US democracy is about to die

[StandFirm]

... So many indicators for this, the most recent is Trump calling for the DoJ to go after his enemies:

Dear American friends, I hope you find a peaceful way out of this. As for us here, I can only hope we keep the contagion at bay.

It’s not coming over as particularly robust at the moment, however well designed. Planes taking people out of the country to detention in San Salvador were ordered by the judiciary to turn around today. They didn’t.

This action is alarming, but it doesn't signal the collapse of our institutions.

Let’s hope you’re right for the sake of all of us.

I wouldn’t speak for us all, it’s still a democracy here 😊 I actually think this is too important to hide in a corner somewhere. It impacts us all.

If only it weren’t a singular action.

Oh honey if this is too much for you maybe stick to threads that talk about mother's day arrangements.
Don't trouble your women brain with big political talk 😉

To preface: I don't mean to badger you too much, nor trash the US - I think we're having a good and reasonable discussion where we do not fully agree but, equally, I feel that we're not miles apart.

I do not think that the US's democracy is a particularly strong one. I'd point to The Economists Democracy Index which, since 2016, has ranked the US as a "Flawed Democracy" (for clarity, despite the year of publication, not directly linked to Trump).

There's a good graphic here, with a slider that allows you to see changes in the Index over time: https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/democracy-index-eiu?time=2016 (which shows that the backsliding of democracies is not isolated to the US). It will be interesting (perhaps terrifying) to see how the US scores in the coming couple of years.

Polarization and gridlock, election integrity, executive overreach and judicial impartiality were areas where the US's democracy was already performing relatively poorly in comparison to "Full Democracies". At least 3.5 of those issues are becoming far more acute (I'm counting the front half of "polarization and gridlock") and new issues have since emerged.

I cannot stress enough how much I want to see your democracy hold (and improve), not least because of the importance of US in relation to democracies around the world. Alarm bells are loudly ringing and I just want to ensure they are heard.

The U.S. democracy isn’t perfect no democracy is but it’s resilient.

This is pretty ignorant. Regimes can, do, and have changed throughout history.

The idea that modern western democracy is impervious to any influence is exactly the type of thinking that has led to this situation. People think everything will be okay because things can't change that much!

Trump openly admires and covets the idea of dictatorship. I'm hoping that this will die with him, but who will be his Republican successor? Will too much have irrevocably changed by the end of his

Before jumping to conclusions, take a moment to study my previous posts. I’ve never claimed democracy is unshakable quite the opposite. The strength of U.S. democracy lies in its ability to withstand pressure, adapt, and endure. History proves regimes can change, but it also proves resilient institutions push back. Trump’s rhetoric is one thing; the system’s response is another. The real question isn’t whether democracy can be challenged it’s whether it can hold. And so far, it has.

It has held, in that you could not reasonably say (despite me unreasonably saying so, earlier) that the US is no longer a democracy.

On the other hand, even before Trump's re-election, it hasn't "held" in the sense that it has (over time) become less of a democracy. Further, I think (and this is not a fringe view by any stretch) that there are significant and compelling reasons to think the US will cease to be a democracy within the next few years.

That is not to say that, should it cease to become a democracy, that it's democracy cannot be re-asserted. It is, though, harder to remove an authoritarian regime that has displaced a democracy than it is to simply preserve one. The easier battles may already have been lost, even if the war is not over.

It’s been tested, no argument there but to say it will cease to be a democracy is a stretch. The system has taken blows, but it’s built to endure. Institutions have bent, not broken. Democracy isn’t a fixed state; it’s a constant battle, and so far, the U.S. has held the line. The bigger question it’s whether the guardrails still work. And despite everything, they do for now.

The White House ignored a Court order

American Rule of Law on the line here.

The USA is holding hands with Russia - previous presidents spinning in their graves - and Trump is cooking up deals whereby US military can do as he likes - with Russian approval and collusion, as together they can't be opposed. Trump gets the bits of W Europe and other places he likes the look of, Putin get his previous satellites back and together they stand against China, dividing up the spoils between them and their slimy supporters. Will US military back Trump? Maybe but he's got an armed militia who are his lapdog prepared to support him against opposers if not. Brexit was the first brick in the W Europe wall, constant techno brainwashing is doing the rest, populism appearing desirable to the lunkheads. Look at the idiots calling for Farage to be PM. It would be laughable if the situation was less desperate. But it's not.

I love your posts. But. It is quite fragile. Look at countries like Turkey… The world is becoming more authoritarian with a quarter of the world’s population under democratically backsliding governments.

I think you're underestimating the extent to which the US's democracy is at risk. Here's a peice by Politico's Legal Editor which touches on it a bit more:

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2025/01/31/trump-defy-constitution-third-term-00200239

And there are good reasons to think that preparations for "Option 4" are underway.

For example, Project 2025's agenda, that the WH seems to be implementing, includes plans to replace federal civil service workers with political appointees that are loyal to Trump and to dismantle certain government agencies (including the DoJ and DHS) in manners that would undermine election security and allow the sitting administration to have far greater influence of investigations into alleged election fraud.

Trump has also been heavily signalling his intention to ignore the Judiciary. He has, today, done just that. I have little doubt that he is testing the waters today, by ignoring a court order relating to a matter (deportation of criminals) where the public are not likely to be overly concerned with his unlawfulness. I fully expect this is just the start of that.

I really do think you should be far more alarmed than you appear to be.

Project 2025 promises a future where power is consolidated and institutions reshaped to serve a narrow agenda. It’s an attempt to tighten the grip on democracy, not strengthen it. But here’s the truth democracy, in its truest form, thrives on diversity of thought, accountability, and checks on power. The very things Project 2025 seeks to weaken.

Democracy will always be better than this agenda. It’s messy, it’s flawed, but it works because it forces compromise, keeps leaders accountable, and guarantees that no single ideology or faction can control everything.

Well, yes, no argument there. The point I make is that plans for the subversion of the next election have already been made (with parts reduced to writing) and what we appear to witnessing is those plans being put into action.

While it's easy to jump to conclusions, the idea that "plans for the subversion of the next election have already been made" is speculative and lacks concrete evidence. Just because certain actions or statements may raise concern doesn't mean there's an orchestrated plot to undermine the election.

Is that ai talking?

Trump has been undermining the 2020 election results for the last 4 years

We need to reject the idea that democracy is fragile in the face of rhetoric and instead reaffirm that it’s robust because of the systems of accountability, the rule of law, and the commitment of citizens to safeguard it. History has shown that democracies, though imperfect and often strained, can adapt and endure even when tested by individuals or movements seeking to undermine them.

Democracy only exists based on the rule of law - Trump has gone from breaking the law whenever it suits him and then fighting it in court ("act first, seek forgiveness later"), to actively ignoring the courts ("don't bother seeking forgiveness").

That's the significance of this. Despite having control of both houses and the Supreme Court, his administration didn't bother to make it even look like they were following the law. Or, more to the point, they didn't feel like they needed to; they could've batted it up to the Supreme Court and won there, but they just got on with what they wanted to do anyway. That's a hugely important transition, a watershed moment that you don't come back from in a hurry - if there are no consequences that come out of this (and there won't be, because they've fired everyone who could do anything about it), then this is just the first of many.

There are no longer any checks or balances that matter. I'm sorry, but to believe otherwise is delusional.

That wasn'r my question or point

Recognizing and addressing these issues is crucial for restoring faith in democratic institutions and ensuring that future administrations uphold the principles that sustain our democracy.

But the point is that no one in the US is reinforcing it's robustness. Democracy isn't fragile when faced with rhetoric, no, but Trump has been preparing for this for 10 years and the complacency before him is nothing more than carpet for him to walk across.