“A republic if you can keep it” quipped Benjamin Franklin.

I believe, in this minute, we have reached the Rubicon. All indications are that we are moving toward a repressive government and presidency. Our security institutions are under siege. Free speech is being attacked by the denizens at the White House and Senate. Racism is again showing its ugly head from all corners of our country and Congress is acquiescing to a hopeful totalitarian president.

We have seen this story play out in Europe in 1938. The White House is being championed by the white nationalists, the ultra-right, neo-Nazis, and the evangelicals. Many Americans are being silent. Our only hope is that the rational citizens of our country wake up in time.

Ours is a fragile democracy and it only survives through the voice of its people. Our first president, George Washington, “never told a lie,” or so we were taught. We now have a pathological liar in the White House.

Freedom is not for the faint of heart. It was born from those who had, and protected by those who still have, courage. There is no doubt that the future of our country is going to be tested in 2020. I hope we save our republic.

Anthony Inzero

Stonington