Allen Dulles, the longest-serving Director of Central Intelligence (DCI) had a quote carved in the agency's original headquarters building from John 8:32, “And ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free”. 

Well, if you watched the most embarrassing exchange between a demagogue and his lap dog as they berated a leader of a sovereign nation—who has nearly brought the Russians to their knees, all while the press was watching—you may not even have known the truth about this historical meeting. How a scripted ambush was deflected by a leader of a nation amid survival and a sobering message was sent around the planet; America is no longer trustworthy under Trump and Congress empathizes with Russia. 

No doubt in the annals of foreign diplomacy this meeting between Trump, Vance and President Zelensky on February 28, 2025, will go down as one of this nation's worst diplomatic moments. Ukraine should never agree to give up their resources, never yield to intimidation by a bully as they know Putin has broken promises without any consequences. Russia is a failed nuclear state with a weak, frightened little man at the helm who deserves to be executed for his war crimes. 

Our oldest ally, France, and our closest friend, Great Britain, both nuclear powers, came to the White House this past week in an attempt to straighten out the delusions of a truly despot leader who has placated to the war criminal Putin against the sanity of the world. The Vice President is a child who needs a time out. 

The votes at the UN were so egregious that it’s nearly impossible in less than 1,000 words to tell you how bad it truly was and how horrific it is to see the United States of America side with Russia and North Korea against our most trusted allies. The world has watched Ukraine fight bravely in the face of unwarranted aggression by the Russians, who have for centuries failed to join the world and now have a sympathizer in the White House, who has the worst poll numbers in 70 years. 

We are on the verge of a major realignment in geopolitics as the EU is unified, Canada and Mexico are now resolved against US intimidation, the world sides with Kyiv as the Ukrainians are on the verge of defeating the Russians IF they stay the course. Putin’s economy is in shambles and the rest of the world is watching. Our allies everywhere are questioning us and a most resolved China is looking for opportunities to step in where we have sadly retreated, all while we ignore a climate that is poised to make life more difficult as we slide towards the 22nd Century. 

The embarrassment of a White House that has authorized illegally the decimation of our federal government by an opportunist whose $38B of your tax dollars help make him a mega-billionaire is reprehensible to say the least. We have made disparaging comments about our great neighbor Canada, with the convicted felon Navarro seeking to remove them from Five-Eyes; what's next NORAD? 

The purge at the Pentagon is outrageous, let alone truly dangerous. His purge of honorable service members from the removal of the CJCS, CNO, and JAGs across the services signals a diabolical willingness of a sitting President to commit war crimes in pursuit of his partisan political objectives that have the potential to fundamentally destroy the established chain of command, undermine our national security and decimate an institution that has been a bedrock of our Constitutional Republic since its founding.

We have witnessed first-hand a Senate ignore its honor for placation to the MAGA base to keep their jobs; was it me or did every nominee just lie to get confirmed? Then you have a House who is about to decimate the population with cuts to everything so they can add $4T to the $36T deficit, all while making sure the 1% gets their tax breaks for $4.5T and pass a bill with the largest ever cut in Medicaid decimating millions. 

The fact that 74% of Republicans, all MAGA, want Ukraine to take a peace deal without getting territory back is outrageous, as just 25% of us true Republicans want the fight to go on until Russia has no choice but to negotiate a real peace. The world is watching the beginning of a second Civil War and the consequences of such could be catastrophic for our republic as authoritarian forces want to destroy 250 years of history to placate to Trump. NEVER. 

Prices and inflation are soaring, consumer confidence in plummeting, the federal government is being destroyed before our eyes, communities are being ripped apart by immigration forces, our veterans are being ignored and discarded, the media is being restricted and our First Amendment rights are being questioned. Our military leadership is being removed, people needing aid around the world are suffering, health research and information are being eliminated or restricted, and the list goes on with a slide toward an authoritarian regime; Trump’s presidency is a mounting failure in every sense with our freedom and liberties being restricted daily. 

Wake up America, the truth is Trump only wants to burn this nation to the ground and take the world along with it, and the question is will we be complacent or do we have the steadfast courage of our founding fathers to stop tyranny at the core of our Republic. 

The choice is ours.

Ned Sader has more than two decades of public affairs experience working for corporations and nonprofits, with a specialty in the development of public/private partnerships. He has served on numerous regional boards and is a lifelong resident of Wayne County, PA.  You can find more of his writing here.