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Opinion | Donald Trump’s rise reflects all that ails the democratic system. Can Joe Biden fix it?
- The clear and present danger to modern liberal democracy is a distorted system, where the rule is ‘heads I win, tails you lose’
- If there is one lesson for Asia, it is that violence cannot be an answer to the democratic process
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A week is a long time in politics. On Wednesday last week, armed supporters of Donald Trump stormed the US Capitol, the temple of American democracy. On Wednesday this week, he became the first American president to be impeached twice.
Next Wednesday, Joe Biden will be anointed president, protected by 20,000 National Guard members, not against foreign enemies, but domestic threats. This was supposed to happen only in Hollywood films.
Consider these bizarre facts: the pandemic is claiming more than 4,000 deaths a day in the US; digital media such as Twitter, YouTube and Facebook have banned their own president; US stock market indices are still rising, and bitcoin has surged.
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World shocked by assault on the US Capitol by radical pro-Trump supporters in Washington
World shocked by assault on the US Capitol by radical pro-Trump supporters in Washington
The article of impeachment stated in terms starker than most foreign commentators would have dared the failings of Trump: “President Trump gravely endangered the security of the United States and its institutions of government. He threatened the integrity of the democratic system, interfered with the peaceful transition of power, and imperilled a coequal branch of government.
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“He thereby betrayed his trust as president, to the manifest injury of the people of the United States. Wherefore, Donald John Trump, by such conduct, has demonstrated that he will remain a threat to national security, democracy, and the Constitution if allowed to remain in office, and has acted in a manner grossly incompatible with self-governance and the rule of law.
“Donald John Trump thus warrants impeachment and trial, removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honour, trust, or profit under the United States.”
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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi summed it up: “He is a clear and present danger to the nation”.
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