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One year ago, the situation was utterly separate. Prior to the American presidential vote, considerate residents could recognize America's significant faults – its unfairness and disparity – yet they still could see it as the United States. A democracy. A land where the rule of law carried weight. A nation guided by a dignified and upright leader, despite his advanced age and increasing frailty.

Nowadays, this autumn, many of us barely recognize the nation we live in. Persons alleged as unauthorized foreigners are rounded up and pushed into vans, sometimes denied due process. The East Wing of the White House – is being destroyed to build a lavish ballroom. The leader is persecuting his opponents or supposed enemies and insisting legal authorities transfer an enormous amount of public funds. Soldiers with weapons are being sent to US urban areas under fabricated reasons. The defense headquarters, relabeled the War Department, has – in effect – rid itself of routine media oversight while it uses what could amount to close to a trillion USD from citizen taxes. Colleges, attorney offices, journalism organizations are buckling due to presidential intimidation, and billionaires are handled as members of the royal family.

“The US, shortly prior to its 250^th birthday as the globe's top democratic nation, has tipped over the brink into autocracy and totalitarianism,” Garrett Graff, wrote recently. “Ultimately, swifter than I believed likely, it did happen here.”

One awakes with fresh terrors. And it's difficult to grasp – and agonizing to acknowledge – how severely declined our nation is, and the speed at which it occurred.

Nevertheless, we know that the president was properly voted in. Despite his profoundly alarming initial presidency and despite the cautions that came with the awareness of the conservative plan – even after the president personally stated openly he intended to rule as a tyrant just on day one – sufficient voters chose him rather than his Democratic opponent.

Frightening as today's circumstances is, it's more frightening to realize that we are just three-quarters of a year into this administration. Where will an additional three years of this deterioration position us? And if that period becomes something even longer, since there is no one to limit this president from deciding that additional tenure is required, possibly for defense purposes?

Granted, there is still hope. There will be congressional elections next year that may bring a different balance of power, should Democrats retake the Senate or House of Congress. We have government representatives who are striving to apply a degree of oversight, such as lawmakers who are initiating an inquiry into the attempted cash appropriation from the justice department.

And a presidential election three years from now could start us down the road to recovery precisely as the prior selection set us on this unfortunate course.

There exist millions of Americans marching in urban areas of their cities, similar to recent last weekend in the No Kings rallies.

An ex-cabinet member, wrote recently that “the great sleeping giant of the US is stirring”, just as it did after the Communist witch-hunt era in that decade or during anti-war demonstrations or throughout the Watergate scandal.

During those times, the listing ship eventually was righted.

The author states he understands the signals of that revival and sees it happening at present. As evidence, he references the large-scale demonstrations, the broad, cross-party resistance against a broadcaster's firing and the near-unanimous defiance by media to accept government requirements they report only approved content.

“The dormant force consistently stays inactive till certain corruption turns extremely harmful, an specific act so disrespectful toward public welfare, certain violence so disruptive, that he has no choice but to awaken.”

It's a hopeful perspective, and I value his knowledgeable stance. Perhaps he will be validated.

Meanwhile, the crucial issues persist: can America ever recover? Is it possible to restore its standing globally and its adherence to legal principles?

Or should we recognize that the historical project succeeded temporarily, and then – abruptly, completely – collapsed?

My negative thoughts suggests that the final scenario is accurate; that everything could be gone. My hopeful heart, though, tells me that we need to strive, by any means we can.

Personally, as a media critic, that means encouraging reporters to adhere, more completely, to their mission of holding power to account. For different individuals, it might involve engaging with congressional campaigns, or planning demonstrations, or finding ways to safeguard ballot privileges.

Less than a year ago, we existed in a very different place. Twelve months later? Or three years from now? The reality is, we don’t know. All we can do is to strive to not give up.

What Provides Me Hope Now

The interaction I have in the classroom with young journalists, who are equally visionary and practical, {always