On Independence Day I think it’s a good time to reflect not only on the edifying principles of our democracy, but also on its fragility.
When we elected our first black president in 2008 I thought “Wow, our country is growing up, we’re maturing as a nation, we’re realizing some of the ideals our country was founded upon, not just paying lip-service to them.”
My optimism was short-lived. When Republicans took the Senate in 2010, the first proclamation by Mitch McConnell was that it was to be their objective to make sure Obama would only be a one-term president. “How patriotic”, I thought. “Your objective is not to do anything positive for America, it is to make sure Obama cannot do so.”
Obama tried, as most presidents do, to salve the disappointments of those who voted for Romney, but to no avail. There was something about Obama that prevented unification, something about him that was different. What could it be?
Eight years later came the perfect political storm, the confluence of McConnell’s successful make-sure-Obama-has-no-success strategy, which only reinforced the public’s view of the ineptitude of their government, and promise of a new, strong-willed leader who promised to drain the establishment swamp and “Make America Great Again”.
And how exactly did our new leader go about making that happen? Did he try to heal the wounds of his opponents, offer a hand of reconciliation? No. Instead, his enemies list grew exponentially, even beyond that of Nixon. Our new president’s enemies were everyone who did not vote for him, the majority of Americans.
Did he hire, as he claimed, “the best people”? If so, how can it be that his administration saw the highest turnover of any I have ever seen? Was he “the least prejudiced person in the room”, the “smartest president ever”, the “healthiest president” in our history?
His common theme, even before he was elected in 2016, was that the election was “rigged” against him. That particular grievance seemed to subside after he won, only to reappear in 2020. “Oh my, Oh my. My corrupt opponents have debauched the system against honorable me. They can only win by cheating.” Is this not a classic case of projecting your own faults onto others?
His last year in office saw the onslaught of the covid pandemic that would kill more than a million Americans. How did he handle it? In an interview with Bob Woodward, he admitted that he purposely minimized the dangers of covid so as to not panic Americans. Thus, he told us in March 2020 that the pandemic would be over by Easter, and that it would go away “like a miracle.” He said masks were unnecessary, and proved it by his example (but when he got covid himself, he had medical care unavailable to you and me). How many of those million deaths could have been prevented if he had given us the information he had, if he trusted us to make our own decisions on our healthcare rather than rely on him to make them for us?
At the end of his reign came what would become the darkest days for America I have ever seen, the first president who was so full of himself that he was willing to destroy our democracy in order to cling to power. By refusing to concede his loss in the 2020 contest, intimidating both election workers and those responsible for ensuring the peaceful transfer of power that has been a hallmark of American democracy, Trump and his enablers took the role of spoiled children who can’t get their way.
Sportsmanship. We’ve all participated in many contests in our lifetimes. For me it was Monopoly, Little League baseball, softball, chess, and others. Did I ever prejudice the coming match by claiming that the only way I could lose was if the contest was rigged against me? Did I ever accuse my opponent of cheating before or after I lost? No. Not ever. Why? Because ninety-nine percent of us are fair-minded people. When we lose, we congratulate our opponents and look forward to the next match. But not Trump.
In fifty years, what will history books say about this period? I won’t be here to read them, but I can confidently predict this: The heroes will be those who saved democracy in its time of peril. Those like Lt Col Vindman, Ambassador Yovanovitch, Fiona Hill, Brad Raffensperger, Representatives Cheney and Kinzinger, Officer Caroline Edwards, Wandra Moss, Jeffrey Rosen, Cassidy Hutchinson, and even Mike Pence. The villains, besides Trump, will be Bannon, Meadows, Jeffrey Clark, John Eastman, Louie Gohmert, Matt Gaetz, Kevin McCarthy, Jim Jordan, Marjorie Greene, the insurrectionists of Jan 6, and the other vipers in Congress who refused to certify Biden’s electoral count victory.
Trump appeals to our base instincts of selfishness, tribalism, and fear of “the other” – the dark side of the force (no wonder the KKK loves him). He tells his supporters he loves them. Yes, I believe that’s true. He does love you, in the way the con man loves his mark. He loves you as long as you can supply votes and money that will accomplish his personal goals. Cross him and he drops you like a hot potato.
We have the power to save and preserve our democracy for future generations, but it will take some effort. We must not forget that no matter how powerless we may at times feel, we all retain two important tools: our vote and the addresses of our representatives to whom we can write.
Happy Fourth of July, everyone.
Bob Moores retired from Black & Decker/DeWalt in 1999 after 36 years. He was the Director of Cordless Product Development at the time. He holds a mechanical engineering degree from Johns Hopkins University