The Turning Point Is Here

This was published in the Salt Lake Tribune, Monday, November 4, 2027. https://www.sltrib.com/opinion/letters/2024/11/03/letter-turning-point-is-here-we/

There is the idea of a turning point in history. And, then there is the ACTUAL turning point in history.

America is in the second one, we are in the midst of an actual turning point.

Is it a turning point like the Revolutionary War? Or the Civil War? Or the Depression of 1929? Or the stock market crash of 2010? Or the civil rights movement of the 1960’s?

In other words, is it a small turning point, a mid size one, or a big one.

Or, (I’m really interested in the answer to this next question) does a turning point always mean a bad time will be upon us?

I remember 1958 and the Russians sent up the first satellite, Sputnik. 12 years later America was on the moon thus sealing the start of the space age. In 1954 the polio vaccine was discovered, thus ending a pandemic that was killing and maiming thousands of children and adults yearly.

A turning point, I guess, is when an event happens that impacts our lives in an out of the ordinary way, either a little bit or a lot, good or bad.

I believe we are in a big turning point, the result of which is already changing our lives. The first event occurred on January 6, 2021. President Donald Trump caused an insurrection. He attempted to overthrow the United States Congress so that he could remain as president after losing the election of 2020.

Here we are right now, with Trump, a convicted felon, running neck and neck with Kamala Harris to be elected the next President of the United States.

Just think, close to 50% of America is voting for this guy. THAT’s the turning point: America is voting for the guy who caused an insurrection, found guilty of sexual assault by a jury of his peers, and of paying off a porn star for her silence before the 2016 presidential election. And that’s just the start of the trouble he’s caused for himself. Just think of the anxiety his wife and children must be feeling.

This is a big, big turning point in my mind. Americans continue strong support for a guy who started the birther movement against Barack Obama, claiming he was born in Africa, hence not qualified to run for president. Then he ran against Hillary Clinton, claiming she should be in jail for working with the Russians against him for the 2016 presidential campaign. The irony is Donald Trump is the one who worked with the Russians to defeat Hillary. Next came the MAGA movement, contending the future of America was in looking back at how America operated (whatever that means). The MAGA movement then turned into a revolutionary movement which ended up storming the capital in an attempt to overturn the 2020 election of Joe Biden Biden over Donald Trump.

Here we are in 2024. Should Kamala Harris win, the forces of revolution will be released again, only this time with national bloodshed. America will be in a state of perpetual revolt.

Whatever we choose to call it, whether it be the second American revolution or the second civil war, we will be in a state of revolution.

Trump is a revolutionary, who has started a true revolution. Should he win, the country we have come to know will be different. Slowly but surely Trump will turn it into a one man rule. Should he not win, he will be thrown into jail, but that will not change him or those who follow him. It will only toughen their resolve.

He’s a hard bitten nationalist. A nativist. A strong militarist. He is a “fascist”.

We are razor thin from being thrown into a police state.

Is there a solution to all this? Yes, dedication to “the greatest idea in human history.” Democracy.