by Nick Gier
published in the Moscow-Pullman Daily News (September 4, 2026); submitted to the Idaho State Journal in Pocatello
Get out and vote, just this time, you won’t have to do it anymore. Four more years, you know what? It’ll be fixed, it’ll be fine.
—Donald Trump, July 26, 2024
“Well, Dr. Franklin, do we have a republic or a monarchy”? “A republic,” replied the Doctor, “if you can keep it.”
—Elizabeth Willing Powel, a prominent Philadelphian, September 18, 1787
This year we are celebrating 250 years of America as a democratic republic and, on September 15, the United Nations will observe Democracy Day. Democracies around the world are threatened by anti-democratic parties and outright autocrats. Autocrat Donald Trump is not only encouraging these forces around the world but also those within the U.S. as well.
The National Shame of January 6, 2021
On January 6, 2021, the day Congress was ratifying the election of President Biden, Donald Trump sat in the White House and did nothing to stop a mob of his supporters from attacking the Capitol. When he returned to office early last year, one of his first actions was to pardon every one of them. In May 2025, his Justice Department proposed a fund of $1.776 billion to compensate not only the rioters but also anyone who believed that they were harmed by the Biden administration.
Turning from Democracy to Dictatorship
Varieties in Democracy (V-Dem), a research institute that draws on the expertise of 4,000 scholars, just issued a report that showed that the U.S. had dropped from 20th to 51st in holding democratic principles among 179 countries. It now stands between Slovakia and Greece.
V-Dem’s director Staffan Lindberg argued that the U.S.’s rating was lowered because of Trump “concentrating executive power, overstepping laws, circumventing the Republican-led Congress as well as attacks on the news media and freedom of speech.” Lindberg warned that the U.S. is “moving towards dictatorship. It’s the most rapid decline ever in U.S history and one of the most rapid in the world.”
Trump’s Attack on Mail-In Voting
The U.S. has had mail-in voting since the Civil War when soldiers in the field were allowed to send their ballots through the mail. In the 2024 election over 48 million voters (31%) used a postal ballot. Over 19 million of those over 65 voted by mail, and 1 in 4 rural voters used that option. Estimates of 2024 rural Trump voters range from 62% to 67%.
Of course, our ignorant president appears not to know this. Neither did he realize that in 2024 2 out of 3 non-whites went to their local polling places, and they, primarily because of increasingly anti-Trump feelings, have been voting, in recent primaries, against Republicans in much greater numbers.
As a mail voter himself Trump has now ordered the postal service to send out ballots to only those who have been approved by a corrupt Justice Department. All states will have to replace their own ballots (most of which have already been printed) with Trump’s fakes.
Incredibly enough, Supreme Court conservatives have allowed the Postmaster General to go ahead with this unconstitutional plan. However, 25 secretaries of state are confident that they can stop this outrageous affront to American democracy. If their suit fails and if they have not sent their voter lists to be manipulated, these states will not be allowed to participate in the 2026 midterms.
Redistricting May Backfire against Trump
Early in 2025, ignoring the norm that redistricting legislative districts happens every ten years, Trump demanded that Texas gerrymander its districts to produce at least five new Republican Congressional seats. California responded in kind to produce five new Democratic majority districts. Seven other Republican states followed suit in designing districts to their advantage.
The three gerrymandered districts in South Texas may not go GOP because of a dramatic shift in voting patterns of Hispanic men. In the 2024 election these men favored Trump over Harris by 10 points. Because of Trump’s poor economy and mass deportations, Hispanic men will now vote for Democrats by 20 points. New polling shows Democrats are now leading in these southern districts.
A Surge of Black Voters
Two rigged districts in Houston may now favor Republicans because two Black majority districts have been broken up. In recent primaries Blacks have turned out in greater numbers in Southern States that have tried to eliminate Black districts. Just as with Hispanics in Texas, Blacks are now fighting back.
Historically, Blacks remember the tragedy of Jim Crow where for over 40 years white politicians with poll taxes, literacy tests, and all-white primaries destroyed Black voting rights. The 1964 Voting Rights Act was designed to permit Black majority legislative districts that would protect their rights under the 14th Amendment. Conservatives on the Supreme Court have now blocked most of the provisions of this act.
Trump: The Clueless Dictator
Trump wants to be America’s dictator but, one thing in our favor, he doesn’t seem to have the smarts to know how his corrupt instincts will backfire, let alone what the nation really needs. Not in our favor, however, is the fact that the autocrats he admires (Putin, Zhi, and North Korea’s Kim) are running circles around him. In our ultimate favor, however, is the power of citizens working resolutely together.
Nick Gier taught religion and philosophy at the University of Idaho for 31 years. He has much more reading on Trump at nfgier.com/?s=trump. Email him at ngier006∂gmail.com.