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Twelve months back, the landscape was completely different. Prior to the US presidential election, reflective residents could recognize the nation's serious imperfections – its inequities and inequality – however they still could see it as America. A democratic nation. A country where the rule of law held significance. A country headed by a dignified and decent leader, notwithstanding his older age and declining health.

These days, this autumn, numerous citizens hardly identify the country we live in. Individuals suspected of being unauthorized foreigners are rounded up and shoved into vehicles, occasionally blocked from fair treatment. The East Wing of the presidential residence – is being destroyed for a grotesque ballroom. The president is harassing his political rivals or supposed enemies and requesting legal authorities transfer an enormous amount of citizen dollars. Soldiers with weapons are deployed to US urban areas with deceptive justifications. The Pentagon, renamed the Defense Ministry, has practically rid itself of day-to-day journalistic scrutiny during its expenditure of potentially totaling nearly $1tn in public funds. Institutions, attorney offices, media outlets are yielding from leader's menaces, and billionaires are treated like members of the royal family.

“The US, just months before its 250-year mark as the planet's foremost free society, has fallen over the brink into autocracy and totalitarianism,” Garrett Graff, commented this past summer. “In the end, more quickly than I thought feasible, it did happen here.”

Every morning starts to new horrors. And it's challenging to understand – and distressing to accept – how deeply lost we are, and the rapid pace with which it unfolded.

However, we know that Trump was legitimately chosen. Despite his deeply disturbing first term and following the alerts associated with the knowledge of the conservative plan – even after the president personally said publicly he would be a dictator only on the first day – sufficient voters elected him over his Democratic opponent.

While alarming as the present situation is, it's more daunting to understand that we have only been three-quarters of a year into this administration. Where will another 36 months of this downfall find us? And what if that period transforms into a more extended duration, because there is not anyone to restrain this leader from opting that additional tenure is essential, possibly for national security reasons?

Certainly, not everything is hopeless. There will be midterm elections the coming year which might bring a different governmental control, in case Democrats recapture the Senate or House of parliament. There exist public servants who are trying to apply a degree of oversight, such as Democratic congressmen currently starting a probe concerning the try to fund seizure by federal prosecutors.

And a presidential election in the next cycle could start us down the road toward restoration exactly as last year’s election put us on this disappointing trajectory.

There exist millions of Americans protesting in urban areas across municipalities, like they performed in the past days in the No Kings rallies.

An ex-cabinet member, wrote recently that “the dormant powerhouse of America is stirring”, similar to past after the Communist witch-hunt era during the fifties or throughout the sixties activism or during the Watergate scandal.

In those instances, the listing ship ultimately corrected itself.

The author states he understands the indicators of that resurgence and notices it unfolding currently. As evidence, he points to the large-scale demonstrations, the extensive, multi-faction opposition regarding a television host's removal and the almost universal refusal by journalists to agree to military mandates they report only what is sanctioned.

“The dormant force perpetually exists inactive until certain corruption grows too toxic, a particular deed so disrespectful of the common good, some brutality so noisy, that the giant is compelled except to rise.”

It's a positive outlook, and I respect his knowledgeable stance. Maybe he’ll be validated.

In the meantime, the crucial issues endure: is the US able to ever recover? Is it possible to restore its status globally and its commitment to the rule of law?

Or should we recognize that the 250-year-old experiment succeeded temporarily, and then – abruptly, completely – collapsed?

My pessimistic brain indicates that the final scenario is accurate; that everything might be lost. My hopeful heart, however, tells me that we have to attempt, by any means we can.

For me, as an observer of the press, that involves pushing media professionals to adhere, more thoroughly, to their purpose of scrutinizing authority. For some people, it might involve working on political races, or planning demonstrations, or discovering methods to protect ballot privileges.

Under twelve months back, we lived in a separate situation. Twelve months later? Or three years from now? The reality is, we don’t know. All we can do is to attempt to not give up.

What Offers Me Hope Now

The contact I experience in the classroom with aspiring reporters, that are simultaneously idealistic and grounded, {always