A clear and present danger

For well over 200 years, American elections have relied on a basic principle: the losers peacefully accept defeat. Trump and his followers represent a catastrophic departure from that history. They are not conservatives at all, but wild-eyed radicals. In the name of making America “great again,” they are trashing the very traditions that ensure American greatness. “We are in a dangerous place at the moment,” Ben Berwick, counsel for the advocacy group Protect Democracy, told the Times. “There is a substantial faction in this country that has come to the point where they have rejected the premise that when we have elections, the losers of the elections acknowledge the right of the winner to govern.” That’s why it’s critical for Congress to pass a package of reforms, now being crafted by a bipartisan group of senators, to plug loopholes and clarify ambiguities that this “substantial faction” could exploit in the future to thwart the democratic process. One rule would reinforce Mike Pence’s insistence, in the face of Trump’s pressures, that the vice president has no authority to alter or question election outcomes. Another would make it much harder for members of Congress to challenge results reported by the states. A third would strengthen the authority of the federal judiciary to overrule renegade state officials and legislatures that try to manipulate vote totals. States could also use financial help to protect election officials from harassment. The danger to democracy is clear, and it is present. True conservatives have a profound duty to stand up to Trump and his followers and confront that danger. ~ Steven Roberts teaches politics and journalism at George Washington University. https://www.northwestgeorgianews.com/catoosa_walker_news/opinion/columns/steven-roberts-a-clear-and-present-danger/article_4275c3ce-f3ba-11ec-a4ac-5f10df4a60f1.html