This is the mantra that the children chant in the film of Peter Pan to to revive the poisoned Tinkerbell. The alternative approach, from the stage play Peter Pan, is for the audience to clap if they believe in fairies. That was in Wonderland.

In America for the past 4+ years a substantial portion of the population has been clapping frantically and insisting on their belief in fairies to cope with the reality of President Trump’s psychotic and malicious behavior. And we now hear louder than ever the “I do believe in fairies” and the frantic applause as Trump’s managers, enablers, and followers try to revive Trump and his failed campaign.

Peter Pan is an amusing fantasy. It belongs in Wonderland. Donald Trump’s victory in the 2020 election is an evil fantasy. It belongs in topsy-turvy Trumpland where bad is good, lies are truth, and it’s every man for himself. And just as in Trumpland everything is its opposite, Trump can be said to be dying from the “poison” of democracy.

For me, the truly appalling fact that has emerged from the Years of Trump is that there are so very many people who will cry and keep crying “I do believe in fairies,” and so very many politicians who keep asserting the existence of fairies. Can democracy survive?