Donald Trump’s victory means the death of democracy. Fear of the future.

by Junna Base November 6, 2024

“The causes of death included partisanship, authoritarianism and a population that, by and large, cared so little about its future that it elected an insurgent as its new president.”

Ray Marcano
| Guest columnist

Ray Marcano, a veteran journalist, is a former national president of the Society of Professional Journalists, a two-time Pulitzer juror and a Fulbright felloww. He is a frequent Columbus Dispatch contributor.

Democracy, the great American experiment in which the people ruled through their elected representatives, died on November 6, 2024. It was 248 years old.

The causes of death included partisanship, authoritarianism, and a population that, by and large, cared so little about its future that it elected an insurgent as its new president.

The election ushered in an unbridled era of presidential power, ushered in by a spineless U.S. Supreme Court that ruled that Donald Trump can do whatever he wants, with whomever he wants, as long as he regards his actions as an “official” presidential duty camouflages.

“Too bad,” said the ghost of Thomas Jefferson, one of the country’s founding fathers. “We have a new truth that is self-evident. We ourselves are to blame for killing democracy.”

James Madison also lamented: “I once said, ‘Knowledge will forever prevail over ignorance.’ Am I wrong? Look at all the people who voted for a man who swore to destroy the Constitution and longed for generals like the ones who served Hitler.”

The birth of democracy took place on July 4, 1776, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, when the Second Continental Congress unanimously adopted the Declaration of Independence, the document that set the country on the path of democratic pride by breaking away from its overlord, England.

At the time of the signing of the declaration, John Adams, one of the founding fathers and future president, said: “I recognize the effort, blood and treasure that it will cost us to uphold this declaration and to support and defend these states. But until now.” In all the gloom, I see the rays of ravishing light and glory, and I can see that the end is more than worth the means.

He said the day should be celebrated as “Liberation Day”.

In the modern world, “salvation” has become “indifference.” Voters ignored Alexander Hamilton’s warning about a demagogue seizing power and inciting violence. The warning went unheeded.

Almost from the beginning there were challenges that threatened to fray or even destroy democracy.

Jefferson and Adams faced off in the election of 1800, an ugly affair in which both sides demonized each other through hateful rhetoric and backroom dealings aimed at stealing the election. (Does this sound familiar?)

Major city riots—New York City (1863, 1977), Los Angeles (1992), and Cincinnati (2001) all challenged the rule of law and threatened to plunge society into chaos.

Abroad, Germany might have conquered the world if the United States had not intervened in World War II.

Today, as countries like Italy, Hungary and Finland fall prey to extremists, others have faith in the unshakable and solid longevity of a great American ideal. There was a healthy democracy in the most stable country in the world, and that gave people hope.

But democracy fell ill on January 6, 2021, when a deluded Trump incited his supporters with fraudulent election lies. Thousands stormed the Capitol, 140 were injured and five were killed.

The Capitol insurrection was the beginning of a four-year illness of lies, hate and partisanship from which democracy has never recovered. Every time doctors thought democracy was on the way to healing, Trump and his lemmings sparked another fabricated controversy that caused his supporters to angrily question democracy’s intent. Voter fraud by non-citizens. Haitians in Springfield, Ohio eating cats and dogs. The economy is terrible. The light of democracy was exhausted and burned out.

Democracy survives through the Bill of Rights, the Constitution and the Emancipation Proclamation. Other survivors included George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.; Generals Douglas McArthur and Robert E. Lee; the civil rights movement and the women’s rights movement, as well as everyone who believes in a system that is fair for everyone.

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