We Have No Defense Against A Smarter Trump

There is a gaping whole in the fabric of the U.S. constitutional system, one that has been horribly exposed and presents a danger that all Americans, regardless of political affiliation, should be able to unite to confront.

The danger of an autocratic, ambitious person rising up to throttle what democracy we have in this country is very real and has perhaps never been more apparent than it is right now. Yes, Donald Trump is out of office, but the wounds he left are yawning and inviting the next aspiring autocrat to take his place.

Some have made the staggeringly incorrect argument that Trump’s final departure and the failed attempt to subvert the 2020 election by legal means and then by use of illegal force show that our democracy is strong and can beat back challenges. In fact, both prior and subsequent events have shown that the opposite is the case.

The bulwarks against a president assuming dictatorial power were woven into the constitution and had been thought to be robust. Trump showed them all to be as ineffective as vapor. It is only Trump’s own lack of strategic thinking, his megalomania, and his overreach that saved us, despite his proving the constitutional barriers illusory.

Trump’s desperation to hold on to office led to that overreach. His insistence that the election was rigged, despite having no substantiating evidence, led to an attempt to coerce a different outcome by violence, an attempt that simply didn’t have enough mass participation to succeed, although it did attract enough true believers to shake the country to its very core. Even some of his Republican supporters had to support calls for legal action against the perpetrators of the violence, even if they did not join the calls to pursue a case against Trump and other inciters of the uprising.

Impeachment is the most obvious tool to pursue such charges with, and it has been used in the past to some effect. While Richard Nixon was not impeached, he is the sole historical example of both parties uniting to condemn the actions of a president who exceeded his authority. The threat of an impeachment that was going to be supported by his own Republican party was enough to force Nixon’s resignation.