Rebellion: How Antiliberalism Is Tearing America Apart – Again

by Robert Kagan

And what if Trump wins? Who will stop him from fulfilling his election promise to seek “retribution”? With all the immense power of the American presidency, with his ability to control and direct the Justice Department, the FBI, the IRS, the intelligence services, and the military, what will prevent him from using the power of the state to go after his political enemies? Republicans in Congress? And if Trump himself has no agenda other than power and revenge, what about those who will staff his administration? Can the Constitution and American liberal democracy survive the arrival in power of a whole administration full of antiliberal intellectuals and policy makers? Indeed, one wonders how long will Democrats, who still make up half the country and who control the governorships and statehouses of many of the richest and most populous states, stand by passively while a second Trump administration dismantles the liberal democratic system? Or might they be the ones to declare Trump another Hitler—democratically chosen, yes, but nevertheless a clear and present danger to America’s liberal democratic institutions?