Jeffersonian Democracy

It will take decades to compensate for the damage that this current administration has done in just three years, the norms that they have obliterated, the laws that they have violated, the regulations that they have weakened, the allies that they have scorned, the treaties that they have broken, the lies that they have institutionalized. Of course, some of the damage will never be undone. Over a hundred thousand of our own citizens have died as a result of their negligence, and many more will perish before new leadership will have the opportunity to take the helm.

Our international reputation has been damaged irreparably. The United States will never again be the standard bearer for representative democracy after our so-called leader sought, and even extorted, foreign interference our own electoral process. Nor will we ever be the standard bearer for human rights, after this administration instituted a hateful, racist policy of ripping young children from their mothers’ arms and throwing them into cages that don’t even meet the standards for the housing of livestock.

Despite all of the above, and much more, this country’s troubles are far from over. The current leadership is ushering in a bold new era of fascism, where corporations influence the laws and reap the benefits, where the press is demonized as “the enemy of the people,” and where anyone who dares to protest for civil rights can be swept up off of the streets and incarcerated by untraceable brigades of heavily-armed government storm troopers.

Jeffersonian democracy is on life support, gasping for breath and teetering on the verge of flatlining. At this point, it may be too late to save it.