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Can we save a flawed American democracy?

Our system is government is not perfect, but it is better than the alternative offered by a criminal con man name



By DOUG THOMPSON
February 12, 2024

One way or the other, the 2024 presidential race will come down to the wire, and it will be the American voters who will have to decide if this embattled nation has a future or becomes just another relic of a broken political system.

Using delays built into this nation’s legal system, a disgraced, criminally indicted con man, and proven fraud, Donald J. Trump could evade punishment for any of the 90+ felony charges he faces.

How, many are asking, can this happen in the longest-surviving democratic republic government in world history? It can be because America’s government is a flawed system that the legendary British Prime Minister Winston Churchill called democracy “the worst form of government — except for all other forms.”

Currently, America’s Congress is a partisan mishmash deadlocked by hate and paranoia fueled by leaders who place allegiance to political parties above democracy and service to the people. Trump promises a presidency ruled by retribution and violent action against anyone he perceives as an enemy. He is a vulgar, vile despot with no recognizable ability to feel the needs of others.

The Supreme Court has become a haven for ethically-challenged jurists who put greed and personal gain above service, as shown by Clarence Thomas, who lives large at the expense of a wealthy donor who provides him with lavish vacations, use of yachts and private planes and even provides a home for his mother, who lives rent-free.

Thomas was a known sexual predator when he was accepted as a Supreme. So was Trump nominee Brett Kavanaugh. He was charged with attempting to rape a teenage girl while attending an elite private school in Washington, DC.?As Amanda Terkell of HuffPost writes: “A third of the six men on America’s Supreme Court has been charged with sexual crimes.”

We should not be surprised that Trump nominates sexual predators to such positions. He was charged with raping a 14-year-old model at?a sex party at the home of sexual exploiter Jeffrey Epstein and the charger disappeared, Epstein told associates, when “a lot of money changed hands.” Trump was even accused by his first wife with raping her. Trump claimed that a married man cannot be charged with raping his wife. New York law says otherwise.

Documentary filmmaker Michael Moore raised questions about Trump’s possible immoral treatment of his daughter, an issue that has also been raised within the Trump family. On radio, Trump bragged to shock jock Howard Stern that his daughter, Ivanka, was “a great piece of ass” while she was still a teenager.

Trump was found guilty of fraud in the management of his Trump Organization company and faces fines of more than $300 million and loss of a right to operate in the state of New York. In two other judgments, Trump must pay almost $90 million to a woman he sexually attacked in a Manhattan?department store. In that case, the judge declared Trump a “rapist.”

Yet, most Republicans say Trump is the only candidate they want to be their nominee for president in the 2024 election, a man who had pledged to be”a dictator” for the first-day in office so he ah hand down punishments to perceived enemies and,, if needed, pardon himself of any ad all crimes.

The election will be a rematch between Trump and current president Joe Biden, who beat Trump by more than eight million votes in 2020 and won the electoral college in an election that Trump has never accepted and one he tried to overturn by illegal actions that were invalidated by dozens of court?rulings, including those of the Supreme Court.

Biden, despite a growing economy and other good economic news, has a low job approval?along with questions about his health and mental acuity.?Yet it is this Trump who appears to be suffering dementia with public appearances where he rambles lies outright about his opponents and failed record.

Can Trump win in November? Yes, he can. Few expected him to win in 2016 in a race where he lost the popular vote by millions but took the gerrymandered Electoral College. In a perfect world, Trump should lose again, but America is hardly perfect.

Churchill was right. Our democracy can often be the worst government, but it is still better than all the rest.

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Even though Trump didn't win the popular vote in 2016, he did win the electoral college. The electoral college has many faults, chief among them:

• Despite individual Americans casting ballots for who they want to be president, the only votes that count are those of the Electoral College.
• As a result of the winner-take-all system, a presidential candidate could hypothetically win an election by winning only 11 states.

Yes it is possible that Trump wins again in November 2024. Decent Americans can't rely on the U.S. Supreme Court to hold Trump accountable as Doug points out - the conservative judges, are espeically corrupt and beholden to special interests.

With more and more Republicans embracing authoritarian fascism, democracy is threatened. All we can do is vote for the best person to perserve democracy and hope for the best for its survival.

Many people state that Trump is an existential threat to democracy. I submit the entire GOP is. Why? Because today's GOP is little more than a criminal protection racket to shelter one man, Donald Trump - a man with authoritarian fascist tendencies who is big on vengeance and retribution.

He actually SAID "I am your retribution."