Donald Trump has begun his second presidency precisely as Americans concerned about preserving democracy and the rule of law had feared. He pardoned or commuted the sentences of 1,500 participants in the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection he incited four years ago in an attempt to overturn his defeat for re-election.
That frees Trump-aligned extremists to commit political violence on his behalf again. Combined with other initial steps taking aim at those he claims “weaponized” the federal government against him, the first convicted felon to occupy the Oval Office has signaled his quest for the unchecked power that our founders designed the US constitutional system to prevent.
The journalist Maria Ressa understands the threat authoritarian leaders pose to democratic societies as well as anyone. A citizen of both the United States and her native Philippines, Ressa shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 2021 for her work safeguarding freedom of expression from a Filipino government marked by brutality and attacks on the independent press – including multiple criminal charges lodged against her…..more
