E pluribus unum?

As American president Donald ‘the Donald’ Trump completes the fifth month of his unlikely mandate, the wheels of American democracy continue to grind towards their inevitable conclusion. As the scandals unfold almost too rapidly to be tracked, the dreamland, reality-show nonsense he’s been peddling to a credulous audience has been crumbling rapidly at his feet. His most famous – and infamous – promises, like his Mexican wall, ‘draining the swamp,’ banning Muslims, deporting illegal immigrants, and jailing former opponent Hillary Clinton, have all been abandoned, modified beyond recognition, or been stymied by the courts.

In addition to Trump’s personal failure, is that of the Republican congressional contingent, which holds unassailable majorities in both houses. Despite spending the greater part of the last eight years assailing virtually every word or deed from former President Barack Obama, the Republican establishment, rescued from electoral decimation by an orange-tinged man on a white horse, in January found itself in a perfect position to undo the former’s most nefarious achievement, the centre of the legislative bulls-eye, the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare. Unsurprisingly, it had no idea what to do next.

For reasons that are as complicated as the American mentality itself, the United States has never been able to join the rest of the developed world in providing universal health care to its citizens – despite the obvious desire for it. An attempt led by former First Lady Hillary Clinton during her husband’s presidency was spectacularly unsuccessful, but under Barack Obama, a dog’s breakfast of expensive, compromises was hammered out that, while not succeeding in being universal, at least extended medical coverage to millions who had previously been unable to afford or qualify for health insurance.

Even that sad medley of modernity was too much for Republicans who value the freedom of capitalism far more highly than they do personal and individual freedoms, and, having designed the Act to fail in the first place, spent most of the second Obama mandate doing what they could to discredit and undermine it at every opportunity.

It should have been a glorious triumph for congressional Republicans who, aided by impossibly grandiose claims from the Orange Entity, held forth the promise of a plan that would be a better, cheaper, more efficient, and private-enterprise friendly solution, To meet those expectations, the Republican dominated House of Representatives proposed a bill that would strip up to two dozen million Americans of their coverage, impose all kinds of inhibitions to what remained and diverted untold millions into the pockets of corporate interests. This Bill was so spectacularly bad – and gained the enthusiastic support of some 17 per cent of the population – that even those who voted for it (most of whom hadn’t even read it) are hoping their Senate counterparts can fix it with a counter-proposal, faced as they are with re-election battles in 2018. In the meantime, those few Republican representatives who still dare to meet the citizen-victims of their actions are facing angry and sometimes violent mobs.

Meanwhile, in an attempt to remedy the situation, the Republican Senate has come up with its own proposal, one of which they are so proud they refuse to discuss it in public. Prior to the election, the American Congress was held in the public’s utter contempt. Its performance in this and other issues, will require a new descriptor.

Both the Trump and the Republican agendas are in deep trouble as the courts keep imposing their will on the presidency and Congress eats itself alive, but the damage the president can inflict on the country all by himself is enormous. Through executive orders and appointments, the new president has emasculated environmental regulations, rolled back diplomatic progress with Cuba and Iran, hinted at the abandonment of America’s most trusted allies, and has entangled his government into a web of dictators and feudal warlords without gaining anything in return. Through wild accusations, innuendo, and outright lies, he has attempted to undermine the credibility of the legal system, the intelligence services, the FBI scientists, and journalists with the clear goal of avoiding opposition by exerting absolute control over the message and its sources. His admiration for dictators like Putin, therefore, becomes more explicable in this light.

What is not easily explicable is the Donald’s apparent determination to tighten his, his family and his team’s connections with the Russian Republic to a degree that smells remarkably like treason, and is at least a series of egregious conflicts of interest. Already, Trump is facing demands for his impeachment and ongoing investigations by police and Congress are unlikely to shine a softer light on the scene as the major players continue to lawyer up.

Under normal circumstances, the opposition party could expect the midterm trip to the polls to be astonishingly successful for them, but these are not normal times. While the public is becoming increasingly concerned about their president and millions face severe economic pressures under the new regime, nothing has occurred to shake the deep distaste and distrust the Democratic Party has managed to accrue to its brand. While much has been said of the ‘weakness’ of the exceptionally qualified Hillary Clinton’s candidacy, few have placed quite enough focus on what made her the \inevitable’ Democratic candidate in 2016. By all rights, Hillary had earned the gratitude and admiration of the Party – and she got it. Voters, however, felt no such obligation and, aided and abetted by the propagation of anti-hillary propaganda from both right and left, and found themselves completely disillusioned by the abject manner in which Bernie Sanders was treated as he dared challenge the Party Establishment. The Democratic Party entered the 2016 election brimming with confidence in an expected rejection of Republican awfulness only to discover that much of the voting public found its own brand of awfulness no less offensive.

When the Trump presidency collapses, as it inevitably must, Democrats are going to have to find a way to present themselves in a brand-new light, divorced from personalities and leadership of the past. The mid-term elections of next year will provide such an opportunity, but only id the vested interests can allow themselves to step aside to make room not only for new personalities but for new ideas. The Trump era will also provide the opportunity for Democratic Mayors and Governors to exert leadership and present alternatives to federal policies. This is already occurring in some Democratic states who are pursuing their own climate and healthcare arrangements.

One thing is certain, however. As American discontent and disappointment in the new President grows, what should be a sure thing is anything but. People have lots of reasons to fear and loathe the Donald and the Republicans, but there is very little out there encouraging Americans to reduce their fear and loathing of the Democratic Party either. In the meantime, popular confidence in democracy itself is fading as voters opt out and some are embracing violence. We live in interesting times.