You could stay in hell for a little while if you knew that you were going to get out.

My mother always told me that when I was going through something tough and dispiriting. It was her way of saying that trouble doesn’t last forever, that even in your darkest place, hold fast to the hope and the light, that though today you are in the valley, tomorrow you shall scale the peak.

Well, Mama, this is hell. Indeed, Donald Trump’s America is the Ninth Circle.

And while I know that a president is limited to two terms, and I highly doubt that Trump could be re-elected to a second term and think that Robert Mueller’s investigation may curtail the first, I am still struggling to maintain optimism and perseverance.

I don’t think that this is even a matter of fatigue, but rather of the capacity of rage and the length of mourning. Hopelessness is a very human response when the feeling of persecution intersects with the feeling of powerlessness.

Sure, the vast majority of America that doesn’t agree with Trump isn’t completely powerless. People across the country are registering to not only vote but also to run for office. They are pressuring their legislators. They are linking arms in solidarity and raising their voices in protest. They are saying that this administration and this man are abominations and they will not sit silently by, thereby giving passive approval or grudging acceptance.