Are There No Limits to What Americans Will Tolerate?

     I found myself asking this question on a morning last week when the president announced that he was doubling his tariffs (to 50%) on Canadian steel and aluminum, as the markets that Americans hold so precious roiled, and while this unhinged leader, borrowing a line from the Putin rhetorical play-book, vowed to make the “artificial line” between Canada and the U.S. “disappear.”

     I asked myself: how can Americans standby and watch – nay, support – this man systematically trashing decades, or really two centuries of friendship, cooperation, mutual prosperity and support? How can everyday Americans watch dumbly as their leader assaults the best friend they have ever had? Would an invasion that some Canadians are anticipating, (1) an out-and-out attempt at the military takeover of Canada, be the limit? It might be, but I’m not entirely convinced.

     I again asked myself if there is a limit as his minions were abroad, “negotiating” a deal, on behalf of Ukraine, which would require the country to give up territory to a despotic aggressor, and would require them to pay tribute, in the form of minerals, to the U.S. This “deal” can only be described as a shakedown or a protection racket. I continue to ask myself this as the president and his administration attack hard-won minority rights, the free press, and the intellectual freedom of venerable institutions of higher learning. I ask myself as Americans look on as a highly intelligent psychopath is given free reign to tear down administrative institutions and programs that have served the country and the world well for generations. I ask myself as I watch the Environmental Protection Agency and its hard-won improvements and protections are gutted in a single day by its appointed anti-environmental leader.

     Is there a limit to what the American citizenry will tolerate?

     Sorry to say: so far, it appears not.

     Not even the sudden and catastrophic cancellation of over eighty-percent of long-standing beneficial U.S. aid programs has caused much of a stir: nor has the dismantling of the Education Department. It puts me in mind of Germany. As the eminent historian, Richard J. Evans put it: “there were many Germans who were not fanatical Nazis but supported Nazism because it put into practice a sufficient range of their desires and aspirations for them to discount the other aspects.”(2)

     This saddens me deeply. It frightens me, too. And it angers me even more.

     Of course, I realize there is a substantial percentage of people who oppose all this: good people, good Americans, who support what is moral, what is good, what is useful, and what is right. Perhaps they will prevail. But if they are going to do so, they must stand up and be counted soon. There are certainly a number who don’t recognize what the situation is. And it is true that many simply don’t know what to do. This is, after all, an unprecedented situation in the history of the American Democracy.

     The cavalry, in the form of Congress, is not coming to save the day; the slim majorities (that is all it takes) in both the House and the Senate are sycophants of the rogue president and are doing his bidding – the Trumpist poster boy for that being Lindsey Graham, formerly known as The Honourable Lindsey Graham. Nor is it likely that the Supreme Court, having already granted the president broad immunity, will come to the rescue. And so, it appears that it is up to us: We the People.

     There are some positive signs. Good organizations like The American Civil Liberties Union, VoteVets and National Resources Defense Council are standing up, organizing petitions, and suing. Lower courts, at least in part, are acting for what is just. And the people are starting to take to the streets – this latter, as my friend Dr. Dave has commented on previous posts here, looks like what it will take. (3) Perhaps – just perhaps! – we can establish some limits ourselves, and restore decency.

To the Ramparts, then.

________________________

1. And the inevitable guerilla warfare that would follow, that some (at least the younger) people are imagining. 

2. Quoted in: Acherson, Neal. “Ordinary Germans.” The New York Review of Books, March 27, 2025, pp. 6 – 10.

3. Last Saturday, our small group of demonstrators on the street corner in the tiny village of Salem, NY, had grown to over 130 people.