Grief laced with fear follows America’s endorsement of far right GOP domination of White House, Congress and Supreme Court. The move to an essentially unicameral, totalitarian form of government with few checks and balances portends tragic consequences.

Deregulation once again will unleash robber barons. Tax cuts for the wealthy once again will place additional burden on the middle class. The long, hard recovery from GOP-induced near depression will be lost in another spiral toward economic collapse.

Progress in protecting the environment, insuring health care for everyone, affordable access to education, rights of women and ethnic minorities, protecting Social Security and Medicare for the elderly, and raising minimum wage will be lost to a destructive regime.

Trump and his minions will line their pockets with gold while the common people suffer, like Putin and Russia. Yes, they are good bedfellows.

Democrats through filibuster might delay but cannot stop the onslaught. One ray of hope remains. The international community, especially stable democracies, can hinder if not stop America’s threat through import/export control, political isolation, possibly even sanctions.

In any event, we will pay a terribly high price for the 2016 election, an American tragedy.

Maryneal Jones Columbus, N.C.