John Oliver : The Lasting Consequences of the Troll President

Last night John Oliver, host of HBO’s “Last Week Tonight,” gave an insightful dissertation on the
techniques that Trump and his followers have used to undermine norms of governing and how Americans talk about ideas. Allowing Trump’s techniques to spread to other politicians and media outlets so that it becomes the pervasive doctrine of the land poses a serious threat to the U.S. as a democracy and a culture. Seeing how it spreads, he said, is evidence of how we’re already “seriously and lastingly f*cked.”

“The natural endpoint is the erosion of our ability to decide what’s important, have an honest debate and hold one another accountable,” he warned.

John Adams once said “Democracy… while it lasts is more bloody than either aristocracy or monarchy. Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There is never a democracy that did not commit suicide.”

We should be truly worried about our democracy.