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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThe Atlantic: America's Second Worst Scenario
A healthy democracy does not need a division-size force to safeguard the incoming president in its capital. Generals and admirals in a thriving republic do not have to enjoin the troops against violence, sedition and insurrection or reaffirm that theres no role for the U.S. military in determining the outcome of a U.S. election. A nation secure in the peaceful transfer of power does not require 10 former defense secretaries to remind their successor that he is bound by oath, law and precedent to facilitate the entry into office of the incoming administration.
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Here is the nub of our predicament. Donald Trump attempted democracide, and he had help. The victim survived but suffered grievous wounds. American democracy now faces a long convalescence in an environment of ongoing attacks. Trump has not exhausted his malignant powers, and co-conspirators remain at large.
I do not mean to be taken figuratively. The president of the United States lost an election and really did try with all his might to keep the winner from replacing him. He did his level best to overthrow our system of government, and tens of millions of Americans marched behind him. But a coup détat in America had seemed so unlikely a thing, and it was so buffoonishly attempted, that the political establishment had trouble taking it seriously. That was a big mistake.
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2021/01/how-close-did-us-come-successful-coup/617709/
genxlib
(5,526 posts)The Atlantic has been doing some of the best writing in this election cycle. It is a great blend of facts and commentary that is a very useful, readable and informative hybrid between straight news and opinion.
Thanks
Bernardo de La Paz
(49,001 posts)erronis
(15,241 posts)Trumps invincible commitment to this stance will be the most important fact about the coming Interregnum. It will deform the proceedings from beginning to end. We have not experienced anything like it before.
And so it was. Even under maximum pressure, after the Capitol insurrection, his bow to reality (I will not be going to the Inauguration) was wrapped in rejection: The transfer of power, his refusal implied, would not be legitimate.
Cruz and Hawley have lost key backers after leading the election denialists in the Senate. Numerous businesses and political-action committees have suspended contributions to any Republican who voted to overturn the Electoral College.
In Georgia this week, two Republican state senators lost their committee chairmanships after joining in Trumps attempt to overturn the states election results. Lieutenant Governor Geoff Duncan, an ally of Raffensperger, stripped them of their seniority.
These are useful starting points. Our democracy can begin to heal itself if it rewards and honors people who did the right thing and punishes those who wrought the worst damage upon it. Republicans who want to make amends for election denial can speak the truth now and speak it loudly. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy put a down payment on that on Wednesday afternoon, merely by admitting that Biden won. He has a long way to go.
History is not finished with Trump, Cruz, or Hawley. If we value our democracy, they will face justice now. The reckoning has only begun.
niyad
(113,302 posts)Laelth
(32,017 posts)-Laelth
paleotn
(17,912 posts)And our condition has been deteriorating since at least Newt Gingrich. Maybe before that. We're a cancer patient. I think that's the best analogy. And treatment is going to be tough. Our chances of survival are difficult to calculate, but potentially not good.
jalan48
(13,864 posts)Aaron Van Langevelde
The man in rimless glasses and a paisley tie clutched a pen as if in self-defense. Van Langevelde, a boyish-looking 40-year-old, held a part-time position in a quiet cul-de-sac of Michigans election bureaucracy. By great misfortune he had attracted the attention of Donald Trump, who was three weeks into a desperate struggle to erase his defeat at the ballot box. Trump wanted him, lawlessly, to block the certification of Michigans presidential vote.
The monstrous pressure that descended upon Van Langevelde is not easy to convey. He was one of two Republicans on the four-person board of state canvassers. Trump needed them both to sabotage the certification, and one had already signed on. State and national party leaders were broadcasting lies about fraud. The president and a parade of prominent Republicans had sent the message that Van Langevelde must follow along. He ducked their calls. He went off the grid. Observers in Lansing expected him to resign.
He did not. On the afternoon of November 23, Van Langevelde showed up, pen in hand, for a public hearing. All 83 county authorities reported valid election results. Van Langevelde leaned forward to toggle on his mike, pulling down his face mask to speak. The boards duty today is very clear, he said calmly. We have a duty to certify this election based on the returns.
FailureToCommunicate
(14,014 posts)barbtries
(28,793 posts)I finally pulled the trigger and subscribed, and it's already worth it.
BComplex
(8,050 posts)barbtries
(28,793 posts)who gets the gift subscription, because I bought the deluxe package!
halfulglas
(1,654 posts)I only intermittently read it before but it's an awesome gift to have access all the time and the daily emails. Sure beats something to wear, since clothing I have plenty of.
Jon King
(1,910 posts)Handed everything in life, best education, young lecturer at Oxford, could have used his privilege to have a ton. Instead he made the calculated decision to appeal to the bottom of the barrel to gain power. Thinking he would be a younger and better version of Trump. He can't stand being stuck in MO politics.
Instead he will now be lucky to have a political future in MO, probably in the House, stuck forever among the very deplorables he completely hates. No one in business or the society he wants to be a part of will touch him with a 10000 foot pole.
leighbythesea2
(1,200 posts)That an intern, coming after Hawley, somewhere was asked "you're not a fascist like Hawley are you?". Seems he's had it in him from the beginning.
yaesu
(8,020 posts)in and assassinate, harm, destroy probably on the orders of Russia.
bucolic_frolic
(43,161 posts)I thought they had our backs.
Blue Owl
(50,361 posts)uponit7771
(90,336 posts)Hekate
(90,681 posts)Stuart G
(38,421 posts)roamer65
(36,745 posts)States would attempt secession and it would end up in a bloody civil conflict.
It would end up like Yugoslavia or Syria.
If the federal government falls apart, the country will tear itself apart.
Captain Zero
(6,805 posts)nt
roamer65
(36,745 posts)Imagine the implosion of the worlds reserve currency and its effect on the other fiat currencies.
Putin and Russia would be wiped out as well.