If we lose, there is nothing we can achieve. If we win, there is nothing we cannot achieve. The battle to preserve and protect democracy is the most important battle of our lifetimes. The two threats – one, from an increasingly authoritarian-fascist Republican party the second, from ever-larger amounts of corporate and billionaire money in our campaigns and elections – are two sides of the same coin.Īmericans who know the system is rigged against them and in favor of moneyed interests are more likely to give up on democracy and embrace an authoritarian fascist demagogue who pretends to be on “their side”. It is also important for Democrats to recognize – and to take bold action against – the threat to democracy posed by big money from large corporations and the super-wealthy: record amounts of campaign funding inundating and distorting our politics, serving the moneyed interests rather than the common good. We must be clear and courageous in exposing the authoritarian fascist direction the Republican party has now chosen, and the dangers this poses to America and the world. We must be unwavering in our commitment to the constitution and the rule of law. We must continue to appeal to truth, facts, logic, and common sense. They must seek common ground with independents and whatever reasonable Republicans remain. Yet Democrats cannot and must not take on this battle alone. To come down squarely on the side of democracy is not to be “partisan”. There can be no compromise between these two – no halfway point, no “moderate middle”, no “balance”. It is democracy or authoritarian fascism. The essential political choice in America, therefore, is no longer Democrat or Republican, left or right, liberal or conservative. The battle to preserve and protect democracy is the most important battle of our lifetimes With the notable and noble exceptions of Liz Cheney and a few other courageous Republicans – most of whom are being purged – the Republican party is rapidly morphing into an anti-democracy movement. While today’s Republican party does not have its own paramilitary, such as the Nazi’s Brownshirts, Republicans are effectively outsourcing these activities to violent fringe groups such as the Proud Boys, Oath Keepers and others who descended on the Capitol on Januand who continue to threaten violence. It is also important for all those in public life who believe in democracy to call out what the Republican party is doing and what it has become: not just its embrace of Trump’s big lie but its moves toward voter suppression, takeovers of the machinery of elections, ending of reproductive rights, book bans, restrictions on what can be taught in classrooms, racism and assaults on LGBTQ people. Not holding a former president accountable for gross acts of criminality will invite ever more criminality from future presidents and lawmakers. It would undermine our system of government and the credibility of that system – more directly and irreparably than Trump has already done. They might provoke additional violence.īut a failure to uphold the laws of the United States would be far more damaging in the longer term. Yes, such prosecutions might increase tensions and divisions in the short term. If found guilty, he must be penalized, including by prison. If Trump has broken the law – by attempting a coup, by instigating an assault on the US Capitol, by making off with troves of top-secret documents – he must be prosecuted. How to respond to this lawlessness? With bold and unwavering law enforcement. Bruce Reinhart, the federal magistrate judge who approved the warrant to search Mar-a-Lago, has been targeted with messages threatening him and his family. Online threats are escalating against public servants. Several of Trump’s reposts were direct provocations, such as a photograph of President Biden, Kamala Harris and Nancy Pelosi with their faces obscured by the words: “Your enemy is not in Russia.” Trump spent much of Tuesday morning reposting messages from known proponents of the QAnon conspiracy theory and from 4chan, an anonymous message platform where threats of violence often bloom. Last Sunday, Senator Lindsey Graham warned of “riots in the streets” if Trump is prosecuted. Yet Trump and his Republican allies are doing all they can to increase the temperature. A week after a team of FBI agents descended on his residence in Florida, Trump warned “people are so angry at what is taking place” that if the “temperature” isn’t brought down “terrible things are going to happen”.
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