As I write this, we have 24 days until Joe Biden’s inauguration. It can’t come soon enough, but does that mean that democracy in the US will be in the clear? Is it too late for us? A group of Republicans still plans to challenge Biden’s Electoral College Victory on January 6, and we are all familiar with the obstructionist tactics of McConnell and other GOP senators.  But we are in the middle of an emerging quagmire of growing authoritarianism and budding fascism. 

In only four years, Trump’s assault on democratic values and methods has been accepted not only by the Republican Party but by the 70 million Americans who voted for him, many of who believe the myth that he won the election. This is frightening and should be alarming to all of us.  Freedom House, a nonprofit human rights watch group that monitors democracy all over the world, in it’s 2020 annual report about American democracy: “In recent years it’s democratic institutions have suffered erosion, as reflected in partisan manipulation of the electoral process, bias and dysfunction in the criminal justice system, flawed new policies on immigration and asylum seekers, and growing disparities in wealth, economic opportunity, and political influence.” 

This should ring alarm bells for American’s, yet it seems as though with the pandemic, record unemployment, the blatant disregard for the environment, billionaires making record profits, Proud Boys destroying BLM signs in DC, GOP COVID-19 deniers who were the first to line up for vaccines, Qanon conspiracy theories, accusations of voter fraud have immobilized us.  I have neighbors who refuse to take down their Trump flags, they insist Trump won. And I ask myself why? Why would Americans support a narcissist with a record of blatant racism, sexual assault, graft, corruption, lies, cheating, and law-breaking? He does not have one shred of empathy or compassion for anyone and exhibits all the hallmarks of a sociopath. 

Trump will never concede, he will claim until the end that the election was stolen, and the question remains whether or not he will form a shadow presidency from Mara-Lago. What is particularly alarming is that it’s not just Trump. Look at the widespread efforts at voter suppression, the cynical efforts of Republicans to create one set of rules for themselves and another for the Democrats. We see each day the increased abandonment of democratic norms. Our democratic system has been T-boned, and even if we are fortunate enough to see Trump dragged from the White House, piecing back our Democracy is going to be a herculean task. 

The Biden administration has a lot of work to do. To save our Democracy, we need to end voter suppression, institutional racism, welfare for Wall Street, corporate bailouts, police brutality, felon disenfranchisement, gerrymandering, packing the courts with right-wing judges, financing the rich, and get rid of the Electoral College.  The Trump administration and his GOP enablers in Washington have no use for Democracy, they are only concerned with keeping power, and they will do anything to maintain the “status quo,” even if it means trashing the Democratic process. As far as Trump followers, they’ve been mesmerized by the con man’s personality and tone, so much so that kids in cages, the inept handling of the pandemic, the erosion of voting rights, ignoring nine months of Russian hacking of our intelligence agencies, calling our fallen soldiers “suckers” and “losers,” and putting family members in high-ranking roles doesn’t make them bat an eye. They have been so manipulated by the grifter from Queens that I doubt they realize the damage that has been done. 

The 2020 election is a referendum not only on Trump but on the GOP and Washington. My question is can we reverse this process? Is it too late? If we do our research, we can see many parallels between Trump’s America and the rise of authoritarian regimes, from 1930s Germany to Putin’s Russia, to Erdogan’s Turkey to Orban’s Hungary.  It’s not just up to the Biden administration to combat further erosion of our Democracy, it’s also up to every community, to every person to ask themselves, do we want to continue on the road where the oligarchs make the rules or do we want democracy, justice, and equality?

I just hope it’s not too late.