Viewpoint: It’s either Trump or America’s hard-earned democracy

Citizens need to watch the January 6 televised hearings. We’re in danger of losing our democracy. The irony is, there is so much support for Zelensky and Ukraine fighting for their democracy, but not enough Americans seem willing to defend democracy at home. Republicans that support Putin and Hungary’s Orbán deny that our democracy is in jeopardy.

Only 46% of Democrats and independents feel there is no threat to our democracy; but they should. Zelensky had the same attitude months ago, even when Russian troops were congregating at Ukraine’s border. Ukraine and America are both in an informational war that started years ago, from cyberattacks on infrastructure to GRU propaganda through social media and personalities like Tucker Carlson.

For enemies of democracy, the objective is to disrupt and poison how people relate to each other while flooding the internet with false and incriminating information. 

Now is the time for Americans to become involved in the survival of our democracy, not the supremacy of our political affiliations. Let me be perfectly clear. Only one political party is protecting our democracy. 19 states controlled by Republicans are restricting voting rights to benefit them. Democrats cannot pass a new voting rights law because the Republicans insist on a filibuster of 60 votes and 6 Republican appointed Supreme Court justices have gutted the Voting Rights Act, and eliminated women’s right to abortion. 23 Republicans, who support the Big Lie in swing states that decide the Presidency, are running for Secretary of State--the office in charge of elections. 

In swing state Pennsylvania, the GOP candidate for Governor participated in the January 6th insurrection to overthrow the 2020 election. If he wins, he can pick his own AG, who can then declare the winner regardless if Democrats win the popular vote. 147 Republican Congressmen, including Montana’s own Matt Rosendale, voted to disenfranchise 81 million voters by formally objecting to the election of Joe Biden.

Fealty to Trump and the Big Lie has become the crucial test for being a member in good standing in the Republican Party. It's Trumpism or democracy. The GOP does not have a platform of issues they want to help Americans, but remain focused on restricting freedoms of fellow Americans. The rights of gays and LGBTQ youth are under attack. Books are being banned, including many on the history of civil rights; but nothing to help or support our democracy.

Furthermore, since Trump did not recognize the results of the election and tried to overturn it--so too is the GOP position. According to conservative stalwart Justice Michael Luttig of the 4th Circuit Court, Trump and his allies are “a clear and present danger to our democracy.” He is convinced Trump and his supporters will only recognize the results of elections if Republicans win. In other words, January 6th was a practice run.

The GOP threat was also apparent by efforts to throw out ballots focused on areas with large numbers of Black and Hispanic populations, like Detroit, Philadelphia, and Atlanta. If this failed, throw the election into the House of Representatives, where the GOP controls 26 states. Or, have Republican legislators in swing states send fraudulent electors. Trump and Giuliani tried to get the Secretary of State in Georgia to cheat by ‘finding’ just enough votes for Trump to win.

When he didn’t, the Secretary and family received death threats. Poll workers in swing states that went for Biden received death threats, some needed to go into hiding because Trump called them out by name. Trump then tried to pressure the Justice Department to declare the election rigged to bolster his claim of a rigged election. Meanwhile, Republicans, including the Republican National Committee, went along with this charade, saying “count every LEGAL vote”.

When all these coup attempts failed and turned violent on January 6, Republicans would not accept responsibility. Instead, even after the unsuccessful kidnapping and killing of the Vice President, the wounding and killing of Capitol guards, the destruction and defecation in our nation’s Capitol building, nearly two-thirds of House Republicans voted to overturn the free and fair election.

 Justice Luttig is correct. Trump Republicans have demonstrated that they are willing to do whatever they can to be sure they succeed by not accepting a result through legal means. Rather than concentrating on addressing societies’ problems, they are intending to rig the system, so only they win. Instead of trying to improve child healthcare, they are forcing women to give birth to children they don’t want or cannot afford.

Instead of supporting public education, they are banning books and making up fictitious race disputes like critical race theory not taught in public schools. Investigations of the January 6th Committee and recent Supreme Court rulings reveal the extent to which Trump Republicans want to revert America back to a white male dominated 1950s. The coup Trump attempted on January 6 was a dress rehearsal for 2024.

Without a total public refutation of this movement and vigorous support for American democracy, such as our support for Zelensky’s Ukraine, the American democratic experiment, the honorable guidelines established by our Founding Fathers, will be over.