Perspective 145. Trump's Conviction: A Turn for the Better?

Twelve of his fellow New Yorkers have judged Donald Trump guilty of criminal acts. Does this mark, at long last, the restoration of sanity and the rule of law?

No. So long as there remains a serious prospect of Trump returning to the White House, the United States is still a democracy in decline.

In perspective, never before in our national history has a defeated presidential candidate moved to seize power illegally by trying to rig states’ electoral votes and intimidate Congress. That he remains a viable candidate for any elected office, even as dog-catcher, is an index of vast moral bankruptcy.

Only once before, in 1876, was there a serious dispute over conflicting slates of electors, in that case from three southern states in the throes of Reconstruction. Behind this were conflicting claims over the certifying bodies in these states, and the matter was settled by a special commission established by Congress.

In 2000 the official certification of George Bush’s victory over Al Gore in Florida was challenged in court, but upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court. In conceding defeat, Gore said “while I strongly disagree with the court's decision, I accept it. I accept the finality of this outcome.”

But there was no problem with the official certifications, many by Republican officials, of official returns in the seven states where the Trump campaign organized fake slates of electors and forged certification documents submitted to Congress. Many of those involved are being prosecuted; some have pled guilty. The trial of Trump himself, for his part in these criminal acts, in unfortunately unlikely to take place before the election.

And what of the claims of election fraud used to justify the fake elector scheme? Trump filed some 63 lawsuits in support of his claims, but not one of them produced evidence of substantial fraud.

Yet in a recent poll of U.S. citizens, only 62 percent regarded the election of Joe Biden as legitimate. Apparently a third of the public places loyalty to Trump over intellectual honesty.

When a third of the electorate is transfixed by blind loyalty, we are no longer living in a stable democracy. Herein lies the road to authoritarianism.

Should Trump return to the Oval Office, it is surmised, he will dismiss the federal indictments against himself. The United States would then no longer stand as a democracy where no one is above the law.