For our democracy to survive, this must end

As a riotous mob of thousands stormed our Capitol, I watched in shock. Stunned. My heart broken.

This will be remembered as one of the most shameful moments in America’s history. A moment that has left the free world gasping in horror, and democracy’s many enemies — Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong-un and Xi Jinping, to name a few — chortling with delight. Most troubling, it was entirely predictable.

This is no time to mince words: The president of the United States and his enablers openly incited a large swath of citizens to violence with a toxic brew of conspiracy theories, dangerous nationalistic tropes and outright lies. The blame falls squarely upon the politicians, cable networks and social media outlets that amplified and reinforced these misguided beliefs. Indeed, the blame falls squarely upon everyone who knowingly perpetuated the insidious lie that the election was stolen.

Don’t let Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Vice President Mike Pence or other politicians fool you by their belated certification of the election results. These are the very people who for the last four years enabled Trump’s misdeeds by excusing his unending lies to the American people. They made a deal with the devil for lower taxes, conservative judges and positions of power. They got what they wanted. Now the bill is coming due.

I want to be optimistic, but I have no idea how to put the genie back in the bottle. I now regard as quaint my naive belief that American democracy would remain a constant beacon of freedom and justice. Even after the mob assault on our nation’s Capitol, craven politicians such as Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Josh Hawley of Missouri sought not to restore faith in democracy but to profit politically. Rather than reassuring the public and admitting there was no evidence of widespread election fraud, they kept pandering to the QAnon quislings and unwary voters they disingenuously deluded into distrusting Biden’s victory.

For our democracy to survive, this must stop. It was no accident that the rioters included infamous White supremacists and conspiracy theorists. It was no accident that some carried Confederate flags. It was no accident that they erected gallows outside the Capitol, clamored for violence and spewed hatred towards their fellow citizens.

These people are not patriots. But they are traveling a road well paved by every politician who failed to denounce Donald Trump’s ceaseless onslaught on our democracy these last four years. In an almost unprecedented show of cowardice — with rare exceptions — these politicians remained silent while Trump wantonly eroded the rule of law, condemned the free press, demonized immigrants, mocked science and unabashedly undermined the sanctity of elections. It may already be too late. The Republican Party must move quickly and decisively to disavow Trump. His assaults upon the pillars of our democracy may not be as jarring as this week’s assault on our Capitol, but they are far more dangerous in the long run.

Phillip Halpern was an assistant U.S. attorney for 36 years in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in San Diego until 2020. He lives in Mission Hills.