given that man, our wannabe king, the power of the presidency for a second time knowing exactly what he would do if given the chance. He promised retribution to the people and organizations that tried to stop his first coup attempt or tried to hold him accountable for his lawless behavior. And now that’s just what he and his appointed loyalists are doing — firing anyone who resisted or attempted to keep him in check.

He said that’s what he’d do and people chose him anyway.

He’s appointed his best friend forever (BFF), to tear down our government, the one that millions of Americans depend on for Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps, VA benefits, a clean environment, safe roads and air travel, and so much more. The BFF now heads an illegally created department and has no legal right to fire huge swaths of our dedicated civil servants. But that’s what’s happening.

The BFF has brought his tech kids into government agencies and told them to access the computer systems that contain our private data. These people have no knowledge of how these complex systems work and risk a breakdown in the delivery of services to the public. In addition, they’ve illegally meddled with systems to stop the issuance of payments lawfully appropriated by Congress.

Article continues after...

Yesterday's Most Read Articles

The ills of a billion-dollar enterprise: The slow-death of the cannabis industry, and what might be done to reverse the trend

Northampton woman jailed in dog death

Activists arrested after occupying L3Harris lobby in Northampton

Jam-packed McGovern town hall calls for resistance to Trump moves, stronger Dem Party

Belchertown rolls out welcome mat for businesses

UMass diverting money to new fund that will cover federal funding losses

Your Daily Puzzles

Cross|Word

Flipart

Typeshift

SpellTower

Really Bad Chess

The BFF has also overseen huge and illegal purges of employees across government agencies without any knowledge or concern for the consequences that will result. Social Security could see up to half its employees cut, both in Washington, D.C. and across the country.

The reason for these cuts can only be to end the agency’s ability to provide millions of Americans the hard-earned payments that they depend on. The wannabe king promised to never touch Social Security and people believed him.

The legislative branch of our government no longer acts on behalf of the people who elected them. The Republican Party, now in control of both the Senate and the House of Representatives, has completely taken a knee to the wannabe king. They’ve seen what happens to anyone who stands up against him to protect the people, the Constitution and the rule of law.

It seems that of the three branches of the federal government, our only hope to stop this ongoing coup will come from the judicial branch. As of March 6, more than 100 federal lawsuits have been filed against the wannabe king since his inauguration. These cases are attempts to reverse his many unlawful executive orders such as the rounding up of immigrants, the blocking of appropriated funds, the attacks on LGBTQ+ and transgender rights, the illegal firings of federal workers, the closing of agencies, and the actions of an unvetted, non-governmental BFF who’s been taking an unconstitutional ax to our institutions.

My fear is that even if the wannabe king does lose in court, he will not accept and abide by those rulings. Will the Supreme Court step in and put an end to this coup? I doubt that. We are in uncharted territory now.

The only bulwark, then, against this coup, is “we the people,” who are waking up to the realization of what’s at stake. We are rising up in defense of our country, to protect the vulnerable among us, to stop the cruel and inhuman firings and the destruction of our government. We are taking to the streets in increasingly greater numbers to march and show our elected officials that we know what they’re doing and we will not tolerate it.

It’s time for our voices to be heard! Start calling, emailing and texting your senators and your representatives. Tell them what’s on your mind. Demand they stand up for their constituents and stop the coup! Then attend rallies and marches and know that you are not alone in this fight — together we are a force that cannot be ignored.

Karen Gardner of Haydenville can be reached at opinion@gazettenet.com.