Within the past 100 days, the word unthinkable has been uttered every day.

The America  I once knew is being destroyed by an authoritarian whose total disregard for the Constitution is a blitzkrieg on the law.

That was once unthinkable.

For every single one of his hundred days, Donald Trump has been carpet bombing us with chaos, cruelty and lies, detonating democracy daily,  scattering the shredded remains of our cherished rights, values, and privileges until they are unrecognizable.

The demolition of our way of life by a dictator was once unthinkable. Now we are thinking the unthinkable.

Every terrifying day.

Thinking The Unthinkable

“Thinking About the Unthinkable” was the title of a 1962 best-selling book by Herman Kahn that still sits on my bookshelf at home. It addressed the prospect of thermonuclear war—its plausibility and effects. The book was not reassuring, but it was necessary.

A nuclear threat was the all-consuming fear that chased me through my childhood and teens. It was unthinkable, yet it haunted my dreams for decades.

“In our times,” the author warned, “thermonuclear war may seem unthinkable, immoral, insane, hideous, or highly unlikely, but it is not impossible.”

But that insane, immoral tragedy seemed more imaginable than the destruction of our government, our rights, and the erosion of the American Way of Life from within. Trump’s disregard for deeply rooted American values, respect for the rule of law, and separation of powers has dismantled the America I have known.

The dismantling of American democracy seemed impossible.

In my 70 years as an American, what has happened in these past 100 days never once entered my mind.

It was unthinkable.

FDR and 100 Days

The first 100 days of a presidency took on symbolic significance during Franklin D. Roosevelt’s first term in office, when he coined the term “first 100 days” during a radio address. The period is considered a benchmark to measure the early success of a president.

Since Franklin D. Roosevelt’s earthshaking first 100 days in office, no president had matched the sheer drama and disruption of that 15-week sprint in 1933, which rewrote the relationship between Americans and their government.

At least until now.

The similarities end there.

In the first three months, FDR ushered in the New Deal, passing a flurry of laws to get us out of the Great Depression.

His priorities were to get America back to work, protect their savings, create prosperity, and provide relief for the sick and elderly, getting industry and agriculture back on their feet. Roosevelt worked with Congress and was able to quickly pass 77 laws during his first 100 days.

In just over 15 weeks, FDR had not only addressed the crises it had but transformed the federal government.

Franklin Roosevelt believed in the buildup of government, that the federal government had “a final responsibility for the well-being of its citizenship.”

It was that mentality that gave us the America we all cherish, a growing middle class, the safety nets for the poor, the elderly, the sick, the disabled, children, and our vets.

Compassion versus cruelty

In a hundred days, Trump has taken not only a chainsaw but dynamite to the legacy FDR had created for us in his 100 days – a government for the people.

Trump is now unravelling all that was set in motion by Roosevelt, a president committed to using the government to help and enrich people in need.

Trump is tearing everything down to enrich himself  and break the government so it only serves the wealthy.

In 100 days, Donald Trump has told us exactly who he is.

A dangerous dictator.

Trump has used this time to dismantle, destroy all that we valued and held dear. The resiliency of democracy was not a guarantee.

And that feels unthinkable.