“The greatest hazard of all, losing one’s self, can occur very quietly in the world, as if it were nothing at all. No other loss can occur so quietly; any other loss - an arm, a leg, five dollars, a wife, etc. - is sure to be noticed.”― Søren Kierkegaard, The Sickness Unto Death: A Christian Psychological Exposition for Upbuilding and AwakeningIn these fraught times, what are critical thinkers to do, other than to muse and despair? It is a question I often ask myself as I watch the United States implode, and worry that the sickness that has besieged its people is having an undeniable influence on politics in Canada. One needs only examine our crazed right-wing for evidence of that.
But the problem seems much worse south of the border, largely due to the cowardice of those seeking the Republican presidential nomination or currying other political favour. With few exceptions, they would rather see the American Republic fall than reduce their own competitive chances. They have freely given themselves over to the darkest of human impulses.
Some Republicans in Congress are still willing to criticise Trump on certain issues and a few, such as Senator Mitt Romney of Utah, are outspoken in their conviction that he is unfit for office. Others, such as Congresswoman Liz Cheney of Wyoming, have either retired or been ousted.
But most party leaders have stayed silent and fallen into line, apparently terrified of alienating Trump’s fervent support base in what critics describe as political cowardice. Even his main opponents in the party’s presidential primary race have dodged the issue or endorsed his claim of a Democratic witch-hunt and “deep state” conspiracy.
And the sad truth is that with each indictment, Trump's popularity amongst his unhinged base increases. Without principled opposition, that cannot change.
Rick Wilson, a Republican strategist and co-founder of The Lincoln Project, which is merciless in its denunciation of Trump, makes some observations worth noting.
“Not one of the serious candidates – there aren’t many in the primary field – are making any kind of argument other than this is illegitimate, this is wrong, [special counsel] Jack Smith’s the real criminal, all these crazy things. Not one of the serious ones is saying this guy should be in prison, not in the White House.
“I don’t think this is a moment where Trump has been harmed in the primary; it’s solidified it. He’s going to be on TV every minute of every day for weeks and weeks and weeks and every time that happens the fundraising for the other Republicans dries up, their ability to communicate a messaging stops, none of it works. The whole thing is set of perverse incentives and it’s an almost inescapable trap for the rest of the field.”
A different set of rules seems to apply to the orange demagogue. Seemingly without consequences, he openly mocks, slanders and threatens those who stand in his way.
At a court hearing in Manhattan in April, Justice Juan M. Merchan, who is overseeing Mr. Trump’s state prosecution on charges stemming from a hush payment to a porn actress, warned the former president to refrain from making comments that were “likely to incite violence or civil unrest.”
Justice Merchan’s admonition came after Mr. Trump posted on Truth Social saying that “death and destruction” could follow if he were charged in the case in Manhattan.
That same month, Judge Lewis A. Kaplan, who was presiding over a federal rape and defamation lawsuit filed against Mr. Trump by the writer E. Jean Carroll, warned the former president to stop posting messages about the case. The ones he had already written were “entirely inappropriate,” the judge said.
Mr. Trump had derided the case on social media as a “scam” and personally mocked Ms. Carroll.
After the hearing in front of Justice Merchan, Mr. Trump returned to Florida and to his customary practice, calling the district attorney who brought the New York charges against him, Alvin L. Bragg, a “criminal,” and Justice Merchan himself “a Trump-hating judge with a Trump-hating wife and family.”
Days after Judge Kaplan issued his warning, Mr. Trump attacked him too, saying on a trip to one of his golf courses in Ireland that the judge was “extremely hostile.”
We live in dystopian times, times when selling one's soul for political gain has become commonplace; those who should be protecting their democracy with every fiber of their being have abandoned their responsibilities as they jockey for personal gain.
Sadly, there appears to be few who are willing to save the people from themselves.
