Dear Democratic Party, in what used to be the United States of America: Canadians are watching in horror as you let your democracy crumble. Why all the deathly calm? Why not take some action to protect your country? From one small-l liberal to another, please sit down and take some advice. 

The move from democracy to autocracy and tyranny is not a gentle journey, but it is a well-documented one. America is not the first country to lose it all. There are steps and stages in multiple countries that are available for learning, starting with Germany. 

An interesting thing happens when this particular flag is raised: some people shirk away as if that was a one-off in the history of humanity. The truth is that Germany’s loss of democracy and morality was just one of many countries to do so. There will always be the immoral who want to benefit either from power or money—or both—by trodding on those who have less. Germany is well known for its fall during the Second World War. But when we shy away from this specific history lesson, we will see it occur again. 

History will analyze the lack of action from the Democratic Party, and will not do so kindly. All the signs were there for tyranny, and the Democratic Party did so little that people will question if the party thought they might benefit by doing so little. Why else would the Democrats do nothing? 

There’s some journalism speculating that the Democratic Party is engaging in internal fighting on how to carve out a balance between the Jeffrey Epstein files, and the loss of citizen rights (and democracy). From all appearances, it seems the Democrats are focused like lasers on getting those Epstein files to light. 

Media reports say Trump’s name appears in the documents. We should already know what he’s capable of because we listened to the women who say they were hurt by him. 

But let’s take a moment to discuss. Is this really a question of whether we need to prove yet again that the orange one is a predator? Is that more important than the fall of your democracy? It seems one’s priorities are messed up here. It seems the Democratic Party is fighting for itself and its need for revenge while the American people desperately need ethical leadership. It would be such a regret if Democrats were out for some documents to prove a thing we all know already, while the country lost its soul. 

Surely, there’s a parable about this. Every culture and people in the world has a lesson about how a thing went completely to hell and nobody stood up to stop it. But the parables and stories are quite a poor shade to the reality playing itself out on the news. 

But what about Canada? “Maple MAGA” in Canada is a real thing, too. The movement that will break American democracy is also in our backyards. 

All that MAGA has shown itself to be thus far is a group where anger is the primary motivator, and this rarely results in positive outcomes on its own. It’s about a certain careless brutality to those who don’t look like them, an inability to rationally discuss options and differences of opinions, and readiness to tear down systems to benefit themselves. In the international realm, that’s tyranny—a hostile takeover.

Calling this message an overreaction and hyperbole may simply be fear in a nice coat. We need to find effective ways to bring “maple MAGA” back into democratic discours, but with civility. 

And now I have guaranteed that I can’t go into the United States for the foreseeable ICE future. I do appreciate civil rights in Canada. 

Rose LeMay is Tlingit from the West Coast and the CEO of the Indigenous Reconciliation Group. She writes twice a month about Indigenous inclusion and reconciliation. In Tlingit worldview, the stories are the knowledge system, sometimes told through myth and sometimes contradicting the myths told by others. But always with at least some truth.

The Hill Times

 

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