Is This What Democracy Feels Like?
On February 8th, a poll from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research reported: ”Just 16% of Americans say democracy is working well or extremely well, a pessimism that spans the political spectrum. Nearly half Americans, 45%, thin democracy isn’t functioning properly, while another 38% say it’s working somewhat well.” I wonder what the same poll would have revealed on February 15th? Now that Donald Trump has been impeached twice and acquitted twice, perhaps this is one of the signs that democracy isn’t working well. Unfortunately there are more. And it is unfair to blame the former president for all of the problems. The events of January 6th might have been instigated by his words, but the people who took part in the acts at the Capitol had many of these sentiments and concerns long before Mr. Trump took office in 2017. While one can point to the hypocrisy of Mitch McConnell in criticizing the president after the vote (and after Trump had given him all ...