Trump's Campaign Announcement Represents America's Failures

A week after the midterm elections, Donald Trump announced his run for president, an event that encapsulates so many of America's failures. Here is a man who attempted to overturn a democratic election and spurred his followers to assault the US Capitol, leading to multiple deaths. We spent all summer seeing testimony from the January 6 committee to that effect. And yet this demagogue, who openly seeks an end to American democracy, is not only walking freely on the streets, he is being allowed to run for president. 

That represents a failure of our justice system to bring a criminal leader to justice. Recent moves by the Justice Department make any kind of justice impossible to see happening. Attorney General Merrick Garland has just appointed a special prosecutor, which means that we will see legal action taken against him sometime around 2045. In the meantime, he will be free to try to regain power. 

Trump running again is also a failure of our democracy to even defend itself. In a healthy republic, Trump would not be allowed to run again, even if he was not confined to jail. He was impeached twice, and both times his own party shielded him from punishment. It is hilarious to me that so many Republicans have turned on him after their poor election showing. Trying to overthrow the government was not a deal-breaker for them, but hindering their single-minded quest for power certainly is. 

Trump's return also shows our media's complete and abject failure as well. Even after this man tried to overthrow the government, they give him the benefit of the doubt. They seem to assume that their readers have been lobotomized and thus can understand the most bland, "objective" take on Trump. For example, lots of pundits have been scratching their heads and asking "why is he running so early?" The answer, to avoid prosecution for his crimes, is pretty obvious. The media is so wedded to a false "objectivity" that they refuse to even say that. 

Our system is simply not equipped to handle a criminal demagogue like Trump. The United States is a nation incapable of punishing high-ranked criminals, as Trump himself surely knows. Perhaps he will suffer in the backlash and not come close to the White House this time. Even if that is the case, he has already won by forcing the country to once again pay attention to every one of his private actions. We might be done with him, but he is not done with us.