Bad Faith

“Fight against the normalization of the unacceptable,” Christiane Amanpour” counseled Americans after the 2016 election. That fight has not been successful. Republicans heartily endorsed the unacceptable; for the past four years they have acted, almost en masse, in bad faith. As Jennifer Rubin wrote in one of her Washington Post columns yesterday, “By now it should be obvious that President Trump and the Republican Party have exploited with authoritarian viciousness a system that depends on good faith and restraint.”

American democracy will not be saved by passivity on the part of Democrats. Unlike Republicans, they must act in good faith and with good will. But if they can secure control of the presidency and both houses of Congress next January 20th –– an almost even bet –– they must act decisively to restore and strengthen the institutions of democratic governance and protect them against future assaults by the forces of malice, greed, and dogma.