I looked up the definition of 'peril' and it is a very strong word, definitely more "the emergency is coming right now" than I had assumed. So I and others, need to respect and be more cautious with that puppy.

I do think that our Constitution, Bill of Rights and government as we think we know it is in danger and nearing crisis.

Is it as threatening and fastpaced as the courageous journalist you wrote about? It feels like it at times yet no. I do wish the journalists would stand up for each other and their profession more. "You're going to ban him? Well, then you speaking to an empty room." I also know that these people have editors, families, mortgages or rent, and food doesn't magically appear on the table. Then again, I have to remember that I'm an idealistic shit that is childfree and has paid off the mortgage on my little condo so it's easy for me to judge from the sidelines.

So hell yes, it's being bombarded every day, but there are those of us idealistic idiots that are paying attention and resisting when and where we can. I won't lie, I didn't like either major candidate and I've never been a snowflake. However, I and others around me live in the real world, watch and read real news and are mighty sick of this fool, his policies, and cabinet choices. In a way, we are lucky that he has the IQ that's close to around his number. He'll get his comeuppance and many of us will get to breathe again, knowing a lot more about how our government is supposed to work.

Hi Gwen - thanks for your perspective on the question I posed. I kind of think our democracy isn't in immediate danger; conditions aren't like they were in the Weimar Republic. Joblessness was very high in Germany back then, and it's low in America 2019. Where I do see very worrisome similarities is in the rising level of hatred in this country, and Trump's intentional stoking of it. In the end, it was hatred that killed democracy in Germany eight decades ago - a tactic used by Hitler to gain power. Same playbook! There's a coarseness, a meanness, that's swept across the U.S., and we have a national leader who just keeps making it worse. The rise in hate crimes over the past couple of years is also alarming. The Weimar Republic died when Germans chose a despot over democracy. Could that happen here? Probably not, at least not as quickly as it happened in Germany. But I do worry that we are seeing an erosion of democracy, and who the hell knows where we are headed? There will also be huge challenges when Trump is no longer president - whether he loses in 2020 or serves another term. He's got the support of 40 percent of the electorate. His base is absolutely mesmerized by the man. And when he is gone, it is very unlikely that the country will begin a healing process. For me, it's hard to be optimistic.

Hi Terrence - You brought up some points that I hadn't mentioned or hadn't even really realized. I am with you that the speed is not the same, thank gosh. And, you're dead on, we are not in the same kind of depression and in fact are on the upswing from one that wasn't as bad and we are painful war reparations or dealing with crazy inflation.

There will be a healing process to correct this dived, I hope, but he did create it, he just took advantage of it. Whereas I've always honestly always been in awe of Hitler's ability and charisma to bring a majority together from all parts of society, not just preying on the week ones as Trump did.

The division and hatred were there, we didn't see it or refused to see it, and he put up the circus tent and called it entertainment also known as making America great again. The more acts in his tent, the more he could and can get away with behind the curtain.

The rust belt didn't like my fellow Californians before this election for various valid and not valid reasons. We've allowed the division by closing our eyes and pretending it wasn't there.

I'm optimistic, partly, because that just me when people run away in packs, I run forward. (except for feeding pigs, do not make me feed pigs!) Also, it's pointed out exactly where the cracks are, not the nut cases, unfortunately, they will crawl back under their rocks, but the large swaths of people can hopefully be mixed, get to know each other as humans, have twin city town halls, whatever it takes to get back to we are all one America, with one dream, many challenges, some of which are the same, and having learned a lot more about good government.

I did mention the idealistic part, right? With that thought in mind, anyone from either coast that is ready to rough it a bit on a road trip through the middle of our county, I'm in. No fancy RV's, or outfits or funky facial goatees, just us sharing some of the same things they've probably experienced too. I could leave tomorrow if I had a car, which shares a story right there and be a tiny part of the healing process.

Still, you're so right, it isn't going to go away silently or easily. He has driven spikes in and taken advantage of so many cracks that it's going to take an army, not one in the traditional sense, but maybe a touch of granola or hippie willing to do the work.

I was in diapers yet know we came back after Nixon. I refuse to let one man bring us down!

Thank you for your work and I hope you do more. It was a siren call to us today and I shared the title with others. Those people and really their families had so much courage and were willing to put everything on the line for getting the truth out!