I am a liberal. I believe in helping people. But these days I see cruelty masquerading as righteousness and selfishness labelled as freedom. I see politicians lifting up the powerful and stepping on the already downtrodden.

Hubert Humphrey laid out a rubric I think we are doing poorly at:

The ultimate moral test of any government is the way it treats three groups of its citizens. First, those in the dawn of life — our children. Second, those in the shadows of life — our needy, our sick, our handicapped. Third, those in the twilight of life — our elderly.

Trump’s second term is a huge concern to me. He will cause chaos and turmoil. He will change institutions for the worse. Expertise will be mocked and science will be ignored. Too many people emboldened by his ascendance will give in to their worst impulses.

But I remain optimistic about the future. We will heal and restore. I don’t know how long it will take, but we will. Martin Luther King Jr said:

We shall overcome because the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice.

I am proud to be an American and I love what America can be at its best. There is too much ugliness in American discourse and behavior today, but America is more than that. I am proud to fly the flag.