COMMENTARY: What is happening to America?

February 20, 2025  |  By John Aberth 

On October 29, 1943, my father, Etienne Aberth, an immigrant from Strasbourg, France, signed up with the U.S. Navy, little more than two weeks after his 17th birthday. He was assigned to the newly minted cargo ship USS Cepheus and earned a Bronze Star during the invasion of southern France on August 15, 1944. He earned a second Bronze Star for participating in the Okinawa invasion in the Pacific Theater in April 1945, when the Cepheus was fired upon by seven Japanese aircraft, three of which were shot down. He was honorably discharged from the Navy on April 8, 1946, after two and a half years of service.

I mention all this because what is happening now, in America under President Trump, is a disgrace and dishonor to the sacrifice of my father and all those of the “Greatest Generation” who gave their blood, toil, and sweat, and sometimes their lives, to defend the democratic values we used to hold dear against the threat of fascism and dictatorship. 

Now we have a president, Trump, who calls himself “king,” a fundamental violation of why this country was founded 250 years ago, and who engages in illegal actions at home and cozies up to dictators abroad like Vladimir Putin of Russia. Meanwhile, his Vice President J.D. Vance extols and meets with neo-Nazis rather than with the actual democratic leaders of Germany, the same enemy my father fought against 80 years ago.

We are just a month into this new administration, and it's already clear that it is poisoning our democratic system. I cannot imagine how we will survive the next four years. 

The question we have to ask ourselves is, how can we constitutionally purge this president and his cronies like Elon Musk before they bring about the death of our body politic? 

Are there any patriots left who will stand up for democracy, freedom, justice, and equality before the law? 

How, and why, did we vote for our own destruction? 

How do we save ourselves, before it's too late?

John Aberth is a retired history professor and volunteer licensed wildlife rehabilitator who lives in Roxbury.