The 51st state

Not content to ruin 2025, Trump goes a step further down the primrose path in 2026 by invading Venezuela.

Charles Dickens famously began his meganovel “A Tale of Two Cities” thusly:

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way …”

Dickens was describing the year 1775, but his words ring true 250 years later. And although “Tale” revolves around the cities of London and Paris, that first sentence uncannily describes the state of America in 2025.

I never in my wildest dreams imagined that the United States in 2025 would be virtually single-handedly destroyed by a narcissistic, megalomaniacal, petulant, vindictive toddler of a president that less than half the country voted into office for a second term.

I usually avoid politics and religion in both my writing and my everyday interactions with others. But to remain silent is to be tacitly supportive of those who would make America into their own hideous vision of an oligarchy ruled by white men. People of color, women, those who don’t fit “accepted” gender roles and anyone who holds religious beliefs other than Judaism and Christianity have no place in Trump’s America.

Yet, not content to ruin their own country, Trump and his minions extend their ruinous views to the entire world, scrapping humanitarian entities like USAID, which already has led to the deaths of thousands through the elimination of health and food programs in Third World countries. They support the genocide of Palestinians and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. They seek to eliminate the Voice of America, which once enabled those in other countries to hear what used to be the exemplary ideals of the USA. America no longer has exemplary ideals.

In 2025, Trump made America the laughing stock of much of the world, taking it from the “shining city on a hill” cited by Puritan leader John Winthrop in 1630 and transforming it into one of the “shithole countries” he first referenced in 2018. The Republican party has stood by silently, allowing him to usurp Congressional powers and defending his abuse of power to punish enemies, both real and perceived. It has allowed him to rebrand America as Trumplandia.

Now, in 2026, I guess Trump has his “51st state” after removing the president of Venezuela: Trump says “we’re going to run the country.”

That’s rich, when Trump can’t even run America.

Except into the ground.