“The fragility of our democracy has been exposed by Trump”
―Frances Ngozi Okafor
I promised my friends and family that I would shut up and just watch this election, but at this time, thing have taken a major turn. Thus, silence is no longer an option, so you must excuse me but Trump’s refusal to accept the results of this election is actually a good thing. Hold on, and I would explain.
I know as most Americans we all like to think that our country is a model of democracy and the rule of law, but I am now telling you that the ascendancy of Trump to the presidency has been a well-needed stress test on democracy in America.
For 250 years, we have had 44 men who took that office and adhered to the norms of decorum and decency, and no one had to worry about any of them putting his own needs and desires above that of the nation.
He has pushed this American democracy to a breaking point, and continues to do so every day with no resistance.
But Trump has done everything that no other president has ever done. He has enriched himself; he has broken many norms including, stretching the rules and boundaries of the law to the limits; he has pushed this American democracy to a breaking point, and continues to do so every day with no resistance.
I bet no one ever thought an American president had this much power —The power to rule, intimidate, and muzzle his entire political party into a submission to where they would bow and bend to his whims and fantasies.
The fragility of our democracy has been exposed by Trump.
I bet no one ever thought a president could hold an entire nation hostage but here we are. I don’t despair because I think for the most part, this Trump-experiment has been good for America. It has woken us up and showed us who we truly are. Never again can we pretend that we do not know that half of us think the other half are our enemies. Never again can we pretend we are a tolerant people or even an inclusive of a people who do not look like us. Never again can we pretend that our democracy is not fragile as we are held hostage by the eccentric desire of one man enabled and emboldened by 70 million votes.
Let us stop pretending. I think we all know what we are. The fragility of our democracy has been exposed by Trump. I believe in the end this democracy will survive Trump but barely. Nothing will ever be the same again.
♦ Frances Ngozi Okafor writes from Fulshear, Texas
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