Elected officials who bully the citizens. Voter apathy. Voter suppression and intimidation. White supremacy. Lack of civic education, training, exposure, and competence. Poor communication channels.

Trump’s crypto-fascism poses an immediate and grave threat. One senses the Germany of 1938, ’39 – mobs encourage by Hitler to break Jewish shop-windows = “MAGA”! – When was America great? Before Civil Rights gave Blacks the right to vote? When Native Americans were subjected to genocide? Before women could vote? Trump would return us to a horrific past.

As a proud granddaughter of Eastern European immigrants, I am extremely thankful for all of the advantages available to me as an American citizen. However, our democracy is facing a major challenge from the far right, extremely conservative factions of our society who see violence and threats of violence as acceptable methods to accomplish their goals. When we have almost limitless opportunities to express our opinions, there is no excuse for this type of uncivilized, unethical and dangerous behavior.