The Most Important Election in American History

It’s been said by Democrats before: “This is the most important election in history.” And perhaps at those times the warnings were well-founded. The fight against abortion, the push for gun control, the need to combat climate change, the battle over the courts all seemed like grave threats to personal freedom, health and survival (and they still do).

But today the warning is rooted in democracy’s existential crisis. The survival of our Constitution, the rule of law and everything we’ve cherished for the past 243 years is at stake. Our precious democracy is teetering on the verge of…take your pick…autocracy, authoritarianism, dictatorship.

The Founding Fathers were brilliant in their creation of a system of checks and balances, where each of the Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches of their nascent government would be equal. A fail-safe designed to reign in and hold accountable a rogue president who uses and abuses the office for personal gain, even at the risk of the our national security.

And for 243 years the system worked without fail. Until now. What the Founders never contemplated, and therefore did not create remedies for, was if one or more of those co-equal checks abdicated its oversight role and instead aided and abetted a corrupt, power-usurping president. 

Welcome to the Reign of Donald Trump.

Wake up, America. Next year’s election is not about policy. It’s not about ideology. It’s not about right vs left. It’s about right vs wrong. Law vs lawlessness. It’s about the survival of democracy and everything we hold near and dear about our great nation. It’s about core values, decency, honesty, truth and American exceptionalism and idealism.

It’s about the end of our society as we know it.

In just three years of his tainted, now-impeached presidency, Trump has blatantly and shamelessly broken laws, shattered norms and dismantled institutions. His relentless attacks on our free press, law-enforcement apparatus, intelligence community, diplomatic corps and independent judiciary have shredded the fabric of democracy.

Trump’s corrupted the Department of Justice and Attorney General William Barr, who executes the duties of his office as if he were the president’s personal attorney and protector (his “Roy Cohn”). He’s corrupted the Republican Senate and Leader Mitch McConnell who, as Trump’s chief enabler, violates his oath daily, for example, when vowing to fully coordinate impeachment-trial strategy with the White House. And he’s corrupted the courts by appointing 158 unqualified, controversial, partisan sycophants to every critical level of the judicial system including the Supreme Court.

To be sure, these critical levers of government are firmly, albeit inexplicably, in Trump’s pocket. Perhaps it’s blackmail, fear of rage-tweets, hyper-partisan power-lust over tax cuts and judges, racism, or all of the above. But make no mistake, with their help, Trump has been able to operate with reckless abandon, utter disdain for authority and in the mode of a maniacal despot.

That is until Nancy Pelosi and democrats took control of the House in 2018. Imagine, just imagine, where America, and Trump, would be today if Republicans controlled the House as well. Imagine if Devin Nunes, Mark Meadows, Jim Jordan, Doug Collins, Louis Gohmert and the legion of Trump-ass-kissing GOP goons held the keys to the Constitution.

But thanks to Speaker Pelosi and democrats, America still looks, smells, feels and tastes like a Democracy. But things can and will get unfathomably worse if Trump is re-elected.

Which is why next year’s election is the most important in American history. Democrats must retain the House and re-take the Senate. And, we must ensure that Donald Trump — the most dishonest, corrupt, treasonous, dangerous politician in U.S. history — is not allowed anywhere near the White House after January 20, 2021.