Institutions under siege
Democracy breathes and survives when there are bulwarks and counterweights to the excesses, antics, illegalities and the will of the “leader.” Without them democracies are doomed to languish or die because they lack either the oxygen or the light of transparency. The United States has for decades been the West’s “beacon” when it comes to institutional countermeasures to authoritarianism. Justice, the legislature, the institutions and the media constituted what is known as checks and balances. One by one they are gnawed away or are collapsing.
The US Supreme Court is no longer the court of sages and giants of jurisprudence that found the golden ratio with mutual compromises between conservatives and liberals. Republican congressmen and senators are Donald Trump’s hostages. This became evident in the most striking way after the January 6 Capitol attack. At first, everyone condemned his attitude and the violence of the protesters. A few days later they made an about-face because they were afraid of his vengeful fury. Top politicians behaved like cowards. The media played their part, with many exaggerations, sensationalism or by crossing the traditional dividing lines between comment and news. They did it and have continued to do it until now.
Traditional media is facing a huge crisis, in the US and globally. In the age of anarchic and dark internet and social media their survival is not a given. In many cases, important publications needed the support of powerful and very rich people to survive, like in the case of the legendary Washington Post, which was bought by Jeff Bezos, who, for a very long time, did not interfere in drawing the editorial line and choosing the content. That changed with his decision to veto the paper’s endorsement of Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris. He has some arguments, such as that such a statement no longer holds much value and would make Trump voters even more suspicious of the paper. But those in the know insist that Bezos feared Trump’s vindictiveness if he wins the US election, as he has done in the past because of the newspaper’s stance.
The Post entered an even greater crisis after this development. Tesla and X owner Elon Musk is celebrating because he wants the death of all traditional media and the re-election of Trump. Another institutional counterweight has been gnawed away, another sign that American democracy has entered a dark and uncertain period.
