Our Democracy is in Danger

“I don’t want to talk about politics.”  The unstated words, “… with anyone who does not share my political views.”

Fine. Let’s talk about the current state of our government. That should be a matter of concern for every American citizen, regardless of political affiliation.

1. Russia interfered in our 2016 election. That is confirmed by all our intelligence agencies, the bipartisan House Intelligence Committee and the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.
2. Russia is presently continuing its activities to usurp our democratic process.  That is confirmed by Dan Coats, Director of National Intelligence and all the organizations listed above.  It was confirmed by Robert Mueller during his testimony before Congress.
3. Mueller and his team investigated Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and has charged eight Americans once affiliated with Trump’s campaign or administration including his campaign manager and Director of National Intelligence Agency, 13 Russian nationals, 12 Russian intelligence officers, three Russian companies, and two other people.
4. President Trump obstructed the investigation by interfering with witnesses, destroying documents, asking his staff to lie to both Congress and Mueller while attempting to cover up this involvement, and destroying documents. This was confirmed by subsequent Congressional investigations and by Mueller’s testimony before Congress. Trump continues to obstruct by not permitting cabinet members and staff to testify before Congress and by ignoring Congressional subpoenas.

Every American citizen should be frightened by this threat to our electoral process.  

Let’s talk about the U.S. Constitution.

There are three separate but equal branches of the government: the executive, the legislative and the judicial. The Founding Fathers designed it this way so that no one branch could wield too much power. The legislative branch makes laws while the executive branch carries out those laws through its cabinets.  “Oversight of the executive branch is an important Congressional check on the President’s power and a balance against his discretion in implementing laws and making regulations. A major way that Congress conducts oversight is through hearings.”

Trump writes laws by executive order and has barred oversight from the legislative branch by refusing to allow most of his cabinet officials to testify, and those that have appeared before Congress, refuse to answer the most basic questions by claiming “executive privilege.” This defies Article I of the Constitution which has been upheld by the most liberal and conservative justices of the Supreme Court since the formation of our nation. Trump’s defiance of the power of Congress challenges the underpinnings of our democracy. Every American should be alarmed!

The Preamble of the Constitution states that our government was created to “establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our posterity.” In other words, the government should serve the needs of the people-all of its citizens, not just the wealthy and industry. No one can argue that the policies of this administration have not harmed the poor, children in need, the elderly, or our environment in favor of industry. While this president likes to cite the job index as an indicator of the economy, it belies the fact that hunger and homelessness are on the rise. The number of poor has also increased, and this administration’s response was to lower the income level used to identify the poor in an attempt to hide this statistic.

Let’s talk about decency, civility, and morality.  

Trump lies, cheats, steals, and has committed adultery. He has obstructed justice. These charges are not a matter of opinion. These charges are confirmed by judicial records including but not limited to civil and divorce suits. Is there anyone who can say that Trump is a role model for their children? He is not of “sound moral mind,” and there is nothing civil about the way he attacks anyone who does not support him completely, unquestionably.

I fear for our democracy, and I weep for a society that upholds and supports this conduct. We were taught better as children, were we not? Why have Americans abandoned their moral compass? Why have those who most cherish our democracy not revolted? What kind of nation; what kind of society will we leave our children?