Defend Our Democracy

Last week was the anniversary of the violent insurrection at the United States capitol by right wing activists attempting to stop the certification of presidential election results. The attack included ransacking congressional offices, theft of official computers, and vandalism including smearing their own feces on walls. Our democracy is so imperiled that Civil War historian David Blight recently wrote "Trump has birthed a dangerous new ‘Lost Cause’ myth" to describe the claims Trump lost the 2020 election due to voter fraud.

Reports is various media outlets say that the House select committee investigating the insurrection received copies of communications turned over by Trump’s former chief of staff Mark Meadows and others suggesting the White House coordinated efforts to stop Biden’s certification. The documents have led House investigators to become interested in whether Trump oversaw a criminal conspiracy. Some of the documents indicate the Trump White House briefed several House Republicans on its plan for then-vice president Mike Pence to abuse his ceremonial role and not certify Biden’s win. Having these documents could give reason for the panel to consider criminal referrals of Trump administration members and possibly Trump as well. The committee’s first step is to determine whether the attempt to stop certification violated federal laws prohibiting obstruction of congressional proceedings.

Regardless of whether or not Trump is ever charged and convicted of an attempt to overthrow the government it’s important that the Freedom to Vote Act that I described last week be passed so that the gerrymandering that allows the Republican party to hold a disproportionate number of congressional seats as compared to the number of votes they earn. Our senators, John Cornyn and Ted Cruz, refuse to support such efforts to restore our democratic institutions. Cruz in a recent interview with Fox News host Tucker Carlson even backpedaled on calling the January 6 insurrection at the capitol a “terrorist attack”.

Cruz like most other Republicans holding federal and state office continue to abase themselves to Donald Trump because Trump supporters are so vocal. Around the country some state level Republicans have retired from office because they are unwilling to toe the Trump line and are afraid for themselves and their families due to the threats of violence made by local Trump supporters.

Sen. Cornyn, a former state judge, projects the elder statesman persona but has been instrumental in organizing Republican opposition to all efforts by Democrats to take the necessary steps to hold any officials accountable for organizing or assisting the insurrection as well as the effort to prevent passage of the Freedom to Vote Act or the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. It’s all about gaining and retaining power in service to their wealthy campaign donors, they make no effort to helping anyone else while giving lip service to the middle class even as their policies and actions cause the middle class to shrink as a percentage of the population.

Trump’s authoritarian populism aligns with white nationalist rhetoric while Republican ideology has drifted into neo-fascism. Remember that the characteristics of fascism are: absolute power of the state - such as making all abortions illegal, rule by a dictator – Trump’s claim that “I alone can fix the system”, corporatism – controlling labor by making unions, strikes, and other labor actions illegal, something Reagan started, extreme nationalism – such as the ginned up threats about immigrants especially those from the southern border, and superiority of the nation’s people – Trump’s appeal to white supremacists.

We the people must fight back, call our senators  and demand that they publicly support and vote for the Freedom to Vote Act today.