FANS OF AMERICAN DEMOCRACY had good cause to celebrate in November, when many election deniers and extremists were sent packing, and predictions of violence and chaos at the polls did not come to pass. Democrats were the beneficiaries, holding the Senate and making significant gains in governorships and state legislatures.
But a political force propelled by racism, conspiracy theories, and lies, led by a man who tried to overturn a national election, who incited violence to block the peaceful transfer of power, won control of the House of Representatives. In an election in which farright kooks generally fared poorly and no red wave emerged, the Republican Party, aided by racial gerrymandering and fueled by antidemocratic election denialism and extremism, still amassed a slim majority of seats in the lower chamber. And despite election results that showed voters rejecting far-right conspiracists, the new GOP caucus in the House will be more extreme-and a greater threat to democracy-than ever.
The Republicans' victory in the House is a troubling sign that millions of Americans still reside in a post-truth environment, in which fake plots are real, real news is fake, and Big Lie proponents and reality deniers are afforded power. In this slice of America, there are few-or no-consequences for waging war on democracy. House Republicans, in cahoots with their Dear Leader, tried to subvert the constitutional order with skulduggery and fueled the mob on January 6, 2021. They not only escaped punishment; they have been rewarded with control of the chamber that holds the power of the purse and the purview to launch impeachments. This is the opposite of accountability.
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