Last month I knew I would run out of room, so I ended with “to be continued.”

It is continuing, all right. It’s gotten worse. It seems we now have a monarchy, with King Donald Trump.

This has been confirmed by none other than his highness himself. And his fiefdom of serfs and vassals and MAGA peasants are more than happy to bow and kowtow. How far backward are we willing to be taken? Was that summer visit to the Sterling Renaissance Festival so enjoyable that we should try it for real?

Maybe not that far back, maybe just to the mid-1700s, while we still enjoyed the comfort of being ruled by a monarch, even though he was slightly mad. I hope not, because why did we bother to vote if that was the case.

Sons and Daughters of the American Revolution, did you vote for a King? Would you dump that precious tea today and resist? Remember that George Washington refused the crown.

Do we want to go back before the inhumanity of slavery was abolished by one of our most revered presidents, Abraham Lincoln? Before workers fought and won their rights over the robber barons of the Industrial revolution’s “Gilded Age?” Before women won their suffrage rights? Or God forbid, we’d go back to the 1930s and ’40s, when the U.S. was experiencing a terrible depression, and Germans were clamoring for a savior, when Germany was economically devastated by the Great War far worse than we are today. Do we want to go back to before FDR’s New Deal and Social Security, unemployment, etc., before the Civil Rights protests won more equal treatment for Blacks? Before Roe v. Wade?

I wonder if some voters are starting to wish they had a do-over. Elections, like history, cannot be altered and have consequences. Since the Supreme Court approved Citizens United, money has ruled in government and has deeply influenced elections. That allowed the king’s benefactor, Sir Musk, to buy the election for Trump, thus securing for his dynasty all the government contracts he desires. He is now experimenting to see how far his money can reach, by trying to buy a Wisconsin state supreme court election. Evidently, his DOGE brothers are doing such a thorough job of ransacking federal agencies, he has time to play in state elections, and even European elections as well.

Meanwhile, the King is happily rolling around the golf course, reportedly for nine of his first 30 days in office; leaving his cabinet of knights who he rewarded for their fealty in charge to do the work of dismantling the government. He has no clue whatsoever of what is being done, as long as he doesn’t have to be responsible. Isn’t that just like a king.

The only King in America that I’ll acknowledge, Steven King, has said “thanks to the Supreme Court, the next president will have the powers of a king. That’s not what the founders intended. Quite the opposite.”

Our Sen. Charles Schumer introduced a bill in the last session of Congress, backed by over 30 other senators, called the “No Kings Act.” This is now necessary in a 248-year-old democratic republic. It never got out of scheduling. It was proposed in response to the Supreme Court giving immunity to the President for any acts criminal or otherwise. That bill contained a powerful word, “No.” Since we have no wizard, no Merlin, to put a magic spell on those creating chaos, havoc, and hurt across the country right now, we still have the magic of “no.”

Sen. Bernie Sanders is on tour, all of 83 years old, and has been fighting against economic inequality in America for most of those years. He’s been in protests, been arrested and carried away. He knows, like John Lewis knew, that it takes a fight.

“Good trouble” as Lewis called it.

His “Fighting Oligarchy” tour has been well received so far, with overwhelming turnouts. He told the crowd in Iowa City, “If there is ever a time to stand up and fight back, now is that time. … Trumpism will only be defeated by millions of Americans who come together to say no to Oligarchy, no to Authoritarianism, no to kleptocracy, no to massive program cuts, no to huge tax breaks for the wealthiest people in this country.”

Those who are after power use the age-old strategy of divide and conquer, pitting Americans against each other to weaken our resistance. Together, resistance starts with the word, “no.” We should not feel alone, or that all is lost.

It isn’t, but we can’t wait around for someone else to act to save democracy. Congress won’t do it. The Supreme Court won’t do it. And as encouraging as it is to see some of the lower courts’ ruling against the illegal cuts and firings, that is only a temporary bandage, slowing the process up a bit.

But that does buy us more time to act. If we tune in to news sources that will allow us to see some of the resistance that has been building, we know we do have considerable company.

I am so glad that Rachael Maddow is back five nights a week. She is showing the rallies and the town halls across the country where Americans, both Ds and Rs, are demanding accountability. “We didn’t vote for Elon Musk!”

Tune in to her show on MSNBC. She gives some unnerving reality checks, but also offers hope. She devoted a recent show to cover the polls that just came out on presidential approval. Every one of the polls: Gallop, Washington Post IPSOS, CNN, PEW Research, Reuters, Quinnipiac, all showed Trump, and his appointees, under 50% approval. He is the only president since modern day polling began, to be underwater at this early point in his presidency. Just a few of the relevant questions: Do you approve of Trump’s handling of the economy? No. Do you support Trump’s plan for Gaza? No. Do you trust Putin? No. Do you approve of Elon Musk? No. Vance? No. RFK Jr.? No. Shutting down federal agencies? No. Pardoning J6 violent offenders? No.

Bernie isn’t the only elected official pushing back. During the recent governor’s dinner, King Don attempted to bully the Maine governor. She replied, we follow the law, and I’ll see you in court. Other governors as well are stepping up to protect their citizens, our own Gov. Kathy Hochul, and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, who said “We don’t have kings in America and I don’t intend to bend the knee to one.”

Trump and Musk (or should I call them the tzar and his Rasputin) are aware of the growing dissatisfaction and unrest in the kingdom, so have hatched a plan to appease the masses, to “let them eat cake” or at least throw some crumbs.

Don’t be suckered in by it. A payout of 20% of the so-called savings from ripping the livelihood from thousands of federal workers — these are not D.C. bureaucrats, they are regular folks all over the country who happen to have jobs paid for by the federal government, they could be the ticket seller at the main gate of a national park, or someone working on a cure for childhood cancer — on a recent estimate would amount to just under $2 per person. The promise of $5,000 would be adding massively to the deficit, and that is what they claim to be fixing.

We must resist and persist — call our representatives and say “no” to Trump and Musk’s illegal actions. Don’t lose hope. There are factions within the king’s court vying for power and influence that will create cracks in the castle wall.

That is a subject to be continued.

Susan Bigler is a Sheridan resident. Send comments to editorial@observertoday.com