Danger for democracy

In the wake of the violence in Charlottesville, Va., it’s clear the United States has reached a uniquely dangerous moment for its democracy. Not because neo-Nazis and white supremacists paraded openly in the streets, proudly proclaiming their gospel of hate, and a young woman was killed while resisting them. The U.S. has witnessed worse displays of bigotry and seen much greater loss of life in conflicts over race and fundamental values.

The threat comes because the country is led by a man who has profited from the rise of these dark forces, and who had to be prodded and shamed into finally condemning them.

Even then, when President Donald Trump emerged on Monday to speak about the events in Charlottesville, he couldn’t bring himself simply to denounce the neo-Nazi fringe right. He insisted on prefacing his remarks with a self-congratulatory statement about the rising stock market and the million jobs he claims have been created since he took office.

The clear implication was that this is the important stuff, and the scripted comments that followed, proclaiming that “racism is evil” and denouncing hate groups, “including the KKK, white supremacists, neo-Nazis and other hate groups,” were a mere footnote, something his advisers had talked him into making.

One thing about Trump is that he’s transparent. He puts his emotions on full display and those Americans who like him find that a refreshing change from the cautious, calculating nature of so many politicians (Hillary Clinton springs to mind).

So it’s easy to tell when he’s speaking from the heart and when he’s just going through the motions, ticking off talking points his advisers insist he must make.

On Monday, Trump was clearly going through the motions. His opponents and allies alike had been on his back for 48 hours after he so obviously failed to do the bare minimum for an American president in the immediate aftermath of the violence in Charlottesville: condemn, without qualification or reservation, the extreme right fringe of U.S. political life.

So he went out and did exactly that: the bare minimum. He mouthed the words but his heart wasn’t in it.

This matters. Americans look to their president in these moments, and every president in the modern era has found the words to denounce racism and hate when it mattered most. Bill Clinton channeled outrage against the ultra-right after a much more horrific attack (the Oklahoma City bombing that killed 168 people in 1995). Even the much-maligned George W. Bush went to an Islamic centre in the wake of the 9/11 attack and spoke forcefully against the temptation to blame all Muslims.

Hate, violence and racism have always been a cruel reality of American life. What makes the difference is whether leaders and institutions can rise to the challenge, push back forces of injustice and make progress toward a more complete democracy.

With Trump, Americans for the first time in decades have a president who is at best indifferent to this ongoing struggle. Much worse, he has pushed in the opposite direction. He has consciously played on the hopes and fears of those tempted by the white nationalist cause and sent encouraging signals in the direction of a movement traditionally banished to the darkest corners of political life. Co-thinkers occupy positions in the White House itself.

Regardless of whether this reflects Trump’s inmost feelings, or is just the product of a twisted political calculus, it is beyond shameful. In itself this alone should disqualify him from holding the office of president.

The danger to democracy comes from both above and below — from a president who fails in his most essential duty to decency, and from a movement given new life by the erosion of traditional institutions.

The longer Trump remains in office, the more damage will be done.

— Editorial by The Toronto Star