For democracy to succeed, the citizens must trust the social and political institutions to work and work reasonably fairly. They must trust that almost all the time the rule of law prevails and generally delivers justice. They must trust that most of our leaders play by the rules and trust they really do care about the general welfare of the nation. They must trust that their votes count. They must trust democracy to deliver a predictable level of stability, security and predictability. And they must trust that the vast majority of their fellow citizens are as responsible and law-abiding as they are.
In less than a week:
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg died and the GOP senators completely and hypocritically reversed a principle they had vociferously articulated just four years earlier.
The president destroyed the institution of presidential debates in front of America’s eyes.
He failed to do what should be the easiest thing for a president to do, unconditionally condemn white supremacism and any potential violence from white supremacists.
His tax records revealed his entire public persona has been a lie.
He contracted the virus he has been trivializing for months and exposed scores, possibly hundreds, of others.
And that’s just in a week! Compound that with three and a half years of norm breaking, attacking government institutions like our intelligence community, the FBI, the US Postal Service, our elections, the media and politicizing virtually all the departments of the federal government for his own personal interests.
The Trump presidency has been exhausting and his biggest legacy is undermining the trust at every level that American democracy depends on.
Ronald Nathan
Saugus
