Who is running the country?

One does not need to be clairvoyant to recognize that Donald Trump is cognitively impaired to the point he is incapable of leading America. His decision to wage war in Iran is reckless. Seeing him raise money on the flag draped coffins of young soldiers is despicable.

How far is the MAGA crowd willing to blindly follow him on his imperial quest for domination in the world?

MAGA runs deep in our government. Pan Bondi, Kash Patel, Kristi Noem, Pete Hegseth are a cast worthy of late night pundits’ ridicule. I laugh at the way the comedians poke fun at this cast of characters. Being worthy of ridicule and being worthy and competent to lead are two different things.

The Cabinet is filled with “yes men and women” who come with few credentials for leading our government, except their fidelity to the Dear Leader. The congress is complicit and spineless. And the Supreme Court is unpredictable.

What are we to do? I could sit back in my 80 years of life and quietly watch the show. But I refuse to see our country be destroyed without a fight.

The March 28th No Kings Rallies across the country were a testament to the numbers of people who do not want to see Democracy go away.

Our constitution reads, “In order to build a more perfect union…” We are not there yet. Racism exists in real and ugly ways. Misogyny is anti-feminism rearing its ugly head again. Hate against gender differences is a new one. Building hate into a government by and for the people is a misjudgment in the way the governed will respond.

We won’t go back to the hate. The KKK was (and perhaps still is) alive and well in North Carolina. Remember the huge Klan sign that sat on the highway near Smithfield for years?

First in Freedom, First in Flight, First in Hate. What a legacy! North Carolina passed the Halifax Resolves in April of 1776. We were an early colony expressing and voting for a nation that would bring liberty and justice for all.

It appears we have forgotten who we are.

Most of us admit Joe Biden was past his prime and should not have begun a Presidential Campaign at his age and stage. But few of would not trade Old Joe’s character for the joker we have in the White House now.

Americans remain reticent to elect a woman as president. In Harris’s case, even a most competent and accomplished woman who only had 107 days to mount a campaign, could overcome the built-in prejudices of the American electorate.

We ask again, who is running the country? It certainly doesn’t appear to be Donald Trump. We are stuck with an unfit president and evil characters around him for three more years. The greatest response we can mount is a loud and frequent resistance. Our voices of complaint annoy our thin-skinned leader.

We cannot grow weary in doing good. The effort we give to voice wrongdoing in our government echoes through the air. Who knows on what ears it will fall?

Lib Campbell is a retired Methodist pastor, retreat leader, columnist and host of the blogsite www.avirtualchurch.com. She can be contacted at libcam05@gmail.com