While we stand by and eat Cheerios and Big Macs, our country is being stolen from under our noses. Many don't seem to mind though, as long as Netflix and Facebook still work. And yet we may be living in the transition period from a representative democracy to a more authoritarian, right wing minority dominated government with shades of a kleptocracy. If we are unlucky enough that should come to pass, then it should be no surprise when you see the people that Trump has associated with, and his apparent lack of giving a shit about the Constitution. It should also surprise no one if Trump will do anything to win, even if that means grounding the ship of state on the beach, so he doesn't get his feet wet on the way to his next inauguration.
The theft of American Democracy will not have happened overnight though. It has been engineered, gamed out and fostered for decades, and will continue even if Trump fails to suppress enough voters this time around. The engineering of minority rule of the right wing of the Republican Party in this country has bounced from one step to the next. From gerrymandering districts to cram likely Democratic voters into a few, while insuring many more have just enough Republicans to win, to the enshrinement of the concept that Money = Speech by the Supreme Court in Citizens United (which was about anything but citizens being united), to the gutting of the Voting Rights Act, to the fraud that voter fraud is a real problem requiring fixes that (surprise) affect likely Democrat votes disproportionately, to interfering with recounts, to even purging eligible voters from databases of registered voters. Under Trump, the far right of the Republican Party has even taken a few pages from Russia's playbook, by exploiting social wedge issues to divide the country along religious and ethnic lines.
It may just be politics to some, but how long do regular Americans continue to stand by and watch as the guardrails of our democratic institutions are dismantled, and their power as citizens is diminished? If left unchecked, those tactics and dirty tricks can be used by any party in power, to stay in power. History shows that as strong democratic institutions are weakened and dissolved, things usually do not end well for everyone, except (sometimes) those at the top. It takes those democratic guardrails and traditions to insure a voice for everyone, and moderate the worst impulses of people in power at any one time, that is how the United States has lasted this long. It is therefore no wonder that Trump has in his first term, targeted the very institutions which are key to checking his power (Federal Judges, Inspector Generals, and now apparently the Postmaster General of the United States). I know some folks don't really care if Trump does what he wants, as long as he sticks it to the libbys and "makes them cry", but they should care that unchecked power has a way of being well.. unchecked. Do they trust that the ever mercurial Trump, who would most certainly consolidate more power in a 2nd term, would not either lay the ground work for an even more imperial Presidency, or simply change his mind on their cherished issues? Have they gamed out what a series of Trumps and Trumpites in the Oval Office would mean to their ability to disagree with the government, or do they plan to suckle on his tweets and carefully align their opinions with his?
For Americans who still believe in preserving what remains of their power as citizens and voters, this election will be about more than party first.
The theft of American Democracy will not have happened overnight though. It has been engineered, gamed out and fostered for decades, and will continue even if Trump fails to suppress enough voters this time around. The engineering of minority rule of the right wing of the Republican Party in this country has bounced from one step to the next. From gerrymandering districts to cram likely Democratic voters into a few, while insuring many more have just enough Republicans to win, to the enshrinement of the concept that Money = Speech by the Supreme Court in Citizens United (which was about anything but citizens being united), to the gutting of the Voting Rights Act, to the fraud that voter fraud is a real problem requiring fixes that (surprise) affect likely Democrat votes disproportionately, to interfering with recounts, to even purging eligible voters from databases of registered voters. Under Trump, the far right of the Republican Party has even taken a few pages from Russia's playbook, by exploiting social wedge issues to divide the country along religious and ethnic lines.
It may just be politics to some, but how long do regular Americans continue to stand by and watch as the guardrails of our democratic institutions are dismantled, and their power as citizens is diminished? If left unchecked, those tactics and dirty tricks can be used by any party in power, to stay in power. History shows that as strong democratic institutions are weakened and dissolved, things usually do not end well for everyone, except (sometimes) those at the top. It takes those democratic guardrails and traditions to insure a voice for everyone, and moderate the worst impulses of people in power at any one time, that is how the United States has lasted this long. It is therefore no wonder that Trump has in his first term, targeted the very institutions which are key to checking his power (Federal Judges, Inspector Generals, and now apparently the Postmaster General of the United States). I know some folks don't really care if Trump does what he wants, as long as he sticks it to the libbys and "makes them cry", but they should care that unchecked power has a way of being well.. unchecked. Do they trust that the ever mercurial Trump, who would most certainly consolidate more power in a 2nd term, would not either lay the ground work for an even more imperial Presidency, or simply change his mind on their cherished issues? Have they gamed out what a series of Trumps and Trumpites in the Oval Office would mean to their ability to disagree with the government, or do they plan to suckle on his tweets and carefully align their opinions with his?
For Americans who still believe in preserving what remains of their power as citizens and voters, this election will be about more than party first.
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