Longacre: As inauguration approaches, we’re in waiting room from hell

I think many would agree, especially friends of democracy, that now is a critical moment. Our enemy is not some foreign power but us. The guardrails that we used to count on have been weakened or are in the process of removal. These include an independent Supreme Court; control of at least one house of Congress; people of character and courage in both parties; independent, competent individuals holding cabinet positions; and a civil service staffed with hundreds of experts whose first loyalty is to the Constitution.

Instead, we are, right now, in a strange interregnum. Between now and Jan. 20, 2025, we are metaphorically locked in a room, awaiting our sentence for the crime of assuming our democracy would never vote itself out of existence. “Where did the Founders go wrong?” we ask. What we should be asking is how any human institution can last without a critical mass of goodwill and common sense. Recall Benjamin Franklin’s famous words when asked what kind of a government he had helped create: “a republic, if you can keep it.”

Ultimately, it was our refusal to listen to our better angels that did us in. Many of us voted without taking character into account. We looked at the shiny objects the propagandists told us to look at, things like immigration, inflation, the economy and crime — things that, in reality, were going in the right direction — rather than the character of a twice-impeached, 34 times-convicted felon and inveterate liar. (Remember how he didn’t know anything about Project 2025?) The evidence was all there, staring us in the face. Why did we look the other way?

We can’t give up. If we fight back intelligently, we can still save our democracy. Call your local Indivisible chapter.

Frederick Longacre

Hockessin

Reader reactions, pro or con, are welcomed at civiltalk@iniusa.org.