My Take: Our democracy is facing a 'perfect storm'

Friedrich Nietzsche once said, “In individuals insanity is rare, but in groups, parties, nations, and epochs it is the rule.”

While today’s America is certainly proving the veracity of this quote, it leaves the question, “What makes once otherwise rational people succumb to this madness.”

Perhaps the answer lies in the philosophical dilemma of the “great person vs. events” paradigm. Succinctly put, this debate ponders whether some people are born into greatness regardless of the historical events surrounding them, or if instead these events elevate otherwise ordinary people to greatness.

As is often the case, the answer is probably that elements of both are needed.  However, what America needs to be wary of is that if this paradigm can create greatness, it can also create evil.

For example, there is little doubt that Adolf Hitler was an evil man. But, if it were not for the bitterness and chaos omnipresent in post-World War One Germany, coupled with a plethora of people willing to enable Hitler’s evil, millions of lives might have been spared.

Sadly, we are seeing a similar perfect storm rising to engulf America in a tsunami of political insanity, courtesy of Donald Trump.

By 2016, simmering anger over the election of America’s first African American president had left a bitter taste in many people’s mouths that Trump was able to feast upon. He also had the advantage of not having served in political office at a time when antipathy against the government was growing, and thus could pose as an “outsider.” In addition, his opponent, Hillary Clinton, was not a popular choice, and her candidacy was not helped by James Comey’s last-minute “investigation” into her email controversy.

Added to this storm was an atavistic and anachronistic Electoral College system that for the fifth time in American history (and twice since the dawn of the new millennium) empowered a man who lost the popular vote to be sworn in as president of the United States.

Now, thanks to this nation’s highest court, this storm grows more ominous. Ever since Bush v. Gore in 2000, the Supreme Court has been on a zealous quest to destroy democracy. This campaign was enhanced by its Citizens United (2010) and McCutcheon (2014) decisions, which basically allowed wealthy corporations and individuals to buy their very own politicians.

Unfortunately for America, being the beneficiaries of the most crassly politicized, unethical, and corruptly manufactured Supreme Court in the history of the United States is not enough for its current so-called “justices.” They have sycophantically become infected with the disease of MAGA cultism as well, which not only compelled them to obsequiously embrace a Trumpian immunity claim that even a first-year law student can see is bogus, but also delaying the hearing in this case until its last day in session, thus potentially achieving Trump’s goal of not going to trial in his federal criminal cases before the 2024 election.

And therein lies the danger. Trump has made it implicitly clear that his quest for the presidency has nothing to do with the good of the nation but is instead designed to personally insulate him from criminal prosecution.

Also, lest we forget, one thing that enabled Hitler was the dual policies of “appeasement” and “isolationism.” If Trump is elected, there is substantial risk he will apply these policies in response to the military aggression of Vladimir Putin, who appears to not only be seeking to rebuild the former Soviet Union but may even have his sights set on the Eastern European nations that were once part of the Soviet orbit.

Finally, this perfect storm is being completed by questions about current president Joseph Biden’s mental fitness. While this is a legitimate concern, little is being made of the possibility that Trump may be suffering from this same malady, but in a more malignant form. Biden, for example, appears to suffer from benign forgetfulness, while Trump seems to be suffering from delusional megalomania. And history has repeatedly shown it does not end well when people and nations give power to such individuals.

John Harington once said, “Treason never prospers. What is the reason? For if it prospers, none dare call it treason.”

The perfect storm that will end democracy in America, perhaps for all time, is now brewing. It is time to call it treason while we are still able to do so.

— David R. Hoffman, retired civil rights and constitutional law attorney, South Bend, Indiana .

This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: My Take: Our democracy is facing a 'perfect storm'