Exploring and explaining the threat and damage that violence and intimidation have on a democratic society.

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Intimidation! We see it everywhere in the U.S. today. We see it as people exhibit a willingness to indulge their prejudices and biases through violence and intimidation of those who do not fit their prescription of what an American should be. And there always are an abundance of guns. We see it with the proliferation of mass shootings. We see it in the actions of the police at times with certain segments of our society. And, most of all we hear it in the shrill voice of Donald Trump who uses his position as an ex-president to spew hate and incite violence against any who would oppose him. We saw what occurred at the Capital on January 6, 2021.

Remember, in politics, power is power. Once you have it you get to use it. As George W. Bush said, you get to be "the decider". How you got it becomes somewhat irrelevant. Trump has fine-tuned that idea. "You can't tell me what to do!" "If I don't agree with you, I will destroy you so I can keep power, so there!" Some would say, "Why would I want power if I couldn't abuse it?"

We see judges and jurors under threat. We see election workers under threat. We see legislators under threat. We see the or electoral process and the very foundations of our democracy under threat.

This is too much like the German brown shirts in the 1930s. An attempt by a leader to impose their belief system on the public by intimidation and under threat of violence. These are the tactics of tyrants.

This makes a mockery of our system of law and justice which is the very base of a civil democratic society. If the law can be flaunted or simply by-passed, then only solutions imposed from the top and justified with intimidation and violence will rule the day.

Once we release the old gods of violence and destruction, "red in tooth and claw", it is very difficult to find ways to confine them again.

How do we protect against intimidation and violence? Our governmental structures are not enough and are constricted by the rules and laws, or the simple inaction, of an ineffectual and mostly dysfunctional Congress and a complicit Supreme Court.

So, what do we do? The solution often comes down to citizens remembering what it means to be a citizen in a democracy. It means that you must pick up the responsibility of citizenship which is to act to defend that democracy. It is not someone else's responsibility"the courts, the government, the police"to keep the system functioning, it is ultimately up to the citizens who believe in democracy enough to stand up to defend it.

If you are unwilling to stand up to a bully, the bully will rule and put his minions in charge of your community. Collectively we must stand up to regain our society.

It is time for the formation of citizens groups available to protect those who are under threat or are being otherwise intimidated. To simply stand between the bullies and their target, not to confront them with violence, but to show that the community is there to support the victims and to prevent any kind of intimidation and/or violence.

Then the courts can take over to deal with those who carried out the threats or who incited the threats.

There is no reason for the courts to be slow about this. Just think how quickly justice is meted out when it is about blacks, or minorities, or immigrants, or Muslims; any who might pose a threat.

Time to "screw our courage to the sticking point" and act with the determination of American citizens who truly value our democracy and its processes.

Authors Website: http://substack.com/@bobpassi

Authors Bio:

American democracy is not a static system; it is a living experiment that must be renewed by each generation. Having lived through the arc from the hopeful decades following World War II to the turbulent politics of today, I write with a deep concern for the future of that experiment. I am a retired educator, consultant, and social commentator who has spent a lifetime observing American political and cultural change and advocating for civic engagement and social responsibility. My recent book, Saving Democracy: From the Warnings of 2016 to the Urgency of 2025, updates and expands my original 2016 book. It examines how the United States arrived at its current political crossroads-- and how renewed citizen awareness and engagement may help reclaim the democratic promise. I write regularly at www.perspectives-bobpassi.org and on Substack at bobpassi.substack.com, where I explore democracy, personal empowerment, and the deeper cultural narratives shaping our time. My work focuses on the long arc of American democracy and the cultural forces that shape its future.