David Smith: Trump's acquittal is a glimpse of America's imploding empire
Trump’s acquittal will
become the latest tool in his kit for polarising the country and firing up his
base, joining race, abortion rights, the climate crisis, supreme court
justices, dark warnings against “socialism” and a host of other wedge issues
That instinct was on full display in Tuesday’s State
of the Union Address, where
the emboldened president goaded his opponents with flourishes worthy of reality
TV as Republicans chanted “Four more years!” As the House speaker,
Nancy Pelosi, theatrically tore up Trump’s speech, it was a reminder that
Democrats will fight fire with fire and have a base of their own to energise.
Even supposed moderate candidates such as former vice-president Joe Biden and
former South Bend mayor Pete Buttigieg are significantly to the left of Barack
Obama on issues such as climate and immigration. These are dark days for
technocratic centrism and the “third way”.
If the presidential
election were decided by simple popular vote totals, it would be all over, bar
the shouting. Indeed, Trump would have been beaten soundly by Hillary Clinton
in 2016. But the quirks
of the electoral college mean that many
observers have a gut feeling he can pull it off again in key
midwestern states. If he does not, there
are some who worry that he will simply refuse to accept the result,
returning to old lies he propagated in 2016 about illegal voting. Will
Republicans dare to slap down this modern Caesar...?
The Law Is for Suckers
Democracy dies in darkness! Not this time
Chauncey DeVega: Trump is mentally ill but our real sickness runs much deeper
Impeachment was a health-check for American democracy. It is not well
The failure of
impeachment along blatantly partisan lines means that the crucial barriers
protecting us from authoritarianism cannot be relied on. The fate of the
country’s institutions are left to the mercies of a man singularly unfit to
safeguard them. The slow creep of authoritarian rule need not be dramatic. It
can even, as impeachment seemed at times, be rather boring. Democracy can die
by inches, with precedents being established and barriers swept away so
gradually that we don’t see what is happening until it is too late.
American democracy may take a long
time to recover...
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/feb/05/impeachment-was-a-health-check-for-american-democracy-it-is-not-well