Monster Rising to the Surface

Eric G.Weiner

It is coming up from the dark depths. It is rising and has deadly teeth. We swim merrily unaware on the surface, we splash, and we laugh, and throw Frisbees to each other, and frolic in the surf. But it is coming, and it is coming up fast.

Fifty three percent of Republicans presently think that Donald Trump is still the legitimate president of the United States. This also means 53 percent think Biden is illegally in office — the result of a stolen election. Despite all attempts by Trump and his cohorts to subvert that election, and without one iota of evidence, this is the belief of the majority of Republicans. And these Republicans are working hard at revoking the voting rights of Americans wherever they can, and by this, I mean making it more difficult for low income, impoverished, and ethnic minorities to cast a ballot.

Meanwhile, Biden’s appointed Attorney General has appealed the recent federal judgment calling for the release of the full Mueller document behind Barr’s finding Trump “innocent” of obstruction of justice. Mueller, it should be remembered, protested that this was not his finding, that he was not “exonerating” Trump, only that he could not register a charge against a sitting President because of Justice Department policy under whose mandate he was working at the time. So not only are they not going after Trump for his criminality, they are not allowing the full court-ordered document to be seen by the public. What is going on here?

The Democrats swim on the surface while the shark rises again. Unwilling to go after the aiders and abetters in Congress and in the corporate shadows, they smile and hope for the best. Fearing to further alienate the rabid right-wing, or inflaming an already hot situation, they go on swimming and playing while the beast comes up again, stronger than ever.

In Germany they also thought fascism a temporary aberration, it would all blow away. The same fear of facing something truly frightening allowed it to grow and thrive.

The fear of confrontation with the rabid right, the fear of taking strong action against the threats to democracy, just further enables the beast. It is gathering ever more strength, its outrages are now outspoken, the genie is out of the bottle, the beast is back, and it's on its way.