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The victory of Donald Trump, the death of democracy. Fear the future.

Umito November 6, 2024

“The cause of death was partisanship, authoritarianism, and a population that, by and large, cared so little about its future that it elected an insurrectionist as its new president. »

Ray Marcano
| Guest columnist

Ray Marcano, a longtime journalist, is the former national president of the Society of Professional Journalists, a two-time Pulitzer juror and Fulbright fellow.w. He is a frequent contributor to the Columbus Dispatch.

Democracy, the great American experiment in which the people governed through their elected representatives, died on November 6, 2024. It was 248 years old.

The cause of death was partisanship, authoritarianism, and a population that, by and large, cared so little about its future that it elected a insurgent as its new president.

The election marked the beginning of an era of unchecked presidential power, brought about by a soulless government. Supreme Court of the United States which ruled that Donald Trump can do whatever he wants to whomever he wants, as long as he presents his actions as an “official” presidential duty.

“Too bad,” said the ghost of Thomas Jefferson , one of the founding fathers of the country. “We have a new self-evident truth. We ourselves are responsible for the death of democracy.”

James Madison also lamented: “I once said, ‘Knowledge will forever rule ignorance.’ Was I wrong. Look at all the people who voted for a man who swore to destroy the Constitution and pins for generals like those who served Hitler.

Democracy was born on July 4, 1776in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, when the Second Continental Congress unanimously approved the Declaration of Independence, the document that set the country on the path to democratic pride by separating from its overseer, England.

At the time of signing the declaration, John Adams, founding father and future president, said: “I am well aware of the labor, blood and treasure it will cost us to maintain this declaration, and to support and defend these States. Yet through all the darkness I see rays of light and ‘a ravishing glory. I can see that the end is well worth any means.’

He declared that this day should be commemorated as “the Day of Deliverance”.

In the modern world, “deliverance” has become “indifference.” Voters ignored Alexander Hamilton’s warning about a demagogue hogging power and inciting violence. This warning went unheeded.

Almost from the start, certain challenges threatened to fray and even dismantle democracy.

Jefferson and Adams clashed in the election of 1800, an ugly affair in which both sides demonized each other through hateful rhetoric and behind-the-scenes negotiations designed to steal the election. (Sound familiar?)

Riots in major cities – New York (1863, 1977), Los Angeles (1992), and Cincinnati (2001) all challenged the rule of law and threatened to plunge society into chaos.

Abroad, Germany could have conquered the world if the United States had not intervened in World War II.

Today, as countries like Italy, Hungary, and Finland fall to extremists, others are looking to the steadfast and solid longevity of a great American ideal. Democracy is healthy in the most stable country in the world, and that gives people hope.

But democracy fell ill on January 6, 2021, when a deluded Trump revived his supporters with fraudulent election lies. Thousands of people stormed Capitol Building140 were injured and five were killed.

The Capitol riot was the start of a four-year illness of lies, vitriol and partisanship from which democracy has not been able to recover. Every time doctors thought democracy was on the verge of a cure, Trump and his lemmings created another invented controversy that caused his supporters to angrily question democracy’s intentions. Non-citizen electoral fraud. Haitians in Springfield, Ohio eat cats and dogs. The economy is terrible. Worn out, the light of democracy has gone out.

Democracy survives because of the Bill of Rights, the Constitution, and the Emancipation Proclamation. Other survivors included George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy, and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.; Generals Douglas McArthur and Robert E. Lee; the civil rights movement and the women’s rights movement, as well as all those who have faith in a system that would be fair to all.

There will be no visitation or service.