JULY 16, 2026 – In the course of human events, what’s “normal”? The realistic but somewhat snarky response is “abnormality.” Plus, depending on what historical perspective is brought to the question, one must grapple with ever-changing standards to be applied to the analysis. Are we talking “cave day” values, the mores predominant in Persia in say, 300 B.C.E. or the measures provided by Confucianism in its heyday under the Han Dynasty? Or are we talking mainstream American political sensibilities during the reign of FDR—bearing in mind that his policies were under frequent attack from both the left and the right?
If I may use a nautical metaphor, measuring the departure from “norms” in the political realm is an enterprise as fraught as is gauging the pitch and roll of a vessel on the open seas—as much depends on the nature of the ship in question as does the particular part of the ocean on which the pitching and rolling are being measured.
All that being said, however, each of us carries a measuring stick fashioned from our personal experience, education, cultural inheritance, and disposition. These factors, in turn, are shaped by numerous underlying conditions, some of which are unique in the case of each individual, but most are tied to the many influences of the culture and society that surround us. As each individual interacts with society, certain norms and conventions are established. Some assume the force of law; others however, simply become generally accepted patterns of behavior; things such as respect, civility, honesty, ethics and morality. Over time, this customary behavior becomes as critical as the rule of law to the stability of the social order. To the extent that social order—and the legal structure that supports it—is inclusive and equitable, so will the democracy and its citizens enjoy felicitous prospects.
Little that is said or done by the current regime is “normal” by the measure of most individual and community standards. The grift, the hubris, the cruelty, the dishonesty, the incompetence, the abject sycophancy, the leveraged retribution, the crassness . . . the utter nonsense . . . that spews forth from the White House will soon obscure whatever “greatness” we once enjoyed. Like garden plants under a big piece of plastic staked to the ground, we will yellow, then wilt, then face our demise.
As we go about our daily business, we must not live as if it’s “business as usual.” Through every waking hour between now and November 4, we must remind ourselves of two central realities: FIRST, by the standards to which the majority of Americans subscribed a dozen years ago, none of what the current regime has ushered forth since Inaugural Day 2025 can be called “normal”; and SECOND, in November, Republicans seeking election or re-election who’ve refused to stand up to Trump need to be defeated and defeated soundly. Even with a Republican defeat, the nation will face its greatest challenge since the Civil War: Trump will insist that victory was stolen, and his enablers will be forced yet again to buy, then re-sell the party line. Thursday evening’s address was a shot across democracy’s bow. If we care—and I say we should—we must work to remind the world and ourselves that . . . None of “this” is normal.
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© 2026 by Eric Nilsson
