Dear Trump voters: Last year, when Democrats said, “Democracy is on the ballot,” we meant that President Donald Trump was a threat to America’s institutions and norms. But Trump was also tapping into a deep democratic value. Many of you felt government and other elites didn’t know you, didn’t care about you, and disrespected your values. A vote for Trump was a demand to be heard.
We don’t expect to be heard by this administration. But you won’t be either. This is already the least democratic administration in memory, for three unprecedented reasons.
First, Trump is unchecked by law. He has already issued a record number of unconstitutional executive orders. As for checks and balances, Congressional Republicans fall in line, no matter how far he goes, and his stacked Supreme Court believes in total presidential impunity.
Second, he is unchecked by principle. He can be bought, and any position he took during his first term, in the campaign, or this morning can be replaced in a moment by whatever does more for him.
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Third, and most importantly, he is unchecked by the people. Those receiving an audience at Mar-a-Lago are billionaire donors and the bosses of the attention economy; Elon Musk, of course, is both. Many administration insiders, including the vice president, are adherents of the belief that we need a return to monarchy. Regular Americans, handy for votes and for filling rallies, are no longer needed.
This is an imperial presidency like America has never seen, where insiders get what they want and the rest of us get shut out. You might like some of what Trump does. We might, too. But if he listens only to his inner circle, the rest of us will be voiceless.
There are Republican leaders who didn’t sign up for this. We must ask for their courage — not to abandon their conservative principles, but to insist on transparency, rule of law, and responsiveness to the public. And, Democrats must stand with them rather than scoring political points. Tomorrow, we can fight each other on the issues. Today, let’s fight together to save our democracy.
Nick Pyati, Evanston, former attorney for U.S. Department of Justice, and E. Kinney Zalesne, Washington D.C., former deputy national finance chair, Democratic National Committee
Give Bedard a chance to grow
I believe it’s time that sportswriters, broadcasters and so called “fans” stop comparing Connor Bedard to Hall of Fame generational hockey players. Chicago selected Bedard as the top player in the draft. He was undoubtedly the best player at the time of his selection. However before he even laced his up his skates, he was being compared to Bobby Orr, Wayne Gretzky and in this era, Connor McDavid.
Bedard was selected number one primarily for his ability and because the Blackhawks were the worst team in the league and won a lottery.
Orr revolutionized the defensive position in hockey. Gretzky did the same for offense. McDavid had the advantage of being surrounded by a better team.
Let’s try to remember that Bedard is a very talented 19-year-old hockey player. He’s been successful on every level he’s played. We need to take a deep breath and watch this young man develop into a future Hall of Famer. We also need to remember that this is not the Blackhawks of the 2010s with Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook, etc. They were an amazing team that we were all fortunate enough to enjoy in our lifetime.
We need for General Manager Kyle Davidson to find a way to build a team around Bedard, even though he’s been hamstrung by the contracts of his predecessor, Stan Bowman. Keep the faith. Go Blackhawks!
Rick Kalin, Belmont Heights