There is no time to waste. Street protests make it on the evening news, but they mean nothing. It is way past hand-wringing time. Somehow Donald J. Trump has been elected to a second term. He is a demagogue and a tyrant who must be fought at every turn as he tries to silence his critics and destroy our modern liberal democracy. He also wants to turn our secular culture into a faux theocracy supported by so-called Christians who moralize about abortion and spout nonsense about “prosperity gospel” but turn the other way when it comes to protecting women, children and anyone who is not white and wealthy.

Trump and his cynical allies want to wind the clock back to a time before President Teddy Roosevelt implemented an income tax and child labor laws, founded our national park system and advocated for humane treatment of the poor. They want to return to the time of the “robber barons” who ruled the country, sending armed goons to kill union organizers, opposing regulations and laws that would hold them responsible for enslaving workers and destroying nature all in the name of profit.

I have voted for 15 presidents in my lifetime. No one – not Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan or George W. Bush at their worst – comes close to equaling the loathsome nature of Trump. Here in Maine we overcame the worst impulses of Governor Paul “LeTrump” LePage thanks to Democrats and moderate Republicans. Like his hero, LePage revered racist demagogues like Howie Carr and Rush Limbaugh. Both leaders brought out the worst in people.

Trump is the first convicted felon and twice-impeached person to be elected president. Despite a stream of lies and ignorance, here are facts about what President Joe Biden and Democrats have done for their country (courtesy of FactCheck.org.): Added more than 15.7 million jobs, 6.3 million more than before the pandemic; dropped unemployment rate to historic lows; grew the U.S. economy dramatically; dropped violent crime by 9.1 per cent in major cities; arrests of those trying to cross the southern border illegally are up 273% for the 12 months ending in June; dropped the number of people receiving food stamps by half a million.

What has corporate America done? Corporate profits are up 3.6% but weekly earnings from employers have gone down 2.3%. Greed and demand are the biggest drivers of inflation. Trump wants to impose gigantic tariffs on imported Chinese goods so much that the average household will shell out $2,000-$4,000 more a year. He will never deport millions of immigrants. He will never finish the ridiculous border wall. Eliminating taxes for overtime pay and Social Security will add nearly $3 trillion to our national debt.

Do you really want an anti-vaxxer like Robert Kennedy Jr. making medical decisions for you? Or Putin buddy Elon Musk making foreign policy decisions for our country? But few Trump supporters want the facts. Lies are truth. Deniability is accountability. Ignorance is knowledge. The voices of ignorance, bigotry, racism, hatred, misogyny, intolerance and anti-intellectualism are now in ascent. In 2022, signs saying “Communist Mills” sprouted up. This year, American flags flew in pickup trucks that carried banners that said “F… Kamala.”

Veterans Day is upon us. Nov. 11 is celebrated to honor men and women who died fighting for their country. It was begun when the armistice was signed after World War I. What has Trump done to veterans? He belittled and made fun of Sen. John McCain, a Vietnam War hero who was a POW for six years, and called Americans who died for their country “suckers and losers.” You want this man to be the commander-in-chief?

Another American hero, John Paul Jones, said, “I have not yet begun to fight” when confronted with British tyranny. I know all Americans of good heart will join in common cause to thwart Trump’s dark and malevolent agenda. We will not cease until truth and justice prevail.

Where do you stand?