U.S. health damaged

What is happening in our country, in our politics, that allowed a president to maneuver so deeply into authoritarian territory with such minimal pushback from his party? Rather than standing up for truth, most Republican Congress members are sinking deeper into a cult of personality. The disturbing events surrounding Jan. 6 should be viewed as a warning. While we may be eager to move on, the health of our democracy needs our sustained thoughtful attention.

We owe it to our democracy to seriously ponder the magnitude of what happened—so many vital democratic norms so brazenly violated. Only those unwilling to look at facts could continue to believe the big lie. Why would the secretary of state in Georgia, a Republican who voted for Trump, withstand death threats to his family in order to steal the election for Joe Biden? Why would Liz Cheney risk ending her political career unless she was standing up for truth?

Despite the overwhelming evidence to the contrary, Donald Trump continues the big lie fully knowing the harm and confusion it creates for his own supporters. How could his ego-serving deception conceivably be viewed as patriotic and not as damaging to our nation’s health?

If the former president had managed to successfully overturn the valid election results, can anyone believe he would have stopped after those anti-democratic maneuvers succeeded? Vladimir Putin, Viktor Orbán in Hungary and Erdogan in Turkey were all initially democratically elected, but subsequently in a stealthy fashion began to dismantle democratic institutions. The first anti-democratic step is almost never the last. History sounds the alarm—if “our” party’s political strongman cheats to win an election, it won’t be long before everyone’s freedom is jeopardized. We were given a chilling audition. May the mercy of God be with us if we repeat the mistake.

JERRY HENDERSON

Little Rock