The current series of articles has focused on the four leadership powers sources. However, this article jumps back to a topic we covered months ago: governance bases. The US has just witness one of most important object lessons it could possibly receive, and I would be derelict if I didn’t point it out.
President Donald Trump gave a press conference yesterday, in the evening of Thursday, November 5, 2020. He was behind in the electoral college vote count, 253-214, to former Vice President Joe Biden. Sensing defeat, he declared the election to be full of “illegal votes” born from a “corrupt system.” (He then praised the election of Republicans to the House of Representatives using the same system.) He began his speech by identifying his enemies, including Big Money and Big Tech. (A classic trick of would-be dictators is to identify an Other). He also disparaged Big Media. (Another trick of would-be dictators is to undermine the media). The President disparaged the election from the White House briefing room which gave it a false semblance of officiality (in violation of tradition). Earlier in the day, he promoted the slogan “Stop the Count” in states where he was losing. (He changed the slogan to Stop the Fraud after advisors informed him that if the count were indeed stopped, he would lose.) He launched a wave of lawsuits intending to leave no stone unturned to keep him in office (all of which will likely be thrown out). He has disparaged mail-in voting for months (despite mailing in his own vote). And all of this stands-in contrast to the fact that there has been no evidence of any voting irregularity.
The issue is not whether one voted for President Trump or Vice-president Biden: the issue goes far beyond simply electing a president. The issue is that the rule-of-law is being attacked. The rule-of-law—and democracy especially—works because people believe it works. We believe that were all better off by playing by a common set of rules than if we were to all go off on our own tangents. So when a political party—or especially a president—questions the legality of an election, it puts the democracy at risk. When people stop believing in democracy, you will see a slide backward toward autocracy. Recent events in Europe clearly show this. Or one can look at societies that lost their democracy altogether because not enough people believed in it: Spain, Cuba, Russia, or even ancient Rome.
It is simply too naïve to dismiss this episode as “Trump being Trump.” This situation is far too dangerous. Every American, no matter whom you voted for, needs to viscerally reject such behavior—it threatens all of us.
Source: President Donald Trump, press conference from White House, 5 November 2020.
Photo: C-span