I started a new thing on my blog. I added an “Ask Teri” button. Back when I had 200 followers on Twitter, I answered every question. Now I can’t. (I can't even see everything) I’ll see if this works better.
Question #1 ⤵️
1/ A lot is being written about how to strengthen our battered institutions. I plan to devote full blog posts to particular reforms that can help.
But here’s the thing about democracy: At any given time, a majority of voters can decide it’s time to end democracy.
2/ In 2016, Trump ran as a “disruptor" and norm breaker. He promised to dismantle agencies, do away with regulations.
People who voted for him didn't care if he lied and cheated and broke rules. That's what they wanted.
3/ Law and institutions (no matter how well-crafted) won't hold up if a president, backed up by a major party and a majority of voters, won't honor them.
Notice the part about the “majority of voters.” Trump is not backed by a majority. In the end, that’s why he’ll fail.
4/ The best way to prevent another destructive administration is to make sure another destroyer doesn’t get into the White House.
A lot of people who voted for Trump in 2016 didn’t really understand what they were voting for.
5/ Polls show that many of them had buyer’s remorse. Notice how the green and orange switch positions within a month of Trump’s inauguration ⤵️.
We’ve learned since 2016. The question is whether we will be able to retain and act on what we learned.
6/ I’ll do my part by writing books and articles and continuing my volunteer legal work in voter protection.
This is what is known as trading up for a better problem. I’d rather have the problem of a lame duck session, than the problem of the GOP winning the 2020 election.
8/ Question #3 ⤵️
The Hatch Act bars federal employees from using the power of their official positions to push partisan political outcomes. Government employees have faced serious consequences like firing or suspension without pay for violations.
9/ The Trump administration repeatedly violates the Hatch Act.
When Trump leaves office, Congress can empower an agency or the OSC to investigate, but because the president is the head of the branch of government responsible for enforcing the laws, we're back to Question #1.
10/ The question comes back to: What if a major political party shields a president who refuses to follow and enforce the laws?
The Constitution has a remedy for a lawbreaking president: Impeachment and removal.
This doesn’t work if the Senate shields the president.
11/ The solution is not to elect lawbreakers to office.
If we elect honorable people, they will behave honorably and uphold the laws.
Sometimes things are so simple it’s just annoying. Right?
12/ The biggest threat to democracy is that at least 65 million Americans will vote for Trump in 2020, even with everything we know about him.
It's not enough for Trump to win, but his voters won't go away or suddenly fall in love with rule of law.
13/ This is getting long, so I’ll just refer you to the blog post, where I also answer a question about the Supreme Court “deciding the ballots,” a Supreme Court nominee lying under oath, how to end Citizens United, and more. terikanefield-blog.com/heres-the-thin…
14/ Yesterday, I answered a question about whether Trump will be held accountable after he leaves office.
Short answer: Yes.
Longer answer: I veered into a discussion of the nature of punishment and problems with using criminal law to solve problems. terikanefield-blog.com/accountability…
15/ It was too long for a Twitter thread. Also Twitter Peeps get mad at me for my views on punishment.
But what's a defense appellate lawyer to do?
I spent my career advocating for prison and criminal justice reform.
I'm a total Defund the Police kind of person.
16/ As a bonus—and because criminal justice reform is one of my favorite subjects (me = 🤓) — I made a good percentage of my book on criminal justice available free. You can read Parts II and III free. Link at the bottom of this post. terikanefield-blog.com/accountability…
I couldn't resist. I'm listening to the 60 Minutes segment Trump posted.
Goodness. Stahl asks Trump if he is ready for tough questions. He fusses about wanting her to be fair. He says, “You don’t ask Biden tough questions.”
My teenager: “He sounds like a three-year-old.”
He's in his own made-up world.
"We had the best economy. Things were coming together. . .there was going to be unity. Then we got hit with the plague. . . we closed it up and I saved millions of lives."
Unity? Before the virus was his impeachment trial.
Two key lies launched Trump into politics: Birtherism and "I am a successful businessman." It worked! He lied. People repeated the lies. Then enough people believed them.
He literally has no other way to "govern" or campaign.
This is nothing new. It's as old as written history.
In the middle ages, one of the lies was Jewish blood libel.
Want to go farther back? Let's talk about Darius I of Persia (522 BCE to 486 BCE)
When Hitler’s followers learned he lied, “instead of deserting the leaders who had lied to them, they would protest that they had known all along that the statement was a lie and would admire the leaders for their superior tactical cleverness.” Arendt
It reminds me of this passage from @stuartpstevens's book, It Was All A Lie⤵️
The passage rings true for me. It's one reason I never believed the "GOP elected officials are conspiring to cheat and throw the election to Trump even if he loses the election" theory.
We can never stop. Democracy means government by the people.
Example: The long term solution to the problem with how elections are conducted in Georgia is to elect people who are competent and care about well-run elections.
Maryland GOP Governor Larry Hogan is not showing courage, leadership, or love of democracy in throwing away a vote.
The kind of courage required by conservatives when confronted with an extremist is described by Levitsky & Ziblatt (How Democracies Die) washingtonpost.com/politics/larry…
Correct. (I forgot to tag @GovLarryHogan in the first tweet.)
Hogan's gesture is not only a cowardly and weak (and pointless), he is also perpetuating a false narrative.