To the editor:

After four years of living in an authoritarian nightmare, I was beginning to feel relief that it would soon be over. That was until a few days ago when I realized the madness is not over. We are not just casual observers in the stress test of democracy in America; we are all, at one level or another, active participants. We are all threads in our own social fabric, so to speak, the warp and the woof.

Our all-inclusive fabric is made up of many individually woven smaller fabrics sewn together in a national quilt.

“The Constitution and the Declaration of Independence are the warp and woof of the American nation.” Golden thread metaphor: Section Six

For the past four years, the person responsible for the maintenance of our quilt has been pulling out threads and removing swatches, rendering us vulnerable to large holes.

Now that most of us have spoken to remove this threat to our protective cover and replace him with a new weaver, the old one is making plans to return. He will undoubtedly announce his bid for another four years of tearing the national fabric apart before repairs to the damage he caused in the past four begin. He will continue to tear it apart until he becomes irrelevant, and I cannot imagine him becoming completely irrelevant if his followers continue to hold positions of authority in the government and larger society. He did not create this movement, but he certainly brought it to the surface, organized it, and leads it. He has created a personality cult that exists in an alternate reality, and he needs it as it needs him.

I have heard that when you cut off the head of a snake, the snake dies. This is not true with cults. Fasten your seat belts; we are in for a rough ride.

Harry Hopkins, Axsom Branch Road

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