I would add a fourth institution that could have stopped Trump and failed to: The Church. As a former pastor, I understand why many religious leaders chose to keep silent about the danger Trump posed. They knew the people in the pews who loved Trump would not tolerate any criticism of him.
Other religious leaders chose to openly support Trump. Some believed his lies; some just wanted to ride his coattails to fame and wealth.
All enabled Trump’s success and the rise of Christian Nationalism, and many still support him or stay silent because they fear the consequences of doing otherwise.
Even these claims don’t seem to matter to the Christians who still support Trump. I suppose that’s not surprising, since Trump’s praise of Putin for invading Ukraine, his refusal to accept his 2020 election loss and subsequent endorsement of the January 6, 2021 violent attempt to prevent certification of that result, and his comments about sexually assaulting females and the two dozen women who said he assaulted them also didn’t matter.
Apparently the power to force their beliefs on others is more important to some Christians than the teachings and example of Jesus. It is painfully apparent who their true Lord is.
Everything stated in your article is very true. Although the American people should have a lot of power in the election of government officials, there should always be checks and balances to make sure democracy survives. Unfortunately, people within our government have lost the honor, bravery, and ability to be altruistic. Altruism is one of the most important words when it comes to government officials. They must think solely of the constitution and the country, and not themselves.
It would be much better if we went back to "how it used to be." This would be yet another layer of checks and balances to make sure the American people are not led astray. The average person, who has not been educated about the important ways to keep a democracy running, can easily be persuaded in their thinking. A demagogic person, for example, can use the public's emotions to convince them of almost anything. This is why we need gatekeepers who are educated and can't be tricked by their emotions.
I applaud the fearless search for gatekeepers. The metaphor of circuit breakers used to pause and settle out of order markets may be worth an inquiry. An analogy? Maybe? Or not.
So, we rely on the Roman Senators and the Ides!? Graham to stop Stalin? I do long for the Roman honor of Aurelius in Meditations.
Pardon the skip through history.
Keep at it Eli. The prose and purpose is heating up. Well done.
See my Substack “Gaslighting Republicans” for details about what happened in 2016 at the Republican National Convention as well as “before and after” leading up to the Republican presidential nomination process for 2024. Curly Haugland
Very cool for me to see. She is saying she is going to launch a Conservative Party if the RP reelects Trump. It's a matter of principle, first and foremost for her, with the hope that with time that party will grow. I salute her.
I think you put too much faith in the Republican party to arrest its own descent into anti-democratic demagoguery - it has always had a nasty "the ends justify the means" mentality at least since Reagan. I look forward to hearing what you think we can do about America's fractured educational system which seems intent on pretending slavery wasn't that bad and no one is gay, while fetishizing standardized tests, and ignoring civics entirely. In fact, I can't even imagine civics lessons being re-invigorated in most Republican leaning states except to expound on the good old days when only rich white men could vote. As for the US media, it seems completely incompetent at gatekeeping and is far too in love with idiot celebrities (like Trump), while tearing down long suffering public servants (like HRC with baseless cries of Benghazi and the "emails"). The NYT, the supposed paper of record, practically led the charge in 2016 to discredit Clinton while extolling the grievances of whites as the principle concern of America. In any case, what does it matter in these days of Russian sponsored hacking of Facebook and Twitter? Finally, a comment above questions whether religious institutions might have played gatekeeper - when in fact Evangelical "Christian" churches were instrumental in getting a philandering, lying, multi-bankrupt, multi-divorced man into the White House to further their agenda in the Supreme Court. All in all, I do buy your argument that these institutions failed us but don't see them doing better next time around.
I would add a fourth institution that could have stopped Trump and failed to: The Church. As a former pastor, I understand why many religious leaders chose to keep silent about the danger Trump posed. They knew the people in the pews who loved Trump would not tolerate any criticism of him.
Other religious leaders chose to openly support Trump. Some believed his lies; some just wanted to ride his coattails to fame and wealth.
All enabled Trump’s success and the rise of Christian Nationalism, and many still support him or stay silent because they fear the consequences of doing otherwise.
Some Trump supporters are now openly claiming he is “the Son of Man, the Christ,” or “the second coming of Christ,” with Mike Pence as Judas. I documented those claims here: https://medium.com/politically-speaking/is-donald-trump-the-christ-antichrist-or-just-the-worlds-most-dangerous-man-5f26292c087.
Even these claims don’t seem to matter to the Christians who still support Trump. I suppose that’s not surprising, since Trump’s praise of Putin for invading Ukraine, his refusal to accept his 2020 election loss and subsequent endorsement of the January 6, 2021 violent attempt to prevent certification of that result, and his comments about sexually assaulting females and the two dozen women who said he assaulted them also didn’t matter.
Apparently the power to force their beliefs on others is more important to some Christians than the teachings and example of Jesus. It is painfully apparent who their true Lord is.
Amazing article, dad.
Everything stated in your article is very true. Although the American people should have a lot of power in the election of government officials, there should always be checks and balances to make sure democracy survives. Unfortunately, people within our government have lost the honor, bravery, and ability to be altruistic. Altruism is one of the most important words when it comes to government officials. They must think solely of the constitution and the country, and not themselves.
It would be much better if we went back to "how it used to be." This would be yet another layer of checks and balances to make sure the American people are not led astray. The average person, who has not been educated about the important ways to keep a democracy running, can easily be persuaded in their thinking. A demagogic person, for example, can use the public's emotions to convince them of almost anything. This is why we need gatekeepers who are educated and can't be tricked by their emotions.
Again, amazing piece!
I applaud the fearless search for gatekeepers. The metaphor of circuit breakers used to pause and settle out of order markets may be worth an inquiry. An analogy? Maybe? Or not.
So, we rely on the Roman Senators and the Ides!? Graham to stop Stalin? I do long for the Roman honor of Aurelius in Meditations.
Pardon the skip through history.
Keep at it Eli. The prose and purpose is heating up. Well done.
CNN doesn't see much evidence for the rise of a principled conservative splinter party arising out of the GOP, despite what Liz Cheney says: https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/24/politics/liz-cheney-donald-trump-doomsday-2024/index.html I would tend to agree that the GOP has been purged and is now the Party of Trump.
Genius. As my Iraq veteran and Stoic friend says’ “Meditations is an inch long and a mile deep.” Required reading for humanity!?
Eli,
Your new essay this morning is splendid. Well done!
Every American should read this.
-Keel
I love the idea of Democracy’s gatekeepers as the key to stopping demagogues before they take office. Love the piece!
See my Substack “Gaslighting Republicans” for details about what happened in 2016 at the Republican National Convention as well as “before and after” leading up to the Republican presidential nomination process for 2024. Curly Haugland
Very cool for me to see. She is saying she is going to launch a Conservative Party if the RP reelects Trump. It's a matter of principle, first and foremost for her, with the hope that with time that party will grow. I salute her.
I think you put too much faith in the Republican party to arrest its own descent into anti-democratic demagoguery - it has always had a nasty "the ends justify the means" mentality at least since Reagan. I look forward to hearing what you think we can do about America's fractured educational system which seems intent on pretending slavery wasn't that bad and no one is gay, while fetishizing standardized tests, and ignoring civics entirely. In fact, I can't even imagine civics lessons being re-invigorated in most Republican leaning states except to expound on the good old days when only rich white men could vote. As for the US media, it seems completely incompetent at gatekeeping and is far too in love with idiot celebrities (like Trump), while tearing down long suffering public servants (like HRC with baseless cries of Benghazi and the "emails"). The NYT, the supposed paper of record, practically led the charge in 2016 to discredit Clinton while extolling the grievances of whites as the principle concern of America. In any case, what does it matter in these days of Russian sponsored hacking of Facebook and Twitter? Finally, a comment above questions whether religious institutions might have played gatekeeper - when in fact Evangelical "Christian" churches were instrumental in getting a philandering, lying, multi-bankrupt, multi-divorced man into the White House to further their agenda in the Supreme Court. All in all, I do buy your argument that these institutions failed us but don't see them doing better next time around.