I am faced with the blank page and swiftly fill it with words unfolding on the screen of my iMac. After the writing is done, I choose a photo, and voila, an essay!

This morning I feel no inspiration. What is going on? It is early Friday morning and the news of the world is dire, but so is the news in America. Autocracy is on the rise here as well as abroad. Still we sleep on, refusing to acknowledge it.

The Texas massacre was pure evil unleashed on little children. It has happened too many times before and gun control is obviously lax in our country. That is because Republicans in power are taking money from the NRA. Disgusting that we vote people into power who become rich at the country’s expense.

Donald Trump did not originate autocracy but he fell into it automatically, such is his nature. I pray he is tried and convicted for the many crimes he has committed. His base has been radicalized, more’s the pity for America. They have infested school boards and local government with their hacks.There is no real solution until enough people and institutions pay the price for their corruption. The Republican Party has blood on its hands.

I have no idea why so many people cannot see through Trump. Look at his base and you see people dressed in American flag shirts and red baseball caps. They have made a point to attend Trump rallies like they are partying instead of being played for the fools they are. For no one with an ounce of intelligence would fall victim to his ignorant braying about having lost a certain election in 2020. His base is a mouthpiece for crime.

America is no longer the land of the free and the home of the brave. The January 6 Committee, I pray, will clearly demonstrate this. Congress needs to be cleaned out and the guilty need to be punished.. But this is only the beginning. What happened to eternal vigilance? That is the real question.

Vicki Woodyard