4 ms·

America lucked out. It would be hard to credit any single feature when the stakes were so high and the results so close.

mmastrac 4y ago
If anything, those four years showed how poorly the system holds up against bad actors simultaneously in all branches. I'm not sure how you can solve that, though.
- altacc 4y ago
  And those 4 years are not over yet, the echoes continue.
- 1270018080 4y ago
  Yeah, it's an extremely fragile system and it only takes a few dozen people out of 350 million to end democracy in this country. - You only need a few dozen state reps in a few swing states to override the popular vote and choose their own electors. - 51 senators to reject the election results. - A rigged Supreme Court that could choose a case from a lower court related to elections and rule whatever they want. We think we have a robust and stable democracy, but we're already halfway there in most of these events.
- titzer 4y ago
  Corruption is a rot, slow, like a corpse decomposing. It's an ongoing process that is only opposed by daily actions of cleaning off barnacles. America collected a lot of barnacles from those four years, and the rate at which they've been purged is probably too low. The recent spate of anti-voter laws and gerrymandered districts just shows the steal is ongoing.
- hackyhacky 4y ago
  I am reminded by Julius Caesar, who, unlike Donald Trump, was smart and competent. Caesar pushed against institutional democracy in Rome (such as it was) and found that very little pushed back.
  - ncmncm 4y ago
    Only one of the stab wounds was fatal. Without the one (barring sepsis), he would have been emperor himself. Not that it ended up helping any.
    - AnimalMuppet 4y ago
      The one destroying the republic was gone, but the destruction remained.
      - ncmncm 4y ago
        Gaius didn't destroy the republic, he just wanted to be the one to step up to the throne of its shambline corpse. And it would have worked, if not for those meddling... senators.

mmastrac 4y ago

If anything, those four years showed how poorly the system holds up against bad actors simultaneously in all branches. I'm not sure how you can solve that, though.

altacc 4y ago
And those 4 years are not over yet, the echoes continue.
1270018080 4y ago
Yeah, it's an extremely fragile system and it only takes a few dozen people out of 350 million to end democracy in this country. - You only need a few dozen state reps in a few swing states to override the popular vote and choose their own electors. - 51 senators to reject the election results. - A rigged Supreme Court that could choose a case from a lower court related to elections and rule whatever they want. We think we have a robust and stable democracy, but we're already halfway there in most of these events.
titzer 4y ago
Corruption is a rot, slow, like a corpse decomposing. It's an ongoing process that is only opposed by daily actions of cleaning off barnacles. America collected a lot of barnacles from those four years, and the rate at which they've been purged is probably too low. The recent spate of anti-voter laws and gerrymandered districts just shows the steal is ongoing.
hackyhacky 4y ago
I am reminded by Julius Caesar, who, unlike Donald Trump, was smart and competent. Caesar pushed against institutional democracy in Rome (such as it was) and found that very little pushed back.
- ncmncm 4y ago
  Only one of the stab wounds was fatal. Without the one (barring sepsis), he would have been emperor himself. Not that it ended up helping any.
  - AnimalMuppet 4y ago
    The one destroying the republic was gone, but the destruction remained.
    - ncmncm 4y ago
      Gaius didn't destroy the republic, he just wanted to be the one to step up to the throne of its shambline corpse. And it would have worked, if not for those meddling... senators.