It is the office itself that yields the honor and respect, rather than the person temporarily assuming its duties.

The expectation of someone behaving in a presidential manner is one that’s been shattered. For some, this is a welcome change. For others, it’s a chaotic and devastating reality.

We have demonstratively proven that anyone can become president. 

Growing up most of us were superficially exposed to the civil war. Almost all we learned was of dates and places and broad themes. We did not then viscerally understand how a nation could become so irreparably shattered. 

We go about our lives because that’s what we can do. 

Regardless of your political affiliation, those of us paying attention now unfortunately feel it in our bones. Whether you’re excited about the upheaval recently brought to Washington or you’re onvinced that our government is in jeopardy, I don’t think people will generally deny that this is something much different.

We are united on paper much in the same way that Jefferson’s hollow words about all men being equal applied only to white wealthy men. 

The intelligent people I trust are saying the same thing. Countries who were once allies are unilaterally warning one another and the world. People have shouted that the sky is falling and cried wolf before. It feels different this time because it is. 

This isn’t Clinton refusing to resign even though he should have. Or Bush demonstrating incompetence. 

I will be surprised if the end of February has not brought us to cataclysm. 

People need stability, as does the economy, and society in general. 

The struggle through the generations to create a reality in which all people, regardless of belief, religion, skin color, or their sexual identity could coexist in peace now resembles a dystopian fantasy. 

Power and progress are both unstable. The problem with authority and authoritarianism is that they both fall into chaos. 

Chaos is inevitable. Entropy governs the universe. 

Those who currently seek to redefine America will learn the lesson. 

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