Out of Control

The most important election in American history was in 1800, when the Federalist John Adams turned over the government to his hated opponent Thomas Jefferson.  The transition was peaceful.  Adams made no attempt to use the army against Jefferson; Jefferson did not arrest Adams after he took power.

Democracy depends on a willingness of opponents to see each other as opponents, not enemies.  This was one of Nixon’s great failings; he actually had an “enemies list.”

In the last few years we have been losing our culture of democracy.  When President Obama nominated Merrick Garland for the Supreme Court, the Senate refused to even consider him, although Garland was a moderate and the Republicans were overturning 150 years of tradition.  When President Trump nominated Mr. Gorsuch, an extreme rightist, the Republicans gleefully approved him with almost no Democratic support.  Now there is talk that if the Democrats capture control of the Senate, they will not approve any Trump nominee for the Court.

This kind of polarization is getting worse and worse.  You can see it in my posts.  I not only dislike this President, I loathe him, think he should be impeached, think he is unfit.  His NRA and neo-Nazi backers, I am sure, probably think of me as someone who should be deported, or worse.

Where will it end?  I don’t know, but I don’t have much hope for the future.  Sure, the stock market is up.  But international violence is increasing, global warming is getting worse, democracy is under attack in India, Israel, Poland, Turkey, Russia, Czechoslovakia, and, yes, the United States.