Democracy for Dummies?

Now that impeachment mode on Capitol Hill is picking up speed and moving into full swing, people are asking all kinds of questions. Questions like “If the President of The United States held a press conference at The White House without wearing any pants would he be impeached?”

Or, “ If he wasn’t wearing his pants during the press conference BUT didn’t hold the press conference at The White House could he still be impeached?”

Hey, wait a minute. Why did Republicans insist on impeaching President Clinton for his consensual tocade with Monica Lewinsky, but then insist that Trump’s very public request for foreign powers China and Russia to interfere with our elections was not an impeachable offense? Why the double standard?

Interesting questions to be sure but not the ones Americans should be asking. Here are the only ones that really matter:

Why would freedom-loving Americans want to elect an autocratic, self-serving businessman — and not a dedicated public servant — to be the 45th President of the United States?

And, why would so many citizens in our American democracy keep defending and supporting Trump and enabling his demagoguery to continue?

These important questions go right to the heart of the matter now before us. Unfortunately, the answers have more to do with wishful thinking and outright ignorance about the nature of business in America than with impeachment itself. That is, too many anti-impeachment Trump supporters just don’t get it. They don’t understand that the way business has evolved in this country poses a dire threat to our freedom, to our very way of life…Especially since an unscrupulous (dare we say sleazy?) businessman now holds one of the most powerful, important jobs in the United States — even the world.

They don’t seem to understand that businessmen like Trump are incapable of any kind of real public service. Why?

Because there is no democracy in the workplace. It simply does not exist there.

There is no democracy in the workplace. There never has been. There never will be, either, because the vast majority of business owners insist on operating their businesses like kings(and queens) would — not like common managers would. That’s why our freedoms guaranteed by Constitution evaporate as soon as any company or business hires you. As soon as you get hired, you become their hired hand, their worker bee, their SERF. That’s because the owners of these workplaces preside over their capitalistic operations like autocratic lords — like feudal land barons overseeing the peasants they control.

Make no mistake about it: THEY DO CONTROL YOU. They control when you eat and sleep; and, when and how you spend most of your working day. And if you want to keep working and earning the money you need to survive, you’d better obey The Man or The Man will wreak all kinds of havoc in your life. Not just in the workplace but, ultimately, in your private, personal life as well. Bye-bye, freedom. Hello, paycheck.

So, again, I must ask the obvious question: Why did so many voters in 2016 believe a businessman like Trump, with no experience as a public servant, could handle a democracy? He couldn’t. He can’t. It’s not in his nature as a businessman. That’s why he’s been treating our nation like a giant department store that he alone can “manage.” Forget about working for the common good. His natural impulse isn’t to serve the commonweal. It’s to bully and manipulate others into making money, money, money — for him. (Come on, dear readers. You must know there are more Mr. Potters than George Baileys in the workplace.)

Trump can’t serve the public because the public is supposed to serve and adore and pay continuous homage to him. It’s all about him, not The People.

In defense of The Donald, however, I must point out that his ascent as Mad King of America would not have happened without his enablers. As President, he can only gain and exert as much power as his diehard supporters allow him to get away with on a daily basis. He can only flex as much anti-democratic muscle as his Gop Cult and adoring supporters allow him to do. Surprise! They’re letting him do whatever he wants. They’re letting him say whatever he wants. He’s their new Machiavellian Monarch for the 21st Century. And they’re okay with the way he’s slowly dismantling the very workings of our government so it won’t work anymore.

Let’s face it: Disgruntled voters wanted to drain the swamp, but they elected a snake who appointed more snakes in his administration and made the swamp even swampier. But this snake also turned out to be a fascist demagogue who boasted he could literally get away with murder. Gee, what a guy!

As long as he’s slowly eroding women’s rights, undermining Roe V. Wade, and appointing ultra-conservatives with no background experience to serve as judges, the GOP machine and Trump’s clueless supporters are okay with him. Their reward for being so lenient and supportive? Demands for even more blind loyalty from this conniving yet obnoxious blowhard encased in expensive tailored suits.

Now his GOP brigade must show him loyalty by going along with his lies about Russia and the Ukraine and his ubiquitous quid pro quo. Now they must band together in the Senate during his upcoming impeachment trial to make sure he remains in office. But when will Trump’s toadies finally wise up and rise up against him?

For our democracy’s sake, let’s hope the answer is “very soon, before we all have to bow down to a fascist dictator.”

Remember this, Republican Enablers: if you fear his mean tweets so much that you must do his bidding, you’re not operating in a democracy. If you’re too scared to impeach this demagogue, you’re actually preserving AND creating his demagoguery. If you’re that afraid to rise up against this President’s abuse of power, you’re enabling — and encouraging — one man to eventually erase our freedoms and destroy our democracy as we know it.

Is that what you really want to do?