I’m a bit behind in my reading. I’m reading an issue to Time magazine that has been sitting on my coffee table for at least 2 weeks. There were a number of interesting articles about the state of American society but I want to discuss one of those articles today. I think there is at least one more that I will write about later.
Trench Lawfare: Inside the Battles to Save Democracy From the Trump Administration by Molly Ball starts like this but you really should read all of it.
Black-clad security forces armed with riot shields advance on a mass of peaceful demonstrators. Rubber bullets and gas canisters fly. The embattled head of state, flanked by his top prosecutor and general, emerges from his estate to stake a claim for order. The scene looked like something out of a banana republic, but it unfolded in Washington’s Lafayette Square on June 1. And soon after, an obscure nonprofit got a call from a state attorney general’s office, asking the perennial questions of the Donald Trump era: Can he do that? How can we stop that from happening here?
The article focuses on Protect Democracy, a bipartisan group with concerns about the long term survival of this nation as a democracy. The opening statement on their website is:
The story of the United States has been one of constantly seeking to perfect an imperfect democracy, and for most of our history we moved towards delivering democracy’s promise to more and more of our union. However, this progress has stalled and reversed. The global autocratic threat has arrived on our shores and our democracy is facing challenges not seen in decades. Recent years have been marked by presidential abuses of power, efforts by political leaders to stoke hatred, racism, and misogyny, and failures of our system of checks and balances that have sounded a powerful alarm.
The immediate concern is some of President Trump’s authoritarian actions but there are many other challenges. Is this an organization you might find of interest? Is so, check our their website at https://protectdemocracy.org/.