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Twelve months back, the situation was entirely separate. Prior to the national election, thoughtful residents could acknowledge the country's significant faults – its inequities and imbalance – however they still could identify it as the US. A free society. A country where legal governance carried weight. A nation guided by a respectable and upright official, notwithstanding his older age and declining health.

These days, this autumn, many of us scarcely know the land we live in. Individuals suspected of being illegal immigrants are detained and shoved into vehicles, at times refused legal rights. The East Wing of the “people’s house” – is being destroyed to build a lavish ballroom. The president is harassing his political rivals or alleged foes and insisting federal prosecutors surrender a huge total of citizen dollars. Armed military personnel are dispatched into American cities with deceptive justifications. The defense headquarters, rebranded the Department of War, has – in effect – liberated itself of routine media oversight as it spends what could amount to nearly $1tn of taxpayer money. Colleges, attorney offices, journalism organizations are buckling from leader's menaces, and billionaires are handled as aristocracy.

“America, just months before its 250-year mark as the world’s leading democracy, has tipped over the edge into autocracy and fascism,” a noted author, wrote in August. “Ultimately, faster than I imagined possible, it did happen here.”

One awakes amid recent atrocities. And it's difficult to grasp – and distressing to accept – how severely declined we have become, and the rapid pace with which it occurred.

Nevertheless, we understand that the president was properly voted in. Following his profoundly alarming initial presidency and following the cautions that came with the awareness of Project 2025 – despite the president personally stated openly he intended to act as an autocrat only on the first day – enough Americans selected him over Kamala Harris.

As terrifying as the current reality may be, it's more frightening to recognize that we’re only three-quarters of a year into this administration. What will another 36 months of this deterioration position us? And what if that period turns into something even longer, because there is not anyone to limit this leader from opting that additional tenure is necessary, perhaps for security concerns?

Granted, not everything is hopeless. There will be congressional elections next year which might bring a different balance of power, in case Democrats regain one or both houses of Congress. We have elected officials who are attempting to exert some accountability, like lawmakers who are starting a probe into the attempted cash appropriation from legal authorities.

And a leadership election in the next cycle could initiate the path to recovery just as last year’s election put us on this regrettable path.

There are millions of Americans demonstrating in public spaces of their cities, as they did last weekend during anti-authority protests.

An ex-cabinet member, commented this week that “the dormant powerhouse of the nation is stirring”, similar to past following the Red Scare in that decade or during anti-war demonstrations or throughout the seventies crisis.

On those occasions, the listing ship ultimately corrected itself.

Reich says he knows the indicators of that awakening and observes it occurring currently. For proof, he points to the recent massive protests, the extensive, bipartisan pushback to a broadcaster's firing and the almost universal rejection by reporters to agree to government requirements they report only approved content.

“The dormant force perpetually exists inactive before specific greed grows too toxic, an specific act so contemptuous of the common good, certain violence so disruptive, that the giant is compelled other than to stir.”

It's a positive outlook, and I appreciate the author's seasoned opinion. Maybe he’ll be validated.

At the same time, the big questions remain: can America return to normalcy? Can it retrieve its standing in the world and its adherence to legal principles?

Or must we acknowledge that the historical project succeeded temporarily, and then – swiftly, totally – ended?

My cynical mind suggests that the final scenario is correct; that everything could be gone. My optimistic spirit, nevertheless, tells me that we must try, by any means we can.

For me, as an observer of the press, that means pushing media professionals to live up, more completely, to their duty of holding power to account. For some people, it could mean engaging with election efforts, or organizing rallies, or finding ways to protect ballot privileges.

Less than a year ago, we existed in a very different place. A year from now? Or after another term? The truth is, we cannot predict. The only option is to attempt to persevere.

What Provides Me Hope Now

The engagement I experience in the classroom with new media professionals, that are simultaneously visionary and grounded, {always