Donald Trump and the movement he represents are not “just” a matter of politics: They are effectively a public health crisis that touches all areas of American society and life.
These assaults on democracy and a humane society are emotional, physical, spiritual, psychological, economic, intellectual and material. Trumpism and fascism attack reality and truth, seeking to replace them with what social psychologists have described as a state of “malignant normality."
The result of these assaults is a collective state of trauma, anxiety, lack of direction and growing despair about our futures as individuals and citizens of a supposed democracy. These negative emotions are amplified by existential fears about global climate disaster, disruptive technologies such as AI, wars in multiple areas of the world, past and future pandemics and other unpredictable crises.
Fascism and authoritarianism are like opportunistic predators. They seek out societies in crisis whose dysfunction and brokenness allow them to flourish.
If Trump and his MAGA forces take back the White House, whether by fair means or foul — a once-unthinkable prospect that now seems increasingly likely — that might finally mean the end of innocence for those Americans who have deluded themselves into believing that “we are better than that."
I don’t think SCOTUS would throw him a bone, personally. For better or worse (usually worse), they are constitutional originalists, but there’s nothing in the Constitution that says presidential candidates can’t be in prison or sent to prison during campaign season.
I agree with you, but the “originalists” have abused even that notion to the point where they use originalism as an excuse to do whatever they can get away with.
Only time will tell, and I can appreciate the notion that they haven’t exactly been unbiased and even in their assessments.
The current court has already shut down or deferred to lower court rulings regarding voter suppression. Just because they’re wild-eyed conservatives doesn’t mean they owe Trump anything or will kowtow to him.