Commentary: Horrified by the state of the union, he's an angry protester. But he's also optimistic

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I know a lot of people who suffer from a chronic malady that gets worse each time there’s news out of Washington.Supporters of the current president of the United States might refer to this condition as a side effect of Trump derangement syndrome, but it’s more like Trump fatigue syndrome.Symptoms can include a desire to tune out for a spell, stick your head in an ice bucket, or find another way to numb the senses.But some brave souls, instead of looking away, step into the fray.Bert Voorhees, for instance.I came upon his name while reading coverage of the Monday evening demonstration at City Hall in downtown L.A., where protesters railed against the bombing of Iran — the latest example of Trump acting as if he’s king of the world and answerable to nobody, including Congress, the courts or the American people.With missiles flying, civilians dying and chaos spreading, Voorhees told USA Today that the Iranian ayatollah’s violence against his own people did not justify a U.S.

military assault.In Voorhees’ mind, it’s American democracy that is under attack.“If people don’t stand up and get loud about this, all together right now, we’re not going to have a country,” the northeast San Fernando Valley resident said.

“So, it’s time for people to get serious, get in the streets.” Business Gas prices are on the rise amid U.S.conflict with IranI called Voorhees, a retired lawyer and teacher, and we had a long chat that continued the next day over lunch in Montrose.

We’re both in our 70s, and we both have trouble aligning the country we’re living in with the vision we had for it as younger men.Who could have anticipated years of bullying and name-calling, pathological lying about a “stolen” election or the routing of congressional and judicial opposition?I confessed to Voorhees that I completely misread the direction this country was heading back when t...