The Mueller Report: Republicans in congress will be unable to deny, dismiss, look the other away.

[marylandblue]

47. It has to with my case, that this isn't Watergate and it isn't the Civil War

It isn't like anything in American history. Merely being old is no particular advantage. And the case Levitsky and Ziblatt make is that our institutions can only take so much before breaking. It's adherence to democratic norms that make a republic work, not the structure of the Constitution. In Watergate, those norms remained intact. Once all the facts came out about Nixon, there was no question that Congress would remove him from office. Nixon tried to subvert the special prosecutor and failed. He tried to shield evidence but obeyed the court. As more evidence came out about crimes, Nixon's popularity plummeted.

Look what's happening now. 40% of the people support him no matter what. Neither the Senate nor the House has made any serious investigation. If Mueller subpoenas Trump, will the current SCOTUS enforce the subpoena? If it does, and Trump refuses to obey the subpoena, will Congress be able to force him? If the House impeaches Trump based on overwhelming evidence, will the Senate even consider removing him from office? If Trump starts ordering his followers to commit violence, do you think they won't do it? Will any Republican hold him to account? Will any Democrat be in a position to do so?

In a functioning democracy, these wouldn't even be questions. They weren't questions in Watergate.

This isn't like the Civil War either. There isn't going to be a civil war this time. There may be civil unrest and violence, but we won't have an actual war. Either Trump becomes a dictator and half the nation applauds or shrugs, or democracy remains and the other half of the nation applauds. But we'll still have half the nation looking for another, better Trump.