Can a Democracy Vote Itself into a Dictatorship?

It has happened so many times in other countries, from Germany to Russia, from Eastern Europe to Turkey, all within the last 100 years. Could it happen here? There are not a lot of Americans who still believe in this country, on all sides of the political spectrum; there an ugly feeling of unease that is sliding from bad to worse in this time of protests against racial injustice and pandemic infection.

A late May/early June NBC/WSJ poll says it all: “Eight out of 10 voters believe that things are out of control in the United States, with majorities still concerned about the spread of the coronavirus, pessimistic about the economy's returning to normal before next year and down on President Donald Trump's ability to unite the nation.

“Those are the major findings of a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll that was conducted May 28 to June 2, during the aftermath of George Floyd's death in Minneapolis, as the U.S. death toll from the coronavirus surpassed 100,000 and after millions of people have lost their jobs.” NBC News, June 7^th. Everyone now knows, without a shadow of doubt, that Donald Trump is most definitely not going to unite this nation; he represents only his base and the mega-wealthy seeking to hold on to their privileged economic position.

This plunging confidence was only reinforced by a preliminary May unemployment report (released in June), touted by Donald Trump as evidence of his superior leadership (that nasty “great day” for George Floyd speech), showing a 13.3% unemployment report… which would have been a huge improvement over April’s 14.7% statistic.

“Unfortunately, after delving into the footnotes of the numbers, it now looks like the jobs report has been inaccurate for the last two months. [The federal Bureau of Labor Statistics] has admitted that government household survey takers mistakenly counted about 4.9 million people as employed, although they were unemployed…  Had the mistake been corrected, the unemployment rate would have risen to 16.1% in May. The corrected April figure would have been more than 19.5%—rather than 14.7%.” Forbes, June 8^th.

But as the economy is reopening, even before the impact of the person-to-person contact engendered by mass protests against the murder of George Floyd and continuing racial injustice is measured, “Coronavirus Cases Are Rising in More Than Half of All U.S. States.” Newsweek, June 5^th. We seemed to be headed towards a second wave infection, even as most of the nation remains in denial of the risk or is at least willing to take additional risks, especially for vulnerable citizens, to get commerce restarted. Regardless of health risks, economic restrictions are lifting fast. The racial injustice protests, people willing risk infection in crowds just to make their voices heard, simply underscore the ever-widening political gap in this country on so many issues.

Bottom line: the United States seems to be severely divided between “law and order” advocates, who believe strongly in aggressive police tactics versus people who believe that we have crossed the line and become a police state. When the White House resorted to the use of tear gas, rubber bullets and pepper spray to disperse lawful and peaceful protesters in Lafayette Park across the way over a presidential walk to the adjacent St John’s Episcopal Church, unleashing US troops and senior officers on law-abiding citizens properly exercising constitutional rights, battle lines over constitutional rights were drawn.

When the result of that presidential walk was a mere photo opportunity showing the President holding up a bible in front of that church, the rage that was impacting those protesting against the killing of George Floyd and for racial justice grabbed the attention (and the condemnation) of a slew of retired most senior military leaders, from former Joint Chiefs Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen,  former Trump-appointed Secretary of Defense and former Marine Corps General James Mattis (supported by former Trump Chief of Staff and former Marine Corps General John Kelly) to George W Bush-appointed, former US Secretary of State and Army General Colin Powell. The nation was clearly facing a constitutional crisis. Donald John Trump had crossed the line and was attempting to use the US military to carry out his personal political agenda against unarmed, peaceful and lawful American citizens. His own attorney general also no longer represented the nation or the Department of Justice; William Barr had become a mouthpiece for the President.

Rallying his base with imagery, Trump appeared to mimic the “strongman tactics” used by Richard Nixon against Vietnam War protestors – under the mantle of “law and order” Nixon claimed to be demanded by the “silent majority.” It was a different time, and the Nixon legacy was erased by subsequent his resignation in disgrace from the Watergate scandal. But as the polarization that infects America widens, as the COVID-19 pandemic eroded some of this nation’s foundational assumptions, the November election appears to pit a hierarchical right wing view aimed at “protecting” American traditions under iron fist of an autocrat against the aspirations of that portion of America that simply wants a return to normalcy under democratic and constitutional values. Those aghast at tactics typically used by dictators against those who oppose them were faced with a choice.

And for those who wonder, could America democratically choose to become a dictatorship? While the Constitution is designed to allow majority rule while protecting certain inalienable individual (and often minority) rights, those same elections choose those leaders who are charged to enforce and apply equal protection under the Constitution. Thus, if the majority vote for leaders that oppose those constitutional rights, which leaders choose either not to enforce those rights or interpret their way around those rights, the entire system fails. The presidential election in November asks the following unavoidable question: Do we want a “strongman” autocracy or an attempt to restore constitutional democracy? As I have said before, pick one.

            I’m Peter Dekom, and assuming there is an election in November, a Trump victory probably ends our constitutional democracy, which we should no longer really be allowed to call the United States of America.