The undeniable truth is that MAGA Republican candidates have little to offer that is palatable to the majority of voters. What they offer is distraction and chaos. Any distraction will do. The more chaos the better. Solve problems? How much better to stoke fear, hatred and violence than to expose the fact they have no agenda that is safe to share with voters.

Start with immigration. Trump’s MAGA Republican roadblock that sunk the bipartisan immigration bill and prolonged the heartbreak and barely contained chaos at the border was unconscionable. But nothing in comparison to the recent attack launched on the legal and invited Haitian immigrant community of Ohio, perpetuated and now deliberately exacerbated by Donald Trump and JD Vance. Physical danger, immense unnecessary anguish and suffering of immigrants who were invited here to work, and are eager to do so, have been cruelly unleashed and will continue as a primary campaign strategy of Trump’s team.

The instability that follows Trump is the preferred path for MAGA Republicans to wrest levers of government out of Congress’ hands and, therefore, out of voters’ hands. The latest attempt is Trump’s call to, once again, sink their own budget bill, designed to paralyze Congress and create angst.

The current Congress is the most do-nothing Congress in our modern history, mainly due to the outsized power of a slim majority of radical Republicans, abetted by a “silent majority” of regular-order Republicans, who have refused to step up for our nation and the sake of decency and democracy, including Sen. Susan Collins.

The next Congress, if ruled by a tyrannical rogue president who will have more power and fewer safeguards than ever before, would be worse than a do-nothing Congress.

The MAGA tyranny of fear hurts all Americans: small businesses, not unlike those in Springfield, Ohio, that form the core of most communities; our young people seeking to prepare for decent, contributing lives; and earnest lawmakers who are serious about getting the people’s work done and solving tough real-life problems of real people.

Another example of how Trump’s tyranny hurts Americans is his derailing of the FISA bill (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act). An example not so much of the power he wields at the last minute that puts high-priority legislation into a downward spiral, but more importantly the frivolous reasons why he is willing to do it.

Trump posted on Truth Social: “KILL FISA, IT WAS ILLEGALLY USED AGAINST ME … THEY SPIED ON MY CAMPAIGN!!!” In fact, the surveillance provision he objected to was not even in the FISA provision that was on the floor.

Yet, Trump’s phone calls to 19 House Republicans defeated its advancement, removing from the floor what multiple Republican senators, including Collins, Marco Rubio, Mitt Romney and Republican Whip John Thune, deemed a bill critical to the immediate safety and welfare of Americans.

However one views this legislation, the point is that no discussion that might have produced the needed reforms for a compromise was allowed to proceed. All out of, as U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr put it, “… personal pique, rather than logic or reason.” Trump may believe that his needs supersede others, but opposing legislation or controlling its destiny out of personal animus and ego gratification is a leader we can’t afford.

We are all domestic hostages paying the price. Whatever political mix we may each consider ourselves, we cannot let extremists rob us of the right to self-government. Research every candidate. Start with candidates for office in our hometown, up to the nation’s highest office. Get rid of obstructionists, extremists and fear-mongers. Vote every single one of them out of office this election. It is not enough to just vote for the top line. It is ineffectual to vote off-brand, write in, or fail to vote.

Restore an environment in which democracy and governance, in Maine and the nation, can function responsively and responsibly for the people. That is our responsibility as voters. It is in our hands. Right now.