I’m not proud to be an American. In fact, I’m downright embarrassed.
What was once a country I grew up viewing as the beacon of freedom and compromise has become, especially over the last decade, one that cares more about their party, the mighty dollar, and silencing any and all critics than helping or doing what’s actually best for the people who call this place home. Then again, it probably isn’t a new issue. I might have just been too naive to see what was really going on.
And as we sit here, nine months into a Donald Trump “presidency” that’s been run more like a revenge tour, there’s no doubt in my mind that we are rapidly reaching the point of no return. This is a fragile-minded man who still can’t get over the fact he lost in 2020 to a fragile-bodied man.
Before I go any further, I want to say that I didn’t like Joe Biden either. Personally, I don’t like any politician because they all are the same type of people, for the most part, who bend for the corporations who control the money. They also are the ones that talk about helping the American people without actually keeping the promises made to help those same people—student loan relief, anyone?
This has nothing to do with right vs. left. This is about right vs. wrong.
The Lies, Lies, Lies!
Before the 2024 election, everyone was warned about Project 2025 and the damage it could do to the American people. Trump said that he didn’t read what was in it and tried to distance himself from it multiple times before November 2024. But then, in a shocking turn of events, nearly everything he has done since he took office in January has been following the playbook of Project 2025.
From student loans to food assistance to even medical care, almost everything that the American people need most of right now has been hit in some way since January. Executive order after executive order from the “president” who said that “signing executive orders was not the way our country was supposed to be run.” But what do you know, he’s doing the exact thing he said shouldn’t be done.
Before he took office, Trump, after learning the new word “groceries”, said “When I win, I will immediately bring prices down, starting on Day One.”
Did he? Let’s take a look at that using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistic. Though, based on what’s happened lately, it’s hard to even trust them. But we’ll do it for the purpose of this data.
All of the following is a comparison from August 2025 to August 2024
- Flour is down 3%
- Macaroni is down nearly 9%
- White Bread is down 5.6% while Whole Wheat is up 0.4%
That’s a good start! Really good, actually. But let’s get into the real meat and potatoes (and eggs) of the data.
- Ground Beef has gone up, depending on type, from 13%-17.5%
- Steak prices are up anywhere from 10.1%-24.1%
- Pork is generally down, except for boneless chops and bacon.
- Chicken Breasts are up 6.6% while Whole Chicken is up 4.4%
- Eggs have risen 12%
- Milk up 3.1%
- Cheese is up 3.4%-6.2%
- Lettuce up 10.3%
- Bananas are up 8.8%
- Oranges up 3.9%
Not a lot of down in that list.
You mean he lied again? I’m shocked!
And if you want to fact check the data, you can do so for yourself. It’s all there to see until the September numbers come out.
The Fall Of The Republic
What feels like the tipping is everything happening since September 10. You don’t need me to rehash what happened on that day because it was an absolute tragedy. I won’t argue that it wasn’t. Sadly, this keeps happening and not a damn thing is being done to actually try and prevent it from happening again. But you know what is happening? A clear overreach in order to push an agenda and continue to try and take down any and all who oppose the crown.
Everyone making things up and spreading speculation before true facts ever come to light. Everyone looking at this as a one-sided, party issue when it’s not. Everyone trying to hide anything that doesn’t fit their agenda.
And now we have a government agency in the FCC threatening television licenses if hosts aren’t removed from air for making comments? Sure, you can try and paint it as being insensitive to what happened, but when, less than 24 hours later, you have Trump basically saying that the networks aren’t allowed to keep talking bad about him, it kind of throws that argument out the window. He’s even suggesting that they could revoke licenses for any broadcast network for being negative to the crown. Sorry, the “president”.
The party of free speech is now saying that freedom of speech doesn’t mean freedom from consequences. And I 100% agree with that. If you say something stupid or foul or completely out of line, there should be consequences. You can’t go into your place of work, tell your boss to piss off and die and not expect discipline because “free speech”.
However, this seems to be a case of only one side being held to those “consequences” simply because they aren’t on the “right” side. What about Fox News’ Brian Kilmeade saying that homeless people should be given involuntary lethal injections and killed? What consequences did he face? Was he taken off the air? Of course not.
What about all the people who mocked, on television, the 2022 attack against Paul Pelosi? Did they face consequences? Why would they.
People will say I’m overreacting. They’ve been saying it for months. But with each passing day, my “overreactions” continue to be validated.
Authoritarian regimes often start by slowly silencing the press and dissenters. What’s happening now is right out of that playbook.
We need the system of checks and balances to return more than ever. That’s not up for debate. I mean, you know things aren’t right when even Tucker Carlson is going against it.
It’s Bad To Be Against Fascism?
According to Merriam-Webster, Fascism is defined as “a populist political philosophy, movement, or regime (such as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual, that is associated with a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, and that is characterized by severe economic and social regimentation and by forcible suppression of opposition”.
It kind of makes sense that a country with the line “land of the free” in it’s national anthem would be against that, right? Apparently not.
It appears that we live in a country where the government thinks being against Fascism is wrong? Being Anti-Fascist is wrong?!?! Are you kidding me.
First off, Anti-Fascism isn’t an “organization” it’s a mindset that, for years, I assumed most of the country was behind. You know, after everything that went down in Germany in the 1930s and 1940s. Or what continued to happen in places like Russia, North Korea, etc. I figured that we all wanted to see people be able to live their best lives and be as free as possible.
But, apparently, I was wrong. My sincerest apologies for that.
When the people of the United States held those “No Kings” protests on June 14, I remember looking at my wife and telling her that nothing will come of these. They already have the power and there’s no one in a high enough place who actually has the guts to stop what’s happening.
It might just be due to the fact I’ve become so jaded or nihilistic or whatever you want to call it, but, in my mind, it was too late. No protests or rallies were going to stop it. There was zero chance of anything working.
And what do you know. So far, it looks like I was spot on.
There Is No One Fighting This
I could keep going, but this is already getting long enough. So, let’s start to wind this down. What we’re seeing happen is being done done while the people “against it” who were elected to serve the people that can actually try to do something, continue to do nothing but write strongly worded letters as if that will achieve anything.
You have networks bending the knee because the administration holds the power on multi-billion dollar mergers. You have elected officials, who have been around since the first Trump administration, post on social media about how wrong all of this is.
Newsflash, you had your chance to prevent this from happening. You failed. You did nothing but blindly believe that it wouldn’t happen.
Uh oh.
I honestly do believe that had anyone on the right other that Trump run for office and won in 2024, things wouldn’t be how they are. I often think back to the Vice Presidential debate last year between JD Vance and Tim Waltz. In a way, it showed that conversations could actually be had again between people with opposing views. What we ended up with, though, is an “agree with me, or I’ll take you down” regime.
Is It Time To Move On…And Away?
I recently wrote how my life and career was at a crossroads. That’s no longer the case. I know where my life is heading, and what I need to do.
My wife’s best friend and her family are moving to the Netherlands in October. I’ll be honest, I questioned if that was really the right choice. I’m going to miss their two daughters—and them too!—who I absolutely adore and love as much as I love my own children. I hate that I won’t see that family as much, but, you know what, they’re doing what they think is best for those two little girls, and I respect them more than ever for that. When it comes to your family, every decision should have their best interests in mind.
This is one of those decisions. And I’ve started to really think they are smarter than most for actually getting out.
Looking within, I know I need to protect myself and my family. And if that means finding a way to save the money to move away from the United States, which could mean never seeing family and friends again, then so be it. I would miss them and knowing my kids would likely never see their current friends and cousins again is a hard pill to swallow. Hell, knowing I’d never see friends I’ve had for 20+ years would be devastating. But, I have to do what’s best for them. And raising three kids in the United States doesn’t really appear to be that right now.
I’ll give it until early 2027—just after the mid-term elections. But I guarantee we will be gone before this country turns into the authoritarian hellscape that it appears to be quickly becoming.
