American democracy is gone. It's never been what we thought it was, but we need to accept what the Europeans are already naming. Maybe the United States will reclaim democracy, and maybe it won't, but right now? Democracy is not in force at the federal level. Democracy exists only in what we do.
Democracy means not just that people vote but also that we uphold the rule or law and the rights of all citizens, even those who lose an election. Those values are on hold. Even if we reclaim them, they are not in effect now. Before we figure out how to contribute to that reclamation, we need to find ourselves on the map. Many of us may be farther away from democracy than we imagine.
Other news items are flashier, but I think this one is the most revealing. The Trump administration is persecuting Jack Smith, the special counsel who investigated Trump and charged him with (a) mishandling classified materials (and lying about it) and (b) seeking to overturn the results of the 2020 election. In preparing for his resignation, Smith disclosed that he had received $140,000 in pro bono legal services "to help him prepare for investigations and legal action by Mr. Trump’s allies."
Trump gathered reporters Tuesday and signed a memo that indicated he would punish the lawyers who have supported Smith and his firm. The lawyers will lose the security clearances that allow them to conduct certain kinds of government business, and the firm is losing its government contracts.
There's so much wrong with all this, but the most alarming realities boil down to two items. Our government has no business punishing law firms for doing basic legal work. Every person has a right to legal counsel. But when the US government comes after you, spurred by the president of the United States, that process becomes astronomically expensive. Lawyers should not be punished for doing their work, paid or unpaid.
Second, Trump is signalling the real game. Maybe Smith will face a criminal indictment simply because he faithfully performed work assigned to him. But what Trump really wants us to know: he's willing to break any individual or institution that crosses him. Just ask the Des Moines Register, ABC News, or the staff of the Washington Post.
This is dictator shit. Nothing else. No justification.
Item 2
Yesterday Donald Trump shared an AI-generated video of "Trump Gaza." It is the most disgusting thing you may ever see, featuring Trump, Netanyahu, and Musk basking in the Mediterranean sun. Apparently Trump did not create the video, but he did share it.
It's been clear all along, but it couldn't be more clear now. Donald Trump wants to use the United States presidency in order to make himself and his cronies even more fabulously rich. This is why he wants Canada, Greenland, and Ukrainian minerals, by the way. It's all one thing.All the more grisly, he's willing to capitalize on devastating human suffering for these ends. I believe Netanyahu intends to remove Gazans from their land. He's said so. According to international law, that's genocide. Whether we agree with that definition or not, we see clearly that Trump has no moral compunctions at all and no regard for law.
Item 3
Last night the House of Representatives based a budget bill that would effectively reduce food aid and access to healthcare for poor Americans while cutting taxes that would especially benefit the richest. We might recall Trump's 2017 tax cuts, which boosted the federal debt, put hundreds of dollars a year in many Americans' pockets, but largely benefited the richest.
According to the New York Times,
The plan instructs the Energy and Commerce Committee, which oversees Medicaid and Medicare, to come up with at least $880 billion in cuts. While some Republicans denied that they would slash programs for the poor, the amount of revenue they are calling to raise would all but certainly necessitate some cuts to at least one of those programs.
We're dealing with the massive corruption that accompanies all autocracies. The gap that separates the richest people from average citizens balloons, and the economy gums up. But what do they care? They get what they want and leave everyone else competing for crumbs.
Now What?
Once democracy is broken, it's terribly difficult to bring it back. Having effectively lost its democracy, it took Poland 8 years just to start building back. Hungary is about 15 years into its authoritarian regime, people are working hard for democracy, and still there's no sign of a turnaround. If we want to rebuild democracy, the work starts not with the 2026 campaign but right now.
No one knows "the answer." The most hopeful sign I see involves local protests and civic actions that target members of Congress who enable Trumpism--especially in swing districts. As the budget bill shows, we are less than a handful of legislators from putting the brakes on the corruption. As months pass, huge numbers of people will feel the harm from this administration: farmers, contractors, veterans, people who rely on help for insurance. We'll see red states suffer more than blue states. People are already complaining, calling in to right-wing radio hosts to vent their complaints. If we are loud and persistent--not on the internet but in town squares--public resentment will boil and maybe, only maybe, we'll see some movement. The time is now.
