Wheee!
Ok, not really whee.
More like... OH NOOOOO!
We are losing our country. It's not certain, but the threat is real, and the overall odds not good.
We clutch to the railings of democracy, but find them harder and harder to grip.
We are sliding towards authoritarianism in this country. Every day the downward momentum is pulling us away from democratic institutions and their safeguards. All the things that we thought would slow our descent are being threatened and chipped away.
In all our previous elections, the results have been accepted. Granted, there is occasional grumbling and grousing. But in the end, the losing side accepts the results and moves on to the next election. Most famously, Al Gore lost an election due to some incredible shenanigans in Florida, but accepted the results as soon as the Supreme Court weighed in.
Now?
We have a losing candidate STILL nattering about a rigged election, despite myriad court cases and no evidence whatsoever of his claims. He is even claiming he will be reinstated in August; he and Qanon acting like doomsday preachers, constantly revising their second coming predictions.
We have nutters conducting the umpteenth recount in Arizona, partisans whose only goal is to throw shade on the results, give the Republican-controlled legislature an excuse to overturn already CERTIFIED election results. And this is not intended to be a sole exercise - they will use the template in other states if they can get away with it.
We have Republican state legislatures throughout the country passing strict, draconian vote suppression legislation. These bills are aimed to minimize the votes for the Democratic Party, particularly with people of color. If you have a Republican legislature and a Republican Governor, many of you will find it harder to vote.
And that's not all. If you challenge the restrictive state laws and take it to the Supreme Court, you will lose, as was demonstrated this week. The Supreme Court is 6 - 3 conservative, even though it should be 5 - 4 moderate (Merrick Garland and Biden picking Ginsberg's replacement).
I mean, good Lord, we had an insurrection at the Capital designed to STOP the certification of the next President! They came closer to succeeding than we thought possible. And they have so many apologists in the Republican Party that the room has been left open for future Trump-inspired acts of insurrection and violence.
We need two functioning political parties*, both dedicated to the principles of our republic, committed to the preservation and enhancement of voter involvement and participation to survive.
We don't have that now.
The vast majority of Republicans are committed to, first and foremost, doing whatever it takes to remain in power. There is no more ideology, no more commitment to the values we normally associate with the conservative movement. It even goes beyond their devotion to the interests of their wealthy donors, both individuals, and large corporation.**
No. They are now almost solely driven by the desire to preserve the American Caste system. That is more important to them than the preservation of democracy.
And this is a problem that will not end with the downfall of Trump. He simply articulated what many Americans were already feeling. It is going to be easy-peasy for someone like Ron DeSantis to take his place.
And if you think that will go well, just look at his authoritarian executive/legislative decisions in Florida.
We need the Senate to act now in passing the Voting rights bill. But, unfortunately, arcane, antidemocratic legislative maneuvering by the McConnell-led Republicans is blocking it. It needs to be unblocked. Senator Joe Manchin, can you hear me? Do the right thing.
Without this bill passing, we do not stand a chance.
Even with this bill passing, we are still in for the fight of our lifetime.
*multiple parties would be even better, but that is a topic for another time.
**this post is focused on voting rights, but there are many other authoritarian rabbit holes I could go do down, not the least of which is the oversize influence of lobbyists for wealthy interests. And yes, this is a problem that also shows up on the Democratic side.
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