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The American voters are the last hope – the last guardrail – for our democracy. The Supreme Court – the supposedly independent third branch of government – has failed in its responsibility to uphold the rule of law and hold the dictator wannabe accountable. Now only the voters can stop Trump from taking power again.

All the other checks and balances in our political system have failed. The legislative branch failed to reign in his past excesses and is now hamstrung by partisan gridlock, The executive branch dithered too long and failed to prosecute his crimes timely. The lower courts allowed too many frivolous delaying actions by the miscreant's lawyers. The Supreme Court deliberately delayed ruling on the ridiculous claim of Immunity until it was too late to have resolution before the election. Justice delayed has become justice denied.

The Supreme court has proven itself to be partisan and therefore illegitimate. The degree of immunity from accountability claimed by the Trump lawyers was clearly antithetical to the rule of law, common sense or the good of the country. The Supreme Court should not have taken immunity case at all. The appeals court had made the proper ruling. Once taken the case should have been decided in days not months. No time consuming debate or legal scholarship was needed. They should have ruled against unqualified immunity with a summary judgment. Instead in a 6-3 decision they granted almost unlimited immunity. This decision was exactly what was expected from this partisan court. They could have reached this decision much earlier. Clearly the Court delayed the decision for purely political reasons.

The Republican party also failed to be responsible. The self proclaimed party of “principles” has sold its soul to an unprincipled demagogue. They are selling the country down the river for four years of power. If Republicans had any integrity they would have refused to nominate the twice impeached, proven liar, known sexual abuser and convicted felon. But the lust for power, profit, tax breaks, and getting government “off the backs” of big business was too strong.

Politics has always required compromise and resulted in unsavory alliances. For decades the liberal Democrats were in bed with the Southern racist segregation wing of the party (and depended on them to maintain control of Congress). But the number of Republicans who have strongly and publicly condemned Trump as unfit is unprecedented. This includes primary opponents, former administration officials and even his chosen running mate. Today almost all of these people have abandoned their former principled (and accurate) assessment of Trump to join the cult. They are now lining up to kiss the ring and swear fealty to “God's chosen one.” This unseemly stampede to seek favor is proof that the current Republicans have no integrity.

Unfortunately the Democrats have also failed to safeguard our democracy. Numerous times in the past they could have enacted much needed reforms to election laws, campaign finance laws and voting rights and procedures. They failed to eliminate the Electoral College, end the filibuster or overturn Citizen's United to reign in the floods of money that corrupt elections at all levels. Trump won in 2016 because of the antiquated Electoral College.

The mainstream news media has failed to provide responsible reporting on Trump and his false and bombastic pronouncements. Too often they reported the sensationalism – his outrageous statements and behavior – while failing to provide serious analysis of his policies and their ramifications. The mainstream media largely failed to fact check his blatant lies. The Trump clown show was a money maker that increased viewers and produced “clicks” on social media. The media has always been partisan and sensational. But the reporting on Trump normalized the outrageous and hit new lows for irresponsible journalism.

So now it is up to the voters to save our democracy. This will require more than a Trump defeat in November. Trump must loose by a large margin that can not be challenged. Anything less will result in four more years of false claims of election fraud, lawsuits and turmoil. There may be violence and another insurrection. Trump has said there will be a “bloodbath” if he looses. The country needs a clear, definitive end to the Trump fiasco. Only voters can make this happen.

Democrats must also take control of Congress. Democratic control of Congress is needed to deal with the Trump Supreme Court. Trump appointed three Supreme Court justices. This 6-3 radically conservative majority will continue for decades unless held accountable for their ethics violations and egregiously partisan rulings. This will require a Congress that can impeach the corrupt justices and enact serious ethics and term limit reforms.

The Republican dominated Supreme Court has made a number decisions in recent years that have been unpopular, overturned former long-standing precedents and supported partisan interpretations of laws and the Constitution. The list includes:overturning the right to an abortion, ruling against gun control laws, invalidating affirmative action in schools and workplaces, killing student loan debt relief, approving partisan and racial gerrymandering, severely weakened the federal government's ability to regulate business or protect the environment and threw out a legal precedent that required courts to defer to federal agency experts on regulatory details. Plus they made presidents largely immune from being prosecuted for crimes committed while in office.

All of these decisions were decided 6-3 along the partisan lines. These rulings have convinced many people that this court is blatantly partisan and reforms are need to re-establish respect for the Supreme Court.

Biden has recently proposed ethics and term limit reforms plus a constitutional amendment to overturn the Court's immunity ruling. Candidate Harris supports these proposals. The term and ethics reforms have been discussed for years and have been supported by majorities of the people. A poll in July 2022 found 67% of Americans support term limits for justices including 82% of of Democrats and 57% of Republicans. But neither party ever took action on these reforms.

Obviously reforms will take time to enact. But the process begins by voters defeating Trump and electing enough Democrats to control the Congress.

Will enough voters rise to the occasion and do what is needed? We can only hope they do because the voters are the last guardrail of democracy.