What bothers me most is not that our government is about to be led by a convicted criminal, a corrupt and vengeful authoritarian who threatens to abuse power and prosecute political rivals. Dangerous scoundrels have been involved in politics since the dawn of mankind.
What bothers me most is not that a plurality of the electorate voted for this scoundrel. People are routinely convinced to vote against their own best interest. The propaganda that makes this possible is more prevalent today than ever before.
What bothers me most is that all of the controls that were meant to prevent corruption and the rise of authoritarianism have failed.
Impeachment is neutered by partisan loyalty.
The rights afforded to protect criminal defendants have been exploited to further criminal gains.
The justice system was hog tied by an endless stream of appeals and delays.
The Fourteenth Amendment and the Emoluments Clause have been deemed unenforcible.
The judicial branch, corrupted by deep pocketed interests and a lack of ethical accountability, made a series of absurd and unprecedented judgments for the sole purpose to render one criminal defendant in particular above the law. It’s as though they wrote an extra article of the constitution to protect him and he alone.
The rule of law has been reduced to a quaint slogan.
This is what bothers me most, because it’s difficult to imagine how we can undo the damage. The precedents that have been set in recent years are highly toxic to a healthy and thriving democracy. It’s going to require a groundswell of political will and a complete recalibration of the principles of political ethics and criminal justice.
In the meantime, brace for an onslaught of damage to rights and political norms as self-serving oligarchs and right-wing zealots take control of the reins of power.
