After spending the last few years enduring this godawful president and his corrupt cronies setting fire to beautiful institutions and stressing democracy to what I dearly hope is somewhere shy of a point of no return, somehow watching gorgeous Notre Dame burn resonated as a heartbreaking reminder that the things we feel are solid and constant are more vulnerable than we like to think.

The line between democracy and fascism may be as easy and quick to cross as the line between a centuries-old monument and ash, I fear.

Carol Eisenberg

Peaks Island