Like everyone else, I look forward to a summer of reconnecting with family and friends and relishing a good ole Fourth of July barbecue – unmasked! But I will be doing so with a pit in my stomach, because just beneath the surface calm in America, volcanic forces are gathering that could blow the lid off our democracy. We are living in a fool’s paradise. Enjoy it while it lasts.
Three recent news stories have me terrified:
First are the unfolding reports about how Donald Trump’s Justice Department secretly seized the personal data of journalists and Democrats in Congress from phone and tech companies while investigating leaks, and even secured Trump’s own White House counsel’s data. Now imagine what would happen if Trump was re-elected in 2024 by his cultlike following and he didn’t have to worry about facing voters again?
Second are the efforts by Republican-dominated state legislatures to pass voter-suppression measures to retain power and reinstall Trump and his imitators.
And third, as The New York Times just reported, “homicide rates in large cities” – many of them run by Democrats – were “up more than 30% on average last year, and up another 24% for the beginning of this year.” Soaring murder rates and policing are becoming huge Republican and right-wing-media talking points. Democrats are vulnerable.