At Gettysburg, Abraham Lincoln voiced his hope that government of the people, by the people, and for the people would not perish from the Earth. Under Trump, perhaps we came terrifyingly close.

The world watched as the United States—the paragon of democracy—floundered for four years. The U.S. is far from perfect, and throughout its existence we’ve sought to amend our Constitution and fix our laws to close the loopholes that weakened it, and to undo our earlier wrongs.

But the United States is just an idea, and powerful, selfish rulers can ignore an idea. They can bend and break laws, toss justice aside, eliminate equality, and lie and cheat to attain their goals. Trump did all this, ignoring the Constitution when it was in the way.

And his party supported him blindly at every turn. They enabled him. They let it happen. They aided and abetted Trump’s rabid base—those who live to hate, exist to oppress, and seek to destroy the rights and lives of those who oppose them.

They swore fealty to their imagined king instead of the real-life Republic, and he urged them to defy the law.

They proclaimed their support of the Constitution when they either hadn’t read it or didn't care what it said, and he spurred them on.

They blindly followed disproven lies and baseless conspiracy theories, and he encouraged them.

They masked their hatred, intolerance, and racism with claims of democracy and American values, and he gleefully stoked their fire.

They attacked the country they claimed to hold dear, and he laughed as he watched the sedition and insurrection that he provoked play out on live television.

Trump didn’t issue a blanket pardon for those who acted against this nation on January 6, 2021, and now many who assumed they could commit any crimes with impunity are angered by that and are turning on him. But don’t think that it’s over because Trump is out of office. He only enabled this insane demographic; hatred, intolerance, and racism is human nature for many, and those sad traits aren’t going anywhere. In the U.S., we’ll work to patch more holes in the system and try to avoid another disaster.

To those who think that America is crumbling: You might be right. As Lord Acton said, “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Trump didn’t have absolute power, but with his party’s support he nearly did. Our constitutional republic hangs by a thread, even as many continue to endanger it. The maniacal extreme-right terrorists and the immoral Republican Party that enabled Trump’s dismantling of the nation are all as guilty as he is of everything that has happened.

From this, the United States of America must emerge with improvements. It’s challenging to govern by the will of the people when so many of the people are unethical, immoral, insane, or evil—driven by hate, intolerance, and selfishness. Should they ever overturn our constitutional republic, I’ll be the first to take up arms against them.

America, the beautiful… and America, the corrupt. We’ve always fought against those who seek to twist our nation from what it has always tried to be into something else. This time, it was a bridge almost too far. It cannot go further. The line must be drawn here. This is a turning point in American history—indeed, world history, for America’s failures affect the entire planet. Liberty and justice and equality must stand as our foundation. Government of, by, and for the people must not benefit those who are guilty of sedition, insurrection, or treason.

We must treat those who strike against us as critical threats, whether they’re citizens storming the Capitol, those who finance them, or elected officials who support or encourage them—or foreign actors interfering with our affairs.

To do anything else is to work to bring about the end of the great experiment in democracy—to allow the United States of America to collapse and burn. I fear what terrible replacement might rise from its ashes.

David M. Fitzpatrick is a fiction writer in Maine, USA. His many short stories have appeared in print magazines and anthologies around the world. He writes for a newspaper, writes fiction, edits anthologies, and teaches creative writing. Visit him at www.fitz42.net/writer to learn more.