Terry Bracy: Awakening

On June 1, the Washington Post reported on the story of April Burrell, a former medical student that was recently miraculously revived from a catatonic state after twenty years. That same week Americans witnessed another awakening when moderate Republicans in congress arose from a decades-long stupor to defeat the extremists in their ranks who seemed willing to destroy the dollar for some imagined political advantage. The brinkmanship revolved around the raising of the debt ceiling, a mandatory act of fiscal responsibility which the far-right Freedom Caucus sought to demagogue in the most cynical terms.

Failing for the first time in history to pay our debt would have been the equivalent of suffering a financial nuclear blast, and Speaker McCarthy’s stewardship through the roiling political storm started by his own caucus was an impressive instance of political clout. The Freedom Caucus took on the role of the bully who draws a line in the sand and dares you to cross it. The Speaker did as he must, crossing that line and smacking them square on the nose. It was a terrific moment for the Republican Party, and for the country, made even better because victory in the House required the help of Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries as well. For one great moment, compromise had returned to the People’s House.

Then in a grand jury room in Miami, a group of ordinary citizens acted to restore the principle that no American is above the law by charging a former President with crimes for the first time in our nation’s history. While the cult of Trump followers cried foul, most Americans were finally awakened to the dangerous lawlessness of a former leader who closets precious secrets in a bathroom and brings them out occasionally for buddies to see.

Donald Trump has done inestimable damage to America, not merely by arguably treasonous abuse of nuclear secrets and war plans, but even more by demonstrating to America’s next generations that the law doesn’t matter when you are rich enough to buy politicians and endlessly employ lawyers. He has written the functional handbook on how to get away with bank fraud, obstruction of justice and sexual harassment. Dallas Morning News senior columnist Carl Leubsdorf rightly refers to Trump as the Houdini of American politics, but every instance of his escape artistry leaves us weaker and more divided.

Even now facing a forty-nine page list of criminal indictments, he plots to escape punishment through the good offices of the trial judge Aileen Cannon who proudly proclaims her MAGA roots and membership in the Jefferson Society, a right-wing cabal who pushed Trump to appoint her to the bench in 2020. Federal judges have broad authority in the cases they preside over, from delaying scheduling to dismissing cases outright. In an earlier civil case involving Trump, Judge Cannon posited that he deserved special consideration as a former President. This is the sort of grubby influence peddling characteristic of your typical tin pot dictatorship. I believe most Republicans and Democrats alike know we are better than this. Let's hope they have the courage to say so.

From Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil to Viktor Orban in Hungary to Narendra Modi in India to Trump himself, the global trendline of the past decade has tilted worryingly in the favor of authoritarianism. Cloistered away in billionaire backed think tanks, ultra-right wing ideologues have wondered openly if liberal democracy has outlived its usefulness, at least insofar as it remains an impediment to their will to power. Movementarian spokesmen like Tucker Carlson openly support Vladimir Putin and his illegal war on democratic Ukraine. Many MAGA republicans in America have openly adopted the authoritarian playbook of lying about elections, subverting voting rights and attempting to intimidate those who speak out against their agenda. It has, in short, been a nightmare.

Luckily nightmares have endings — all it requires is to wake up. We are by no means free and clear from the current threat to democratic norms. But between the debt ceiling compromise and the slow but steady process of bringing former President Trump to justice, we are finally showing signs of stirring from our slumber. Not a second too soon.