We're understandably squeamish about any serious punishment that can be perceived as "political." Understandably because the state power to punish has often enough been abused to crush the already oppressed when they rise up, and so deter further opposition and even dissent.
If, however, we believe in our democracy, then we must believe i…
We're understandably squeamish about any serious punishment that can be perceived as "political." Understandably because the state power to punish has often enough been abused to crush the already oppressed when they rise up, and so deter further opposition and even dissent.
If, however, we believe in our democracy, then we must believe it is an adequate, if imperfect, vehicle for expressing opposition, and confine such expression to our elections and peaceful advocacy processes. Refusal to accept election results is a direct and dire threat to any democracy, however sophisticated or well established. And the bar for electoral challenges is certainly higher than "I couldn't have lost because I couldn't have lost," which is really all the US or Brazilian Stop the Stealers had to say for themselves.
Our electoral processes do need reform and greater trust-earning transparency. But that is not the case Trump or his followers (domestic or foreign) were making. Their case was that government is illegitimate and has no right to function if they didn't win. That is truly and immediately dangerous, and could have been still more deadly than it was.
The fact that those apparently responsible for Jan. 6 have not been charged, given their day in court, and, like any other defendant, if found guilty, met with punishment commensurate with their most serious crime, is a clear enough signal that our democracy's self-esteem is too low to risk upsetting a minority that already has little or no respect for it. Lenience can be a sign of understanding, compassion, and indeed strength -- but that is not the feeling that emanates from governmental timidity in this particular case.
The lack of accountability for the instigators and ringleaders has the additional very unfortunate impact of disillusioning those in the majority about justice, and anything like the equal application of the law. The public loses interest along with faith. What's the point of paying attention when we know the script has been written and, as we suspected, has no accountability in it? A jaded, cynical public can erode and corrode a democracy just as surely as an insurrectionist mob can attack it.
We're understandably squeamish about any serious punishment that can be perceived as "political." Understandably because the state power to punish has often enough been abused to crush the already oppressed when they rise up, and so deter further opposition and even dissent.
If, however, we believe in our democracy, then we must believe it is an adequate, if imperfect, vehicle for expressing opposition, and confine such expression to our elections and peaceful advocacy processes. Refusal to accept election results is a direct and dire threat to any democracy, however sophisticated or well established. And the bar for electoral challenges is certainly higher than "I couldn't have lost because I couldn't have lost," which is really all the US or Brazilian Stop the Stealers had to say for themselves.
Our electoral processes do need reform and greater trust-earning transparency. But that is not the case Trump or his followers (domestic or foreign) were making. Their case was that government is illegitimate and has no right to function if they didn't win. That is truly and immediately dangerous, and could have been still more deadly than it was.
The fact that those apparently responsible for Jan. 6 have not been charged, given their day in court, and, like any other defendant, if found guilty, met with punishment commensurate with their most serious crime, is a clear enough signal that our democracy's self-esteem is too low to risk upsetting a minority that already has little or no respect for it. Lenience can be a sign of understanding, compassion, and indeed strength -- but that is not the feeling that emanates from governmental timidity in this particular case.
The lack of accountability for the instigators and ringleaders has the additional very unfortunate impact of disillusioning those in the majority about justice, and anything like the equal application of the law. The public loses interest along with faith. What's the point of paying attention when we know the script has been written and, as we suspected, has no accountability in it? A jaded, cynical public can erode and corrode a democracy just as surely as an insurrectionist mob can attack it.
Our two systems of justice are the culprit. More evident in the cause, such power, money v. poverty could not be clearer.