BTRTN: "Democracy Itself is in Peril"
Born To Run The Numbers looks at the four decision points in May that shattered any illusions that a significant percentage of the Republican rank and file party could be reclaimed from Trump's grip:
http://www.borntorunthenumbers.com/2021/06/btrtn-democracy-itself-is-in-peril.html
Excerpts: "When I was a college senior, in the immediate post-Watergate era, I did my senior thesis on 'political trust in America,' and concluded, using survey data, that while Americans’ basic trust in government had eroded dramatically, there was no threat to our democracy as a consequence. In fact, in some ways, our faith in our institutions was deepened, since Nixon had been removed and the press, Congress and the courts all asserted their proper authority to contain his excesses.
One cannot make the same statement today. When a large swath of our adult population takes on absurdist positions, egged on by quasi-respectable figures such as General Michael Flynn and, of course, Trump himself, and our GOP leadership refuses to denounce it, but rather enables and supports it, our democracy is indeed in peril. What we are learning – way too slowly -- is that the Trump 'movement' has completed the takeover of the Republican Party. Trump has inflicted far more damage in losing, by undermining the sacred transition of power and faith on our electoral process, he managed in his four years in office."
