David Smith: Trump's acquittal is a glimpse of America's imploding empire

By Dilip -
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...?
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/feb/05/trump-acquittal-impeachment-trial-america-imploding-empire
The Law Is for Suckers
Democracy dies in darkness! Not this time
George Monbiot: ‘Try to stop me’ – the mantra of leaders who are now ruling with impunity
Is Donald Trump the Second 9/11? Or Is He the Third? By Tom Engelhardt
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

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