Founders couldn't imagine this authoritarian from within

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

By Sid Schwab / Herald Columnist

Around 250 years ago, give or take, a group of mostly young, liberally educated men, imbued with revolutionary fervor and committed never again to live under authoritarian rule, argued and compromised their way to creating a nation based on enshrined, secular law and the unprecedented notion that its citizens would have the ultimate say on how and by whom they’d be governed.

Perhaps, if the Framers had included women and non-whites, it’d have been more bulletproof. (As it were.)

Those men were farsighted and preternaturally brilliant, but not enough, tragically, to have envisioned the ease with which, centuries later, through a combination of dishonest media on one side and cowardly ones on the other, plus diminished public education and increasingly militant Christian nationalism, not to mention an ideological Supreme Court removing voting protections and allowing anonymous millions of dollars to buy elections, citizens could become enthralled by a pathological liar, fake Christian, malignant narcissist seeking power for personal aggrandizement and vengeance against those who’ve seen him as he is and called him on it.

During his popular-vote-losing “presidency,” Donald Trump appointed 44 cabinet-level people, 40 of whom are now urging us not to vote for him. His highest-ranking general has described him as “fascist to the core.” His former secretaries of State and Defense, among others, warn of existential danger should he regain the presidency. His consistently debunked election lies are believed by nearly half the country and are the basis for legislatures in Republican states limiting access to voting by people likely to vote against them, under the pretext of preventing fraud, which, except for the occasional Republican (X: tinyurl.com/itsRs4u), is virtually nonexistent (Brookings: tinyurl.com/nofraud2u).

https://www.heraldnet.com/opinion/schwab-founders-couldnt-imagine-this-authoritarian-from-within/

[Klarkashton]

1. Let's face it the founders were a cabal of high talking authoritarian

Slave holders.

[TwilightZone]

2. The author gives the founders too much credit.

There were many concessions to slavery, including the Electoral College, which have led us directly to where we are right now.

The founders are also the ones who left much of the power to administer elections to the states, with little federal oversight.

It's a bit ironic that the author notes that Trump lost the popular vote, when it's those same founders who made the popular vote irrelevant.

[unblock]

3. Tired of this idiocy that the founders couldn't have predicted a tyrant.

They were obsessed with protecting the government against tyranny and the constitution has many features to do exactly that.

They had no illusions about it being bulletproof, they understood that sometimes revolution is the only protection against that.

They also understood that it was an ugly compromise. Many did not want slavery at all, but they valued independence from king George iii more highly and felt it necessary to have all 13 colonies united so the constitution had some features designed to protect slavery, some of which remained even after slavery was abolished.

That it has survived for a quarter if a millennium is testament to their genius, never mind that it evolved to include women and free the slaves.

Was it perfect? No.
Is it perfect? No.

But it is facile to look back 235 years and say they fucked up because eventually, after four decades of corruption and propaganda starting with Reagan/gingrich/hate radio/foxnews enabled Donnie to become president and possibly become president again while spouting overt fascism.

[bucolic_frolic]

4. It's taken 4-9 years to have these discussions in full public view.

Unreal.