After last night’s Supreme Court ruling, I want to share some reflections, merely as an American citizen and a voter.
I do not want any president, of any political party, to have the ability to track my vote. I do not want any president, of any political party, to be able to remove my ballot from the mail for any reason whatsoever. And I do not want any president, of any political party, to put a thumb on the scales of an election through backdoor bureaucratic maneuvering that could be kept secret until after the vote, or potentially forever.
These seem like the modest desires of any freedom-loving person. And thankfully, the high court blocked Trump’s Orwellian scheme to do exactly that — to be able to track-and-snatch ballots through the mail.
Yet at least three justices of the United States Supreme Court signaled they might someday be open to endowing the presidency with such power. Justices Thomas and Alito would’ve let it proceed, and although Justice Kavanaugh voted to block it, he wrote that a future version might well be lawful. As such, this is a morning for relief rather than celebration. It reminds me that we have to stay geared up for this fight, because we’re potentially a few judicial votes away from a death knell for our democracy.
Indeed, I’m less heartened by the Supreme Court’s action than I am by my fellow Americans.
I am in Washington, D.C. this week shooting our micro-documentary called CORRUPTIONLAND. We plan to release it before the midterms. What became clearer to me last night is that this city is filled with worried elites who see the people standing at the city limits holding pitchforks. On Capitol Hill as the sun was setting, I put the same interview question to a bunch of members of Congress as they were scurrying across the street to go vote. I asked them about a recent Gallup survey showing that 89 percent of Americans believe corruption is widespread in the U.S. government, a record high (and the first time our country has topped the entire developed world in perceived corruption).
I expected the question to catch them off guard. Instead, their faces told me that staff had shared that figure with them already. Depending on their party, the looks I got ranged from sheepish to alarmed.
The fear among Washington’s elite class is palpable. They know the people are angry, and they hear the same numbers I do. Americans are turning against the elected demagogues who think they can whistle God Bless America while chipping away at our democratic rights and getting richer off of their government service. The voters see plainly that Donald Trump is the figurehead of this corruption — a man who’s tried to take away their ballots while pocketing billions in office — and how Republicans have stood by and watched. Cheered, even.
How can any of those politicians be surprised by the angry masses gathering at the edge of town?
Of course, there’s always a risk that a pitchfork mob descends into something far worse. And there will be a time for that conversation. But right now, I see fellow Americans by the millions delivering a warning to their leaders. This cannot go on any longer. They’re speaking out lawfully, peacefully, and very defiantly.
We’ve got a very long way to go. Certainly we’ve not yet earned the eternal accolades of the revolutionary generation… or the greatest generation… or the others who stood at the precipice of democratic withering, cupped the remnants of our free society in their hands, and planted them in more fertile soil. But we undoubtedly face a mortal threat to our way of life. Our actions in these midterm elections and the years to come will answer whether we had the foresight and the resolve to do what previous Americans did. That is, to gather the seeds while they can still be saved, plant them deep, and tend them until freedom takes root for another generation.
The moment we are in is daunting. Sometimes it’s depressing. But mostly I’ve been feeling pride because it’s an honor to be alive at a time when the republic needs saving… and to be among the people determined to save it.
Your friend, in defiance,
DEFIANCE DAILY
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