Donald J. Trump, convicted felon - what should WE do next?
31 May 2024
As noted by the New York Times: “Donald J. Trump’s run of luck in his criminal cases has expired. . . His streak ended minutes after 5 p.m. on Thursday, as 12 jurors found Mr. Trump guilty on all 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover up a sex scandal that could have imperiled his 2016 presidential campaign.”
What should we do next?
[n]othing is guaranteed about our democracy in America. Every generation has an obligation to defend it, to protect it, to preserve it, to choose it. Now, it’s your turn. President Biden.
1. We have to reclaim our responsibility for our government and get more involved in political institutions. In the United States, sovereignty rests in its citizens, not its public officials. Popular sovereignty is the principle that the leaders of a state and its government are created and sustained by the consent of its people, who are the source of all political legitimacy. Benjamin Franklin wrote, "In free governments, the rulers are the servants and the people their superiors and sovereigns". Perhaps in “normal” times, we could ignore these responsibilities, but today, our democracy is threatened.
2. We have to commit to accepting the rule of law. That means we support our Constitution and court system, even if we disagree with particular results.
3. We should support the Democratic Party in the 2024 election as it is the only major political party committed to the rule of law and the Constitution. It is clear that the leadership of the Republican Party in 2024, now basically a cult of Donald Trump, does not believe in the rule of law. Any other choice in this election - voting for a third party, not voting, or voting Republican, shows opposition to the rule of law and the Constitution. Perhaps another conservative party will arise that believes in the rule of law, or the Republican Party can revert to its prior beliefs, but that will take years to decades to occur. Those who believe in the rule of law and the Constitution, whatever their other political beliefs, should vote Democratic in the 2024 election.
4. We have to do more than talk. Talking is useful primarily to help us decide what we will do. But ultimately, our country moves forward by people doing something in our political system. Of course, we all should vote. We can also:
Encourage others to register to vote
Volunteer to work at the polls
Join an organization that is either political or works on a political issue
Join a campaign
Write a check
Other ideas are listed below.
This election is between Democracy and Dictatorship. If Trump wins, he will never give up power and neither will Republicans. What we do makes a difference, even if we don’t see it. Complexity theory describes how a grain of sand dropped on a sandpile doesn’t seem to do anything either. Yet it causes a subtle change in the internal structure of the sandpile so that when grains continue to be dropped, at some point a single grain of sand will restructure the sandpile. Similarly, our actions may not seem to have much of an impact, but ultimately they will change society. All of us must think about what is possible for us to do and to move in that direction.
What will you tell your friends and family you did to preserve democracy?
Essays on what you can do
Political change is often slow, 5 April 2024
What you can do to save democracy, according to Jocelyn Benson, Michigan's Secretary of State, 27 February 2024
2024 resolution: Save democracy, 31 December 2023
Effective government requires our participation, 12 October 2023
Thoughts from Jennifer Rubin about what you should be doing, 22 September 2023
What you can do to promote democracy, 25 August 2023
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