1. United States
2. Texas
3. Letter

In just its first 365 days, the authoritarian regime of our 47th president, enabled by loyalists, opportunists and institutional cowards, has accelerated the erosion of the United States in ways that once took decades. Democratic norms have not merely been strained; they have been openly discarded. The federal government is now routinely used as an instrument of intimidation rather than representation, force rather than law, loyalty rather than accountability. Abroad, American power is no longer even performatively aligned with democracy. It is transactional, coercive and indifferent to popular sovereignty or international laws. Allies are threatened, authoritarians are indulged and democratic movements are abandoned when they become inconvenient. The damage to U.S. credibility, alliances and moral authority has been swift and profound. Over decades, the United States participated, sometimes eagerly, sometimes cynically, in weakening institutions, hollowing out oversight, concentrating power and treating democratic norms as optional when inconvenient. Deregulation without accountability, executive overreach justified by crisis, endless wars divorced from public consent and the steady degradation of truth all worked together to sow public distrust. That distrust did not arise spontaneously; it was cultivated. The current regime did not invent these failures, it exploited them. It weaponized the institutional decay and cynicism that had already been normalized. What is different now is speed, scale and clarity. In one year, the mask has come off. Power is asserted openly, restraint is mocked and democracy is no longer even the stated goal. You have played an active role in the demise of our democracy. Lord have mercy on our souls.