America
is about to fail a democratic stress test that is arguably the worst in
our history. This morning the House Dems pushed forward with incredibly
lean articles of impeachment that will certainly convince no
Republicans in the Senate to convict the President.
So much could be said about the ruptured norms and outright criminality by the Trump administration and the Republican Party’s willingness to go along with the White House’s authoritarian instincts. But leave those aside. Leave even the personalities and parties aside. Look only at the events.
The administration has argued Trump cannot be charged with any crime—that he is above the law. The AG is actively acting as a wing of defense for the president. Meanwhile, the administration has argued it doesn’t have to comply with any efforts by the legislature to oversee or investigate it. By rejecting the contempt of Congress article of impeachment, the Senate will effectively codify these activities. Those will be the working rules for all administrations going forward.
The consequences are obvious. For the next year or five following Senate acquittal, Trump will be untethered. Every time in his life that he’s escaped accountability, he’s escalated his criminal activities. Immediately following the release of the Mueller report, another instance of failed accountability, he began to pressure Ukraine to help him in his election. He and his attorneys will correctly conclude that Congress has abdicated its right to investigate, and he will be able to conceal any of his future activities from oversight. Does anyone thing Donald J Trump will exercise control in this case?
The continued erosion of oversight over the next one of five years will set the bar for the next president. Whether it’s Mike Pence or Elizabeth Warren, there’s no chance that president will return oversight.
The fight between the parties and branches have exposed other fissures that are equally worrying. Trump’s mendacity is legendary, and the GOP has finally learned there’s no penalty for lying. To just take two cases: yesterday an independent report found that the FBI did not err when it investigated Trump. Trump and the GOP immediately lied about it, claiming victory. Separately, the GOP has signed on to the bizarre story that it was Ukraine and not Russia that interfered in the 2016 election. These aren’t cases in which parties are shading gray areas to their advantages. The GOP is happy to look at the sky and tell you it’s green.
This is Soviet-like propaganda, the effect of which is to undermine the public’s belief in *any* truth. The media has grossly failed their own test in handling this, dutifully detailing the “arguments” of both sides. It’s infected the thinking of voters (both R and D) who are now doubt the legitimacy of their leaders.
It’s possible to restore functioning democracy and root out these forms of corruption, but not when one party is fully committed to perpetuating them. The GOP seems not to see the endgame here, or care. Or perhaps they hope to continue to hang onto power through the very corruption to which they’re committed.
In any case, this soon-to-be-failed attempt to hold a lawless executive accountable (which I support) will have profound, decades-long repercussions. The way our government functions is about to change; it will become the tool of whomever has power, wielded for personal and political benefit. The everyday function of the departments and agencies will function sporadically, to the extent they have not been harnessed to those ends. Anyone who has lived in semi-democracies will recognize this kind of government. Elections will still happen, and life will go forward, but the pretty, functioning democracy we built over generations will be a scattered pile of shards no one will have the capacity to reconstruct.
So much could be said about the ruptured norms and outright criminality by the Trump administration and the Republican Party’s willingness to go along with the White House’s authoritarian instincts. But leave those aside. Leave even the personalities and parties aside. Look only at the events.
The administration has argued Trump cannot be charged with any crime—that he is above the law. The AG is actively acting as a wing of defense for the president. Meanwhile, the administration has argued it doesn’t have to comply with any efforts by the legislature to oversee or investigate it. By rejecting the contempt of Congress article of impeachment, the Senate will effectively codify these activities. Those will be the working rules for all administrations going forward.
The consequences are obvious. For the next year or five following Senate acquittal, Trump will be untethered. Every time in his life that he’s escaped accountability, he’s escalated his criminal activities. Immediately following the release of the Mueller report, another instance of failed accountability, he began to pressure Ukraine to help him in his election. He and his attorneys will correctly conclude that Congress has abdicated its right to investigate, and he will be able to conceal any of his future activities from oversight. Does anyone thing Donald J Trump will exercise control in this case?
The continued erosion of oversight over the next one of five years will set the bar for the next president. Whether it’s Mike Pence or Elizabeth Warren, there’s no chance that president will return oversight.
The fight between the parties and branches have exposed other fissures that are equally worrying. Trump’s mendacity is legendary, and the GOP has finally learned there’s no penalty for lying. To just take two cases: yesterday an independent report found that the FBI did not err when it investigated Trump. Trump and the GOP immediately lied about it, claiming victory. Separately, the GOP has signed on to the bizarre story that it was Ukraine and not Russia that interfered in the 2016 election. These aren’t cases in which parties are shading gray areas to their advantages. The GOP is happy to look at the sky and tell you it’s green.
This is Soviet-like propaganda, the effect of which is to undermine the public’s belief in *any* truth. The media has grossly failed their own test in handling this, dutifully detailing the “arguments” of both sides. It’s infected the thinking of voters (both R and D) who are now doubt the legitimacy of their leaders.
It’s possible to restore functioning democracy and root out these forms of corruption, but not when one party is fully committed to perpetuating them. The GOP seems not to see the endgame here, or care. Or perhaps they hope to continue to hang onto power through the very corruption to which they’re committed.
In any case, this soon-to-be-failed attempt to hold a lawless executive accountable (which I support) will have profound, decades-long repercussions. The way our government functions is about to change; it will become the tool of whomever has power, wielded for personal and political benefit. The everyday function of the departments and agencies will function sporadically, to the extent they have not been harnessed to those ends. Anyone who has lived in semi-democracies will recognize this kind of government. Elections will still happen, and life will go forward, but the pretty, functioning democracy we built over generations will be a scattered pile of shards no one will have the capacity to reconstruct.
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