This may be the saddest time for our nation during my lifetime.

We ignored these people, we laughed at them, we avoided them, we looked down upon them. We thought, “there are always going to be some who do not understand, those who are less gifted, those who are victims of their culture, upbringing, or religion”. But they made themselves heard! They got our attention by electing someone who saw them, who made them feel good about themselves and made them feel important.

They found a man (or maybe he found them) who although he came from a vastly different background was also marginalized. He was a sad man who despite being raised in a wealthy home was not raised in a happy home. An ignorant man who despite being given access to the finest education money could buy did not do well in school. A lonely man who never succeeded in forming deep relationships with friends or lovers. A man who squandered a massive inheritance. A man who never lived up to the expectations the world placed upon him. He was marginalized by the people he desired most to impress, his father and the wealthy New York elite who although they never balked at spending his money or making fun of him never accepted him as an equal.

But the man they found was not a complete failure. He was in fact a masterful magician. His greatest trick was creating the illusion of success amidst a sea of failure. While many saw through his paltry party tricks, others were enthralled by the magic he performed. As one failure after another piled up in business and his private life, he would distract onlookers by flamboyantly promoting his next “success”. As one casino bankrupted, he would open another, better, greater, more fantastic.

Whenever he was forced to truly confront his failures, he masterfully and with great slight of hand shifted the blame onto others. All success was the result of his brilliance and the many failures were always due to the incompetence of others. This sad, lonely, marginalized man found a group of people who accepted him, who followed him. To them, he was the embodiment of all they had ever hoped to be. He was wealthy, brash, successful, loud, and entertaining. He discovered that if he listened to them and said the things they longed to hear they would love him. This man, who had hardly sat foot in a church and only ever worshipped his own ego, told the people that he was a true follower of Jesus. This man who had always supported stronger gun control laws suddenly became a 2nd amendment warrior and encouraged his followers to keep their weapons and to prepare themselves to be the defenders of the good. This man who had cheated his way out of military service convinced the people that he was the greatest supporter of the military. This man who had used a considerable amount of his wealth trying to avoid the consequences of his illegal actions became the front figure of the law and order party. This man who had paid women to have sex with him, paid them to have abortions and paid them again to keep quiet, all while married to other women, suddenly became the champion of the anti-abortion movement and the role model of the evangelical nuclear family. With illusion after illusion, he captivated his audience.

As time went by and ever so slowly, the magic was wearing off. More and more people came to realize that he was not the king they had hoped for but only the jester. Finally, after several years, the majority of the people had had enough and voted him out of office. But there were still enough of his mystified followers to fall for his final and grandest illusion. With great skill and cunning, he convinced them that they had not seen what all the world had just witnessed. While everyone acknowledged the fact that the country had elected a new president, this magician caused his still loyal followers to perceive that he had won. He made the truth a lie and the lie became the truth. He changed reality as it was and caused them to see an alternative reality. A reality in which he was still the supreme leader of the free world. He told them that almost everyone was against him and them. He convinced them that he, and they, were the sole survivors of this once great nation and that if they acted quickly, they could be its saviors. By some magic he successfully created an illusion in which everything was upside down. They were the good guys, everyone else was bad! Even some of his closest allies turned against him at this point so they to were declared to be evil. In the best Orwellian style, he played on their fears and they followed him. And what was it that they were most afraid of? What was it that made them fall for his magic? Likely it was not just one fear but the most prevalent fear, the one he manipulated most was the fear of insignificance. They did not want to return to their drab, hopeless, meaningless existences again. They wanted to stay on top, to be the heroes. They wanted to continue living in a fantasy world were mediocrity was greatness. He had been their megaphone and through him they had been seen and heard. In this state of mind, they were willing to do anything to stay in the spotlight. At his command they raided the Capitol and what did they do when they had succeeded? They took selfies! They had no real desire to bare the responsibility of running a country. They knew in their hearts that they could not tackle the challenges facing our nation and our world, so instead they giggled like children and took pictures of themselves as they vandalized the center of our great democracy. These people who call themselves “patriots” desecrated the flag and every other symbol that represents the nation they claim to love.

So where do we go from here? His most ardent followers are convinced that all who see reality differently from them are evil or at least misguided. Any evidence that conflicts with their world view is false. They see themselves as the victims of an evil society and/or as the champions of a better world. How do we move forward when a significant minority of our nation see the rest of us as the enemy and believe that any actions they deem necessary are justifiable to promote their own cause?

I remember long ago learning about the notion of “the rule of the majority with respect for the minority”. This concept is a key to the success of democracy. Somehow, the majority must not lose sight of the minority. We may not be able to progress as quickly as we would like but we might be able to avoid these frightening interludes of rebellion. We must strike a balance in which everyone is seen and heard and were the minority is not ignored or overrun. But this will also require that the minority learns to respect the majority. The minority must understand that they cannot exercise a veto on the hopes and desires of the majority.

I am truly worried! To quote Abraham Lincoln “a house divided against itself cannot stand”. I do not know if we can remove the division in our house, but we must try. If we fail, we will no longer stand!