Here we stand.

Less than 24 hours until the inauguration of a man uniquely unqualified to hold high office in the history of this great nation. A man who, unlike any before him, has fought his way to the Presidency through lies, slander and outright graft. A man who has built himself up as a populist demagogue who is worshipped by his supporters, despite evidence of any wrongdoing.

When in the history of this Republic have we ever willfully elected a man who is unethical at best, and outright criminal at worst? Whose only thought is to defend his image and his ego - despite being played like a well tuned violin by an open adversary? When have we ever elected a man who puts the State of the Union and the security and welfare of the nation second to the perception that he was illegitimately elected?

This will be a sad day for the United States of America - and the death of a great Republic.

The Pre-Presidency of Donald J. Trump has already proven itself to be a travesty of scandal and corruption - with Trump himself acting as a new Boss Tweed - pulling the strings of power by nominating those who have given him, or the Republican Party, obscene sums of money - ranging from former Exxon Mobile CEO Rex Tillerson, with his untold billions from Russian Oil just waiting to be repatriated with the lifting of sanctions, to Betsy DeVos - the fundamentalist Christian "Education" advocate who believes it's God's Will that we have charter schools armed with guns against potential grizzlies (not to mention the $200+ million her and her family have donated to Republican Party members over the years).

We have Price, with his stock purchases that would have landed anybody else in jail. We have Flynn with his secret spewing son. We have professional wrestling in charge of the SBA, anti-environmentalists at the EPA, anti-Labor at... the department of Labor...

The most frightening thing is that the incompetence of the nominees and the incoming president is not what worries me the most: It is the vindictive and pseudo-fascist manner in which Trump conducts himself and apparently plans to govern as well.

He has insisted that those who voted against him are "illegals" or committing fraud.

He refuses to admit that foreign powers openly interfered in our elections.

He has started to alienate our allies by insisting that they are obsolete, and we will not come to their aid unless, like mercenaries, we are paid.

And far beyond not liking scrutiny - he openly attacks those who criticize him and invites people to openly attack them as well. He invites our enemies to target his political enemies - and even has threatened to jail them.

The Republican Party, for its part, with members in both houses of Congress are either acting like accomplices or beaten spouses. They either are drunk on blind ideological zeal that says that now they are in power - they can do what they please, and mistakenly believe that they can control Trump through their votes - or they are too cowardly to even try to oppose him for fear of being the object of his aggression. Either way - they no longer serve the Republic - but they serve the Tyrant at 1600.

It has already become patently clear that this Congress will be nothing more than a Rubber Stamp on whatever maniacal ideas President Trump has a desire to implement - from requiring visiting dignitaries to stay at a Trump hotel, to creating opportunities for sweetheart deals for his sons. They have had no objection to blatant nepotism in the administration, nor have they raised a single objection to completely transparent control of Trump by the Russian President - Vladimir Putin.

In Short: We have entered the time of an Imperial Presidency, and we are unlikely to come through it unscathed. Do I believe Trump is capable of seizing power beyond 8 years - absolutely. Do I think he will? Undecided. However, the unparalleled grasp on power over all 3 branches of government that he has already begun to exhibit will be far more terrifying for the next Emperor to sit in the American Curule Seat.

I weep for the America I grew up in. Reagan's shining city on the hill. That was an image we all could understand and aspire to. That shining city has become the same festering whore that was Rome. And as in Rome - the Rubicon has been crossed - the patricians in the Senate (and House) have no power over the Imperator that we have elected, but the mob in all its glory - having gorged on the Bread of McDonald's and the Circuses of reality TV and 24 hour news - is a seething mass ready to do the Tyrant's bidding.

Build the wall! Denigrate those who serve us! Hate a Religion that isn't ours! Despise those on the other side of the argument! Punish those who oppose us!

I weep for the Republic we say we defend - and the Constitution we say we believe in.

I weep for a country I can no longer be proud of.

-Eboneezer Goode

P.S. Has anyone seen the incoming First Lady - or is she, like our Country, being held hostage by a monster?