Donald Trump is killing America. I don’t mean it’s accidental or even manslaughter. I’m talking premeditated, cold blooded murder! The man who had six bankruptcies (Washington Post 9/26/16), he who couldn’t even run a casino successfully is now doing the same thing to our country.

He warned us that his second term would be retribution. Just as he is trying to prosecute his political enemies, he is punishing the American people for voting him out in 2020. What better way to do that than to destroy the country. We had the audacity to reject him, so now we must pay the price.

Heedless of the consequences, Trump and his sidekick Elon Musk are deleting entire agencies. With the elimination of USAID, farmers who depended on it to buy their grain will lose their income. Nobody thought about that before cutting the whole organization. They ignored what these agencies do and what the consequences will be once they’re gone. Musk’s little helpers storm in and bulldoze complete entities. They “shoot first and ask questions later”.

Trump’s administration fired federal employees who protect us from nuclear disaster and diseases that could decimate our population. They throw the grenade. Then, when the damage is done, they realize that they might have gone too far and try to reverse it. But it’s too late. In their haste, they have neglected to save contact info for the fired employees. How incredibly incompetent can you be! In mid February, the Department of Agriculture accidentally fired ‘several’ agency employees who are working on the federal government’s response to the avian flu outbreak. Several Republican lawmakers were concerned about this. They privately warned the Trump administration that such cuts could hamper the government’s bird flu response and asked them to reconsider. The agency said it is now trying to quickly reverse the firings. Oops!

Even Trump voters are suffering the effects of his rage. Many of them are now having buyers’ remorse. “I didn’t think he meant THAT,” some have said or “I didn’t think he would actually do it.” One voter admitted that voting for Trump was the “biggest mistake of my life.” Trump doesn’t care. The American experiment means nothing to him. As always, he only looks out for number one. He only knows he has the power.

Courts be damned! Who are they to tell him he can’t do what he wants? His attitude is like the bully on the playground, “Oh, yeah! Just try and stop me!” As decisions are handed down, Trump’s people dig in their heels and say, “Make me!” When you get to that level of the hierarchy, who is going to step in and stop him? There are supposed to be checks and balances, but that is Congress and the judiciary. If the courts are being rebuffed, Congress needs to step in. Since Republicans hold the majority in both houses and almost all Republican Representatives and Senators are afraid to go against Trump, that’s not gonna happen.

And as we struggle to get through the wreckage, Trump is having meetings about important things like…GOLF!

Many of you still believe he is doing the right thing. Now I know our country wasn’t perfect but that’s no excuse for what he’s doing. Burning down the house and starting over might be satisfactory to some, but where do we live in the meantime?

I was going to end this piece with “Requiem aeternam, America.” But instead, I’m going to appeal to you to help fight back. Let’s not give up. The message I want to send is “We ain’t dead yet!”

Verna Caruso is a native of Muncy, who now resides in Williamsport.  She is a former staff member at Inc. magazine and former Chair of the Lycoming County Democratic Committee.