“One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.”
— Plato
- Our Card Deck profiles Donald Trump & 54+ top Trump enablers and their collective efforts to undermine our Republic. Click on each Card to learn more. The Big Lie set the stage for voter suppression laws, stated-sanctioned partisan election administration and lying in the public forum. These actions undermine election integrity, public discourse and our democratic way of life.
- Who are these top enablers? They are not everyday citizens. They are among our Nation’s most privileged citizens, measured by political power, position, education, wealth and celebrity. They include elected and appointed officials, media companies and pundits, lobbyists and lawyers, and the inner circle of Trump’s family, each wielding out-sized political influence.
- What are their methods? They trumpet the Big Lie, sowing discord, undermining public trust, provoking political division and stoking factional violence. On the basis of the Big Lie and the fear it engenders, enablers press Trump-led state legislatures to negate the vote of the majority through vote-suppressing laws, biased election administration and unfounded efforts to overturn federal election results.
- To what end? Through these actions, Trump enablers upend the Constitution, the rule of law and the long enduring civic bonds of our democratic Republic.
- The bitter truth? Almost none of them believe the Big Lie. None offer evidence to support it. Enablers value the Big Lie for narrow political and personal advantages, be they re-election “insurance”, fund raising, aspiration for ever-higher office, celebrity, monetary gain, audience share, profitability or personal aggrandisement. Enablers value power for its own sake, the playbook of petty autocrats.
- Why care? By elevating narrow political and personal advantage over civic virtue and the common good, enablers negate the essential conditions of a democratic Republic: The rule of law, civic trust in elections, and meaningful public discourse.
- How to get involved? Start by restoring the cornerstone of our Republic, get engaged. Become informed, vote and support national voting rights legislation that ensures all citizens the unimpeded right to vote and be counted .
- Still unsure? Play our Card Game “ENABLED”, a purposely tilted game of chance. Our Card Game mimics and mirrors this degraded American political life, pointing to self-evident truths:
- The Constitution’s framers sought to preserve, protect and defend our Republic from anti-democratic leaders, but “failsafe” provisions like impeachment and removal are ill suited for a highly partisan political environment.
- Indictment and conviction for Republic-crippling crimes is a necessary but inherently methodical process, requiring time and respect for the rule of law, the very target of anti-democratic candidates and officer holders.
- Voting, therefore, is the only reliable means of holding elected officials accountable to the Constitution and the rule of law.
- The immune system of our Republic? An independent judiciary and a free press of responsible journalists, fact-checkers, scholars and historians, upon whom voters vitally depend to examine political speech and action and faithfully narrate our national story.
- The true measure of a healthy democratic republic? An informed, engaged citizenry that thoughtfully exercises the right to vote.
“. . . he decided to become a prince and to hold with violence and without obligation to anyone else that which had been conceded to him by agreement.”
– Machiavelli, The Prince
“Power provides psychological compensation: it impels a person who cannot rule himself to rule others.”
– Richard Pipes
“American men are in desperate need of virtuous purpose.”
– David French
“The most important office, and the one which all of us can and should fill, is that of private citizen.”