Why are we still mired in, and being held captive like hostages, in that mythically infamous Washington, D.C. ‘swamp’ that was promised to be drained five years ago?
It’s been little over a year since November 2020 when Mr. Trump lost his presidential reelection bid but still refuses to accept his defeat. And “the big lie’ theory continues to poison the political well-being of our nation. Since then, the country has been in a constant state of fear, division and distrust. Timing and choices that affect everything in our lives may also be influencing the almost uncontrollable events sent by Mother Nature in the form of two worldwide pandemics, which has been exacerbating our civil turmoil and political unrest for over twenty months.
Once again, the cult-like Red Hatted Maga party and its enablers are gearing up for the return of Trump in his 2024 presidential bid to dump democracy and replace it with an autocratic regime led by himself as its leader/autocrat/dictator, in the style of Putin’s Russia and China’s President and Prime Minister Xi Jinping. It’s been a long- held childhood dream of his to become a king.
When We the People ask for answers and solutions to issues that are plaguing our democracy. Instead we’re denied the full truth. Instead, we’re handed even more obfuscation and finger pointing along with shifting the blame and stonewalling in the hope that we the people will tire of the issue.
And, if that wasn’t enough of a red flag warning to concern our elected officials, the country then had to deal with the ignominious January 6, 2021, insurrection. The storming of the Capitol by a band of more than 600 self-proclaimed Trump loyalists and barbarians who breached the gates at his behest, gave life to the political slur from our allies and friends by now referring to the USA as a South American banana-style republic.
The beacon of democracy and hope has not only been dimmed, it’s literally been taken away from us inside our borders by our own countrymen. All this was made crystal clear prior to January 6, 2021 in screenwriter and director Billy May’s powerful and provocative 2017 film “The Comey Rule”, that explored the Trump presidency prior to the first of his two impeachment trials. It was a prescient moment and signal to America to be on guard to the possibility of losing our democracy from within by those who covet autocracy over democracy.
May’s film highlights the lengths that then president Trump was willing to go in his war with the FBI and its director James Comey. Their relationship was poisoned from moment the director was handed a loyalty oath to sign. If signed, that would clear the way for the president to co-opt the FBI by allowing it to become politicized and weaponized for Trump’s personal war on his perceived enemies in violation of FBI rules and regulations.
The president’s revenge for Comey’s “disloyalty” was to fire the director and then continue his feud with the Agency by throwing certain FBI civil servant officials who worked for Comey out with Jim Comey’s bath water, despite the Agency’s 112 years of outstanding service, credibility, and loyalty to the Constitution and its reputation and effectiveness to the country.
Trump constantly demonized his own FBI agency at every opportunity in his vendetta to destroy it with a king-like edict of a loyalty oath he demanded from all his cabinet and department heads who were forced to sign it. Comey, however, demurred when asked to sign the oath and his refusal cost him his job.
One of the main reasons the arts and the media are still available to us is due in part to the boldness and fearlessness of both communities. It is a testament to their resolve in keeping our 2021 democracy and our citizens well informed. The main underpinning of our democracy, after all, relies on free speech and the rule of law in America. Both of these concepts have come under heavy attack over the last five years.
Now is the time for using “better late than never” as a prudent rationale for reexamining why our current political leaders lately appear to be tired of living in our 245-year-old democracy. I still feel the sting of the ominous words spoken by Russian Premier Nikita Khrushchev who (paraphrasing) smugly said “… we will bury you from within without firing a single shot…” Nonetheless, the threat of losing our democracy by any means is unacceptable, especially in today’s politically divided and angst-filled American society.
Khrushchev’s chilling words spoken 55 years ago seem less chilling now but more perplexing in 2021 because of the head scratching actions on the part of what some of our elected officials are saying and doing these days. They have all sworn an oath to protect the Constitution and by extension, we the people along with our democracy-based way of life.
Alas, it’s a pity but understandable why some Americans today feel the need to ask where one stands when it comes to politics and the nation’s future. The autocrats of the world are popping champagne corks to celebrate our embarrassment and fall from grace, and in their eyes, the United States of America is no longer the world’s greatest democracy.
Also vexing is why some of our elected officials appear to be recanting or abandoning their original sworn oaths. We have been taught that the truth to power pushback from the people will set us free. If so, why is our American way of life over the last five years beginning to look a little frayed around the edges?
The arts and our media are the best pathways to reach the people who, allegedly and ultimately, are in charge of America via the power given them through our Constitution that guarantees all U.S. citizens the freedom and the right to vote. Remember, Congress works for us not for the flawed legacy of a disgraced ex-president.
We owe it to all the people that we remain a refuge for free speech in these politically charged and perilous times. Every day in America that brings more troubling new facts and/or news about a new scandal relating to our politicians makes my heart sink a little more and I begin to worry again for our future as a democracy.
Also, I believe that it’s safe to say that most Americans are familiar with the political term “drain the swamp.” Five years ago, the incoming political players promised to drain that swamp and “Make America Great Again.” Most of our countrymen are law abiding, God fearing, patient folks, who are still waiting…and waiting… and waiting for that change to take place.
As a country we have survived many ups and downs because we are a unique and special nation. We have worked very hard in our 245 years of existence to become the envy of the world. We, however, are not perfect, but we continue in the pursuit of seeking perfection. After all, life on planet earth is a complicated, on-going work in progress.
Personally, I find it more rewarding these days to be an optimist rather than a cynic. So, this time let’s really “drain the swamp” for the right, noble, and honorable reasons. For if we fail in this pursuit, dark and dangerous days and perhaps even years, are in store for the greatest democracy the world has ever known.
-- Jack Lyons
