To the Editor,
If a frog is put into boiling water, it will jump out recognizing the potential danger. But put a frog in tepid water which is brought to a boil, the frog will not recognize the threat and will slowly be cooked to death.
Democracy doesn’t die in an instance, but slowly in its citizens accepting the lies and attacks that undermine the cultural and governmental institutions that used to uphold our nation’s values.
Hateful speech becomes normalized, religion weaponized, freedom of speech and the press assaulted, elected officials cowed into groupthink, and government power used to attack its own citizens.
The United States is no longer that “shining city on the hill” that Ronald Reagan talked about, an example to the rest of the world that America stands tall in a chaotic world.
Our present government’s “end justifies the means” approach to world affairs – insulting allies, kidnapping a dictator, blockading a neighboring country, making war in the Middle East – puts America in the realm of bad actors alongside Russia, China, and North Korea.
Every day, our whack-a-mole president unleashes a stream of vindictive actions intended to exact revenge on those (real or imagined) who oppose his authoritarian rule. How long do we allow this to continue?
Remember, Democracy Dies in Darkness.
John Torgrimson
Lanesboro, MN
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