There are two basic tenets of authoritarianism: loyalty and lies. With our current authoritarian Republican administration, we could add a third: lawlessness. 

“… my own morality. My own mind. It’s the only thing that can stop me … I don’t need international law,” says the ruler of this regime, who has insulted our treaties and allies while embracing dictators. 

This Republican administration also acts with enthusiastic disregard for domestic law. It represses freedom of speech. It pays for masked, paramilitary forces to send people, including children, to what I consider concentration camps. It defunds and mocks scientific research and environmental protection. It threatens the foundation of our democracy, the right to vote. And now it has put us into an unnecessary war of aggression that could slide into a nuclear World War III. Maybe that’s exactly what this inept, corrupt Republican administration wants. It would be one way to change the course of the November elections. 

There’s another element of an authoritarian state: silence. But there is an urgent need to speak, to act, to stand up and say, “Stop it!” 

At the very least, people should, please, attend a “No Kings” event March 28, even if they’ve never protested before. I thank everyone for their attention to this issue. 

Cathy Wolff
Kittery