Dear Editor:

Under the monumental splendor of Mount Rushmore, President Trump used this hallowed location and day of celebration of our freedom and independence to declare that tens of millions of his fellow Americans were an existential threat to the nation. This is a dangerous denunciation, as it expressly denies the legitimacy of an opposition party.

In the same speech, Trump pushed again for passage of the so-called SAVE Act by ending the filibuster rule that forces Congress and the President to negotiate and compromise on legislation. If passed, he promised it would ensure Republican rule for the next hundred years. This would mean the end of the democratic governance that makes America exceptional.

But we must not blame Trump or his MAGA followers for what we are facing.

The fault is our own. For too long we have tolerated the erosion of our right to free speech. We have become inured to the injustices inflicted by our elected government on others, be they our own citizens or other nations. We have become fearful of the illusory threat of immigration. We have stood by and allowed our government to be run by those whose interests are not aligned with the majority of the people. We have become indifferent to elected politicians, such as Senator Collins, who enable or appease this authoritarian impulse in our government.

It is time for Americans to wake up to the dark realities facing our great nation should this campaign of hate and division persist. Let us breathe life back into a nation built on the soaring ideals of liberty, justice, and the rule of law.

Voting is not enough. We must show up at town halls, in letters to our representatives, in conversations with our neighbors, and in the streets when necessary. We must hold accountable those elected officials who choose party loyalty over constitutional duty. We must support and defend a free press, an independent judiciary, and the civic institutions that stand between us and the concentration of unchecked power. The time for passive concern has passed. Democracy does not defend itself. That is our duty.

Fred W. Nehring

Boothbay