Adjectives that could best describe the mood Americans find themselves: angry, frustrated, alarmed, helpless, enraged, etc.

Adjectives that could also describe the one person responsible for this state of affairs: childish, impetuous, vindictive, egomaniacal, bullying, selfish, hypocritical, and I could go on forever — the person occupying the White House who is usually considered the president. He certainly isn’t my president. I didn’t vote for him or the other less deplorable candidate in 2016. Let’s not forget that because he is unfit and unprepared to govern, he must have a cadre around him who help him sort out the issues, construct the spin and keep the chaos coming on a daily basis because he isn’t intelligent enough to govern. I personally hold the GOP responsible for allowing this man to be elected. You knew what you were getting the day the arrogant pretender walked down the stairs of his palace. Blame can also be directly attributed to the 100 million eligible voters who, for whatever reasons, chose not to vote in 2016. That behavior is the focal point of this commentary which I will get to in a couple of subsequent paragraphs.

The 2016 election resulted in the placing of an individual with no experience in governing, an individual with little respect for the Constitution, a demagogue with authoritarian tendencies and an individual who is a bully. Safeguarding our nation from authoritarians who gradually usurp rights and freedoms is the job of the Congress, our pathetic, do-nothing representatives. They’ve failed. Authors of the book “How Democracies Die” list four indicators of authoritarian behaviors: rejection of the democratic rules of the game, denial of the legitimacy of political opponents, toleration or encouragement of violence, and the readiness to curtail civil liberties of the people and especially the media. A Guest Commentary by Rev. Jeff Black appeared in the Feb. 24 issue of the Enterprise tilted “Malignant narcissist?” Black references Erich Fromm to describe this type of person. Malignant narcissism exhibits four components: narcissism, sadism, paranoia and absence of empathy. How poignant! Black summarizes, “We are and have been a resilient democracy. Our last defense against the consequences of this self-inflicted wound is the coming election.”

I initially began writing this before the COVID-19 crisis. This disaster further bolsters my opinion that this administration and Congress failed us miserably, and I place the blame there. Since late last fall, they were aware that this flu was a problem, and with the Democrats pursuing their pipe dream of impeachment, three months were wasted and nothing got done. So here we are in the throes of another crisis. Long before Michael Bloomberg opined that this president was a dangerous man, I thought the same thing.

November 2020 can’t come soon enough, and the following data hopefully demonstrate why we have this state of affairs. The average voter turnout in the past 80 years for presidential selection was about 55% of eligible voters. The United States has about 240 million eligible voters. The 2016 election saw a turnout of 57% of those voters, or about 130 million people. Doing the math reveals that about 108 million people, who, for whatever reasons, stayed home. This is apathy at its best. We got what we deserved. Even a small percentage of those non-voters could have changed the results. This president and Congress are failures on so many fronts.

This president and to some degree Congress are not doing the nation’s business. They keep the chaos coming day after day. The truth is always elusive. The lies, firings, resignations, name calling, retribution, rosy picture paintings and superlative descriptions of how wonderful his administration is should enrage people. We also need to oust our carpetbagger representative, another one of the spineless members of Congress. What has emerged from Trump’s professed desire to clean up the swamp has resulted in the creation of another swamp. We often hear about the millionaires, billionaires, elites and oligarchs (yes, we have oligarchs) owning government. They are present and omnipotent. Are you ready to VOTE or willing to succumb?

Thomas Kilroy lives in Saranac Lake.

References: Pew Research Center, U.S. Census Bureau, “How Democracies Die” by Levitsky and Ziblatt, “The Fifth Risk” by Michael Lewis