Who is Removing the Guardrails of Democracy?

 

We have always depended on the "guardrails of democracy" to be in place and keeping us on the straight and narrow. Today, however, they seem to be missing. Thanks, almost completely, to the former president and his gaggle of minions.

"The insurrection was not only an attack on our Capitol  - it was an attack on American democracy. It punctuated a period that has been marked by constant violations of democratic and constitutional norms. And it has underscored the need to not only hold elected officials accountable, but also reckon with long-term threats to the nation's democratic institutions and restore the guardrails that have eroded in recent years. Congress can enact legislation such as the Protecting Our Democracy Act that would mark concrete progress toward strengthening government accountability and preventing the abuse of power, including the president's emergency powers."                                                            Brennan Center For Justice

The Atlantic wrote, "The American republic was long safeguarded by settled norms, now shattered by the rise of Donald Trump."

A long time ago, more than 20 years in fact, the Wall Street Journal published a powerful, eloquent editorial, simply headlined: "No Guardrails."

"In our time, the United States suffers every day of the week because there are now so many marginalized people among us who don't understand the rules, who don't think that rules of personal or civil conduct apply to them, who have no notion of self-control."

The Wall Street Journal continued, "Twenty years later, that same newspaper is edging toward open advocacy in favor of Donald Trump, the least self-controlled major-party candidate for high office in the history of the republic. And as Trump forged his path to the nomination, he snapped through seven different guardrails, revealing how brittle the norms that safeguard the American republic had grown."

"Here's the part of the 2016 story that will be hardest to explain after it's all over: Trump did not deceive anyone. He appeared before the electorate in his own clothes, speaking his own words. When he issued a promise, he instantly contradicted it. If you chose to accept the promise anyway, you did so with abundant notice of its worthlessness. For all the times Trump said believe me and trust me in his salesman patter, he communicated constantly and in every medium that there was only one thing you could believe and trust: If you voted for Donald Trump, you'd get Donald Trump, all all his Trumpery and Trumpiness."                                           - The Atlantic

The guardrails were removed by Trump, the "new Republican Party," and anyone else who decided they would be proud to drive in the ditch with him.

While he is gone, he is far from being forgotten. He still has his minions - too many of whom are still holding elected offices in our government -  and making sure the guardrails are not reinstalled! After all, to reinstall the guardrails would certainly destroy their political party in a heartbeat. They are unable to win an election without the absurd voter suppression laws they have unacted around the country. Prominent Republican politicians have stated bluntly, "If we ever allow certain segments of the country to vote, we will never win another election."

And that utterance would quite possibly be the only truth we will ever hear from them.