If nothing matters, then anything goes. If anything goes, then nothing matters. If there are no guard rails, no checks and balances, no respect or sense of decorum—and people are fine with this—then it is official: we have lost our way and the beginning of the end is at hand.

There has always been a fine line between order and chaos, between civility and mayhem. It’s always been a matter of enough people agreeing to try, agreeing to live in an honorable manner, daring to step out in pursuit of ideals.

And agreeing to not take advantage, even though the temptation and a certain potential for abuse will always be present.

Jefferson, Franklin, Madison, Hamilton and the rest devised a plan to give us civilians and citizens a say in and a responsibility for the matters that affect us all. It was and remains a daring experiment, characterized by both great strength and surprising fragility. Its continued existence has always depended upon enough of us committing to a certain restraint, to guidelines and boundaries, to rules and expectations written on parchment and paper, and maybe on our hearts.

Donald Trump doesn’t give a shit about any of this, and neither do many of the rest of the heartless automatons with fried circuits who currently claim the power and, delusionally, the moral high ground. We have been watching the decay for many years, even before Trump crawled out of his gilded lair and, with the help of the real “visionaries” around him, pounced on the inherent vulnerabilities– including trust– in our system of governance.

The rot is systemic now, and the only thing between further degradation and reclamation in some form is us taking a stand—in the voting booth and in the streets, shouting loudly at our representatives in Congress to take their jobs seriously, to find some courage and stop enabling the Usurper-in-Chief and the rest of the leeches and predators who, for some reason, find taxation without representation a sort of soothing elixir.

It’s an uphill battle– fighting the typical human inclinations toward deception and self-enrichment and abuse of power. Both the beauty and vulnerability in our system is that nothing is carved in stone, perhaps unenforceable at times. Welcome amendation and change can happen along the way, but a true miscreant can elbow his way in. What’s happening now should be found repulsive and evil, the furthest thing from welcome change, from truth or patriotism or anything resembling genuine Christian faith or the better angels of our nature.

The longer this deviance has opportunity to persist, the harder it will be to stop without having to resort to drastic measures. Trump and the rest will be no help, because they don’t care. They want to blow it all up, with no thought for societal repair or improvement.

They are, many of them, stunningly misguided and inept, selfish and lazy. But crazy like a fox.

Daily writing prompt

Describe a man who has positively impacted your life.

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The last time around, I talked about my father. On this current trip around the sun, maybe I’ll switch it up and talk about a public figure, an athlete. I don’t know him beyond the myriad highlight reels I’ve watched, along with interviews he’s given. I’d still like to meet him.

He was the epitome of a sportsman, skilled and humble, poetry in motion, many say in a league by himself. No one could touch him on the ice. He literally skated circles around other players, controlled the game and perhaps revolutionized it, or at least his position. He played a key role in bringing New England hockey fans two Stanley Cups, in 1970 and 1972.

Bobby Orr became a legend in his time in Boston. He of course was human, and his left knee in particular was proof of this. It was the way he carried himself, though– a player with rare talent, who never let notoriety or fame go to his head. Game after game, he just played with a zeal– and maybe a joy– that left everyone speechless and appreciative, and often in awe.

I don’t know how Orr in his prime would fare in today’s game, but it doesn’t much matter. In his day, and in all the days since, he has remained the kind of person we might aspire to be– kind, honest, and humble.

My brother has a signed picture of Orr flying through the air after his overtime winner in 1970. Bobby even personalized it, with a little note about how my brother was one of the great pond hockey players in central Mass., or some such thing. I’ve always been a bit envious.

What more can be said regarding Trump’s tone deafness in the aftermath of the loss of the Reiners?

There’s no way, anymore, to access words that sufficiently address the depravity and immaturity. It’s all been said. The burden going forward will fall to the sane among us who must create new vocabulary that captures the essence of a 79-year-old 10^th-grader who thinks he can say and do whatever he wants because he’s POTUS.

He apparently has never gotten the memo about the list of things that should remain unsaid– or un-done– because he’s POTUS.

What should bother us all is that there is no one close to him who has the courage to correct him, or stop him, or report him to the authorities as a danger to himself and others. It’s been an endless flow of sewage since 2015, and people in positions of being able to do something about this should be way past tired of putting up with it. The rest of us can signal our dissatisfaction in the voting booth, but that’s not happening soon enough.

One more thing… did anyone else read that screed/tweet from Trump re the Reiners and wonder if it didn’t sound more like Stephen Miller?

It’s good to live in a place where people are trying to sustain a certain vibrancy and connectedness. Last night, we walked around the center of town, which was a few blocks filled with street vendors and warming stations and Christmas music. It was a way for folks to feel welcomed and involved, something to enjoy, take part in.

With a light snow falling, the atmosphere felt like something out of a Currier and Ives Christmas card, or maybe a Hallmark movie. It gave a whole new feel to a part of town that normally is busy with traffic passing through and people tending to business.

The traffic was still passing through, more slowly, but the surprisingly good crowd of people didn’t exactly seem to be in a hurry, or pre-occupied with taking care of errands or avoiding the snowflakes. For the lack of better words, it was something different and nice. And the wintry conditions didn’t seem to be bothering anyone.