Alex

How Democracy Dies

One of the things that differentiates a free, democratic state from authoritarian regimes is the rule of law. In a ‘rule of law’ state everyone is held to be equal under, and subject to, the law. It is not used at the whim of an authoritarian leader for his own benefit or to attack enemies. Well, the rule of law in Trump’s America is now officially in crisis.

The rot has gone further and faster than anyone expected. Trump’s authoritarian instincts were evident from the start. He has repeatedly expressed frustration with the law and the constitution whenever they have stood in the way of him exercising unfettered power. Expressing frustration is one thing, but he has also actively sought to place himself above the constitution and the law.

One of his most consequential moves to do so was making William Barr his Attorney General. A primary function of the Justice Department, which the AG directs, is “to ensure fair and impartial administration of justice for all Americans.” Instead of that Barr has brazenly operated as Trump’s personal fixer,  using his position to protect Trump and harm his enemies. 

Since his controversial appointment Barr has been working diligently on Trump’s behalf, putting his interests above those of the nation. One of his first acts was to sabotage and misrepresent the Mueller report, spinning it as an ‘exoneration’ of Trump in direct contradiction to the actual contents of the report.

Since then he has created a special channel for Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani to feed the Justice Department what Giuliani claims is damaging information about Trump political adversary, Joe Biden and his family. He has also taken control of legal cases of personal interest to Trump.

He has travelled the world to help Trump get dirt on political opponents. He is actively working to wipe the slate clean on Trump’s embrace of foreign interference in US elections, as well as his obstruction of justice. In doing so, he has shown he is willing to discredit both the FBI and US intelligence services. 

A lot of this has gone on quietly in the background, only attracting attention when Trump has bragged on Twitter about what Barr is doing for him. In fact that’s what precipitated the current crisis. Following a critical Trump tweet, Barr rushed to interfere with the DoJ sentencing recommendations for long-time Trump ally, convicted criminal, and self-confessed ‘dirty trickster’ Roger Stone.. Trump then publicly boasted about it on Twitter.

In response to Barr’s unprecedented interference the four DoJ prosecuters on the Stone case immediately resigned in protest. Over the next 24 hours, a petition calling for Barr’s resignation gathered over 2,000 signatures from former Department of Justice officials. The petition, and its broad support among ex-DOJ experts, underlines how aberrant and dangerous Barr’s behavior is.  

But that’s not all. More than 1,100 federal judges represented by the Federal Judges Association have called an emergency meeting about Barr’s interference in politically sensitive cases. The head of the organization, Philadelphia U.S. District Judge Cynthia Rufe, said the situation “could not wait” to determine how to handle the ongoing crisis within the Department of Justice.

So that’s where we’re at. People have hoped ever since his election that the ‘checks and balances’ provided by the constitution and the rule of law would constrain Trump and protect against his worst excesses. They haven’t.

The failure by Senate Republicans to do their sworn duty under the constitution to carry out a fair and impartial  impeachment trial of Trump confirmed him in his belief that he is more monarch than president and that whatever he does is legal simply because he is president. He will not change now. He will only get worse.

The presence of William Barr as Attorney General heading the Department of Justice and his outrageous actions there in service of Trump means that America is beyond talk about theoretical threats to democracy. It’s not some future possibility. It is the current reality. 

Eric Holder, who served as Obama’s Attorney General, has warned, “Do not underestimate the danger of this situation. This affects the rule of law and respect for it. Unprecedented.”  He’s right. The rule of law in America has been corrupted at the very highest levels. A line has been crossed. The unthinkable has already happened. The question now is, what can anyone do about it ?  

Former Deputy Attorney General Donald Ayer wrote, “Bill Barr’s America is not a place that anyone, including Trump voters, should want to go. It is a banana republic where all are subject to the whims of a dictatorial president and his henchmen. To prevent that, we need a public uprising demanding that Bill Barr resign immediately, or failing that, be impeached.”

Thousands of present and former Department of Justice experts, including both republicans and democrats; the country’s judges; a former Deputy Attorney General; a former Attorney General; these are serious people giving a serious warning that something is seriously wrong with the rule of law in America. To ignore them all or try to deny their message would be wilful wishful thinking.

Getting rid of Barr is necessary but isn’t the solution. As long as Trump is there getting rid of Barr is unlikely and, even if it were accomplished, he would just be replaced by another Trump fixer. Barr is just a symptom. Trump is the disease. The only faint remaining hope, now that constitutional checks and balances have failed and the rule of law has been corrupted, is the 2020 election. 

A fair outcome can by no means guaranteed. It will be tainted by right-wing voter suppression and US intelligence services expect more interference from Russia in favor of Trump. A narrow defeat may not be enough to dethrone him. Anything less than a progressive President with Democrat control of both House and Senate might not be enough to bring America back from the brink.

Which is why, at maybe the most consequential election of our lifetimes, record numbers need to vote to save American democracy while it’s still possible to do so. Trump and all he stands for must be crushed by a big enough margin to ensure he can’t find any excuse to cling onto power. 

The alternative is chilling. Four more years of this would take America into a dark and dangerous place. A place where democracy has died. 

Internet Writer.