America against itself
Can the experiment work?
Gordon L. Weil
The November congressional elections are widely seen as a
referendum on President Trump.
Will a divided country approve his presidency or try to restrain
his actions during his last two years in office. The choice may turn out to be about the kind
of government Americans now want.
In his first Inaugural Address, George Washington said that “the
preservation of the sacred fire of liberty, and the destiny of the Republican
model of Government, are justly considered as deeply, perhaps as finally, staked
on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people.”
The age of reason had led to the creation of a republican form
of government with power ultimately in the hands of the people. Breaking with centuries of royal rule, the
American system was an “experiment.”
Ancient thinkers had argued that government by the people
would fail. It could be subverted by a
public whose interests and values turned elsewhere, poor leadership, decadence
and foreign enemies.
But Americans gradually gained confidence that the experiment
could succeed, though two events – the Civil War and the Great Depression – forced
restarts in the process. For almost a
century, American history has moved slowly toward making the experiment successful
and the model for the world.
In the past 33 years, five presidents have each produced an
historic achievement that was evidence of the nation’s continual, if unsteady,
progress.
President Bill Clinton led the nation into a period of domestic
prosperity and Pax Americana, the maintenance of global peace under its
influence, to a post World War II high point.
President George W. Bush undertook educational reform,
expanded Medicare by adding prescription coverage, and made the U.S. the world’s
leader in fighting AIDS, a disease that threatened millions.
President Barack Obama symbolized equality and led the
creation of a national health insurance program – the Affordable Care Act –
that opened medical care to millions who previously could gain only emergency
room attention.
President Donald Trump, faced with a stunning worldwide pandemic,
took swift and bold action to encourage the rapid development of Covid vaccines,
providing both reassurance and recovery to millions.
President Joe Biden developed a massive public works program
to reverse the downward course of the economy resulting from the Covid pandemic
and initiated the largest U.S. effort ever to slow environmental degradation.
None of these presidents was immune from controversy or
error, but the system worked to produce progress.
Despite this halting progress, an increasing number of
people have come to believe that the government was not working for them. The representative form of government did not
yield an economy in which they could prosper or health care that provided adequate
protection. They see a government
responsive to special interests and not to them.
Faith in the American experiment faltered. Perhaps a strong leader, brushing aside the checks
and balances inherent in that experiment, might be better able to produce
results. Donald Trump promised that he
could, and a majority of voters accepted those promises.
In the first year of his second term, Trump reversed or drastically
reduced virtually all the major accomplishments of recent presidents. Their aspirations and the normal processes of
the America government were replaced by the will of a single person, relying on
a single election victory. The
institutions of the federal government yielded to authoritarian innovation.
Democrats, opposing this change, seek to recover their role,
presumably believing that they can restore confidence in the American system,
because Trump is an aberration, benefitting from frustration that their party can
overcome.
Liberals are convinced their analysis is correct, and the
country will come to its senses and return to constitutional traditions. They fail to understand that MAGA believers
are similarly convinced that their view is correct, have written off the experiment
and prefer authoritarian rule.
Neither side shows confidence that they represent a strong
majority of the people. The Democrats are
split between moderates who believe the country can be put back on track and progressives
who want to move the track. Failure to reconcile
this major difference could undermine their chances of regaining power.
The Republican Party is dead, replaced by MAGA partisans,
Republicans in name only, who reject the party’s traditional positions on the
environment, the economy and public spending. This GOP tinkers with voter access, trying to cling
to office.
It would be reasonable to conclude that “it must get worse,
before it gets better.” At that point,
the people would decide if the experiment can be pursued or if the country reverts
to authoritarianism, the historic default.
The alternative to both is chaos.
By imposing his values, cancelling programs, closing
agencies, and taking the nation to war, Trump makes his case for ending the
experiment. He may force voters to make
their choice on the ballot in November.
