The new decade in American politics has started with a hangover that keeps on getting worse – a quickening of the downward democratic spiral we have witnessed over the past 30 years. So much of what has gone awry has been resident in the trial of Donald Trump.
The partisan vitriol. The degradation of debate. The use of what were previously rarely used weapons – in this instance impeachment – to escalate America’s ceaseless political war.
This sorry saga has offered yet more proof that, far from being an aberration, the Trump era is a culmination.
In their rush to impeach Donald Trump, the Democrats also decided not to fight a lengthy court battle for the right to hear testimony from Bolton and other White House aides. This opened them up to the criticism that the process was a naked political play rather than a grave constitutional undertaking.
On Tuesday night, we witnessed American polarisation play out in real time. During the impeachment trial it often seemed that the very idea – and ideals – of America was on the stand. A broken politics, a broken democracy, a broken country.
Is the United States beyond the point of repair?
Article submitted by, WayOutWest.
