Read it!

It is riveting, to say the least about it. It is the most shocking document about the actions of a U.S. president ever written. It cannot be discounted as political hype. It has to be read, all forty-five pages of it. It is a tale told in detail about how our country nearly lost its democratic chops. Read it!

The story, our story, begins with stark simplicity …

 “The Defendant, DONALD J. TRUMP, was the forty-fifth President of the United States and a candidate for re-election in 2020. The Defendant lost the 2020 presidential election.”

Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but not their own facts, not even “alternative facts.” A federal grand jury alleges that Donald J. Trump attempted to overthrow the peaceful transfer of power on January 6, 2021. They brought four charges against the former president:

1.   DONALD J. TRUMP, did knowingly combine, conspire, confederate, and agree with co-conspirators, known and unknown to the Grand Jury, to defraud the United States by using dishonesty, fraud, and deceit to impair, obstruct, and defeat the lawful federal government function by which the results of the presidential election are collected, counted, and certified by the federal government.

2.   DONALD J. TRUMP, did knowingly combine, conspire, confederate, and agree with co-conspirators, known and unknown to the Grand Jury, to corruptly obstruct and impede an official proceeding, that is, the certification of the electoral vote, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1512(c)(2).

3.   DONALD J. TRUMP, attempted to, and did, corruptly obstruct, and impede an official proceeding, that is, the certification of the electoral vote. (In violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1512(c)(2),

4.   DONALD J. TRUMP, did knowingly combine, conspire, confederate, and agree with co-conspirators, known and unknown to the Grand Jury, to injure, oppress, threaten, and intimidate one or more persons in the free exercise and enjoyment of a right and privilege secured to them by the Constitution and laws of the United States—that is, the right to vote, and to have one's vote counted.

For those of us who do not spend a lot of our free time reading court documents, this is an easy one to read. Although there are unindicted co-conspirators, the charges rest solely on former President Trump. Obviously, he pled not guilty.

Many dispute the charges, based on desire, opinion, or hope, but not the facts. The voting process was disputed in 60-plus cases across the country and found wanting. Those responsible for bringing false claims are unnamed co-conspirators.

The trial that ensues from the formal accusation will be one of the most important in our nation’s history. It will be fought with every legal nuance available to either side of the argument, as it should be. In the end, it is the job of the prosecutor to prove that Trump did what is alleged. Until a jury finds he is guilty of any of the four felonies, he is presumed innocent.

One segment of the indictment states clearly that the former president’s statements about a lost election are protected by his First Amendment rights, and the charges do not challenge that right. He is charged for what he did, not what he said, or how he said it.

Why should we average Americans get worked up over these allegations? Do they really have an effect on our lives? Of course, they do if we like the idea of a democratic government and our ability to elect our own leaders.

Two weeks after the Department of Justice indicted the former president on four serious counts, he was indicted again by a Grand Jury in Fulton County, Georgia for violation of Georgia’s RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization) law. The Georgia RICO law is much stronger than the Federal act. In addition, the Grand Jury named eighteen co-conspirators with similar charges. Should we get worked up over these allegations too? Well, yes. Again, as always, the person charged is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

 

The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll, conducted in June 2023, found that only one in ten U.S. adults give high ratings to the way democracy is working. Forty-nine percent of Americans do not think that democracy is working. If half of its citizens do not think the political system is working, can it be far from a failed state?

In a June 2023 article in The Atlantic, Peter Turchin discussed his extensive research on failing states. He and his staff looked at the history of hundreds of states during the last one thousand years and evaluated them on several criteria. His article, America is Heading Toward Collapse, identifies two categories shared by most failed nations: “The first is popular immiseration—when the economic fortunes of broad swaths of a population decline. The second, and more significant, is elite overproduction—when a society produces too many superrich and ultra-educated people, and not enough elite positions to satisfy their ambitions.”

That describes the current situation in the U.S., doesn’t it? Wealth has moved to the few oligarchs while the middle and lower wage earners still struggle with inflation and stagnation of wages in the last two decades and a lack of conspicuous consumption funds. All along we hear the clamor from the non-urban areas about unfamiliar and unwanted cultural change by the educated elite.

And then there is the Congress and the state legislatures, whose members are all fighting for the support of the primary voters and ignoring the wishes of their contingent of moderates and independents. In state after state, legislators are passing laws related to abortion, gun safety, and gender identity that most of their constituents do not support; all the time, they seemingly ignore inflation, wages, healthcare, climate change, and other kitchen-table issues.

In a nation divided, a new CBS News/YouGov poll found that 53% of likely GOP primary voters considered Trump a source of truth compared to 42% for religious leaders.

If one reads the indictments against the former president, nearly 40 pages outline the actions that led to Count 1. The story is almost hour by hour over a period of months, with supporting documentation. It will be hard for any lawyer to argue successfully for a “not guilty” verdict. The evidence, if true and provable, tells the story in detail of a deliberate effort by a cabal of associates trying to change the outcome of the 2020 election.

But polls show that about half the country believes Trump and not the evidence. That is a serious situation but more serious is the fact that about half the country does not consider the charges serious enough to not vote for him.

Too much evidence, for me at least, points to vital institutions losing the respect of the nation. When Congress is considered a failure, the courts are not trusted, attempts to overthrow the peaceful transfer of power are ignored or considered peaceful demonstrations, wealth moves to the few and capitalism is questionable as an effective economic system, one must consider the possibility of a failed state. The last time that happened we endured a Civil War.

We can do better.

What are the first three things you would do, if you were in a position to do them, to save our democracy?