This is a serious question. Confidence in our system has been absolutely eroded. One side looks at the popular vote:EV discrepancy and sees injustice. The winner from the other side constantly delegitimizes the election that he won.
Journalistic integrity and confidence are at an all time low; furthermore, with terms like "alternative facts" making their way into the political sphere du jour, dialogue has pretty much ceased. There are:
-Constant protests
-Threats of martial law
-Alienation from the President towards half of the nation (+/-)
-White nationalism gaining ground in some political wings
-No checks on the current President because of party line decision making
-Decreased standing with the international community
-An outstanding lack of transparency from the current administration
So, as someone who is deeply concerned, I am asking everyone, what do we do? How do you see this working out? What kind of long term effects are we looking at?
If impeachment (practically certain) does not result in removal from office, then the most obvious solution is the 2020 election. Should the trial proceed with a curt rejection, then Republicans can sweat the consequences in 2020 and to a lesser extent 2022 and 2024.
Any threat of martial law as a means of suppressing dissent is without Constitutional validity. Martial law applies to a clear and present danger, and it applies to civilian populations in the aftermath (most frequently) of natural disasters such as storms, fires, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions. A President out of control of the situation? He might as well resign and leave the task to someone else.
Nobody is going to get everything he wants in a democracy, and this is something that we will just have to live with. Benefits come with burdens.
White nationalism? We cannot say that Barack Obama provoked it. If a majority of voters, or even a plurality of voters, vote for someone who doesn't look like them -- tough. All 'racial' minorities have felt that experience at. It is best that race and ethnicity not be foci of politics. White nationalism is just another scummy idea that can get people killed -- and has.
We have a President acting despotically or dictatorially (take your pick), and it is up to voters to reject any candidate who shows tendencies in that direction. Too vituperative? Contemptuous of large parts of the population that have done nothing wrong? Seeming not to understand such concepts as due process, rule of law, and separation of powers? Lacking basic decency as a person?
Nobody should be President who has bragged about grabbing women by their "kitty-cats" (such behavior is criminal sexual conduct in some states) or being able to murder people and get away with it. Nobody should get away with disparaging any ethnic group, with lying (as opposed to being wrong), or stiffing subcontractors.
Democracy implies that people have the duty to choose between alternatives, and that when one of the alternatives shows horrible character, then the electorate must reject that person.
We have been getting a harsh lesson in civics, one in which the consequences of voting for an extremist devoid of a moral compass are in plain sight. Yes, character matters more than desired results.
