Nowhere Else to Go

“It is to be decision not by election but by assertion, made not by the mere numerical majority but by ‘we’ the patriots, the real Americans.” Fintan O’Toole, New York Review of Books

Of course Trump was acquitted by the Senate. Of course that diseased body let Trump off the hook, again. The final tally was 57-43. Seven Republicans repudiated the cult and voted to convict Trump. All seven are, or soon will be, under merciless attack from state political parties, suffering censure and condemnation for their betrayal of Dear Leader Trump. Fidelity to their oath of office, the Constitution, or their constituents is secondary. Perversely, they will be sanctioned for doing their duty. The same fate will befall the ten GOP members of the House who voted to impeach.

Power rallies to itself, that’s how it works. 

After voting to acquit Trump, Mitch McConnell contorted himself in a manner Gumby would admire and declared that Trump was responsible for the Insurrection and should be held to account -- in the courts. Mitch passed the buck then pretended sanctimonious outrage, assuming everyone had already forgotten how in the days after the Insurrection he claimed there wasn’t enough time for the Senate to try Trump. We should never forget McConnell’s blatant, calculating political ploy to have it both ways. He manipulated the Senate to prevent it from holding a trial while Trump was in office -- in essence running out the clock -- then voted to acquit on the grounds that it’s unconstitutional to convict a president who has left office (false). And there he was, standing upright though he has no spine, assuring the nation that Trump is culpable for inciting a deadly mob. Mitch talks out of every orifice. Spare us the sanctimony, you miserable coward. 

If we don’t strengthen our democracy now, while there’s a chance, we will have only ourselves to blame when we find ourselves under autocratic rule. We need immediate consideration and passage of HR1 (The For the People Act) and its companion, SR1. Most state legislatures are controlled by Republicans and many are already scheming to create more obstacles to voting. Because they are a true minority party, the only way Republicans can win elections and retain power is by cheating. To survive they must gerrymander districts and erect barriers to prevent or disqualify large numbers of eligible voters from voting. They’re very adept at it. HR1 and SR1 are needed to balance the scales. 

Keep an eye on anti-democracy fuckery operations in Georgia, Florida and Texas. 

The choice seems clear: either we strengthen our democracy or prepare for permanent minority rule. It’s not certain that we will fully recover from Trump’s frontal assault on our democratic processes. My gut sense is that within a decade we will be effectively finished as a representative democracy. If elections have no legitimacy in the eyes of millions of citizens why respect their outcomes? If there’s no perceived legitimacy, there can be no peaceful transfer of power. I think, as Hunter S. Thompson might say, we are well and truly fucked, especially if Trump and his entourage pay no penalty for their words and deeds. 

And there he was, standing upright though he has no spine, assuring the nation that Trump is culpable for inciting a deadly mob. Mitch talks out of every orifice. Spare us the sanctimony, you miserable coward. 

Our atomized, poisoned media landscape is one problem I don’t think we will solve. How can we resolve differences and solve difficult social problems like racism, climate change and wealth inequality when we cannot come close to agreeing on the facts? When people don’t know what or who to believe they become easy prey for false prophets and demagogues. Being told what to think and believe is easier than thinking for oneself. My 85-year-old mother has had her mind taken over by Fox News; she’s certain that the Biden administration will force every American to get vaccinated against Covid-19. She survives on a small pension and Social Security and decries “socialism” as the worst evil. There’s no way to reason with her. 

When all is said and done it’s about raw power dressed up as the “will of the people”. What a perverse joke. According to polls, the majority of Americans favored Trump’s conviction, but once again the will of the majority was easily ignored or subverted by those elected to represent us. Cynical, craven Republicans still cower before Trump, terrified of being ostracized from the personality cult, attacked on social media, and losing their privilege and power in primary challenges when election season rolls around. The specter of the next iteration of Marjorie Taylor Greene haunts the sleep of most Republicans. 

As I’ve written before, all Joe Biden can do is use his narrow window of opportunity to slow America’s descent, but he cannot stop it. This train is chugging along a route that will soon run out of track. I’d jump off if I could, but like millions of my fellow citizens, I have nowhere else to go.