If Trump Can't Be Held Accountable, What is the Point of America?

Trump's election represents the normalization of criminality and corruption.

Photo: Getty images

by Ben Cohen

“Dictatorship naturally arises out of democracy, and the most aggravated form of tyranny and slavery out of the most extreme liberty.” - Plato

This week special counsel Jack Smith asked two courts shut down the federal criminal cases he brought against Donald Trump last year. The New York Times reported:

Bowing to a Justice Department policy that says it is unconstitutional to pursue prosecutions against sitting presidents.

The twin requests by Mr. Smith — made to judges in Washington and Atlanta — were an acknowledgment that Mr. Trump will re-enter the White House in January unburdened by federal efforts to hold him accountable through charges of plotting to subvert the last presidential election and holding on to a trove of highly classified material following his first term in office.

So there we have it. Donald Trump is off scot-free and headed to the White House where he can commit more crimes secure in the knowledge he can never be prosecuted for them.

It is an open secret in politics that Trump ran for president to avoid going to prison, betting correctly that if he could take back the White House, the criminal charges against him would disappear. It is hard to overstate how dangerous a place we are now in. This exact scenario was why so many people screamed from the rooftops that electing Donald Trump would likely precipitate the end of democracy and rule of law in America. Because if Trump cannot be held accountable for his crimes, then what exactly is the point in America?

The promise of America

The rule of law is one of the defining pillars of American democracy. It is why millions of people are drawn to this country—not for the Florida sunshine or Philadelphia snow, not for hotdogs or SUVs, but for the assurance that justice will more often than not prevail over chaos. In America, rules matter.

This means the police, in general, keep neighborhoods safe and don’t demand bribes for their services. It means banks are regulated and insured so that your savings are safe. It means you can start a business without fear of corrupt government officials demanding a cut. It means the USPS sends your mail across the country. It means hospitals have to treat you even if when you can’t afford it, and fire departments send first responders to every house regardless of income. But more than anything, the rule of law means criminals go to prison if they commit crimes.

In countries where crime goes unpunished, criminal syndicates take over. In parts of Italy the Mafia is more powerful than the government. In Mexico, the cartels control vast portions of the country. In Somalia, there is no central government and people are forced to submit to local warlords. In authoritarian dictatorships, the government can empty your bank account if it believes you are an enemy of the state. Corrupt officials get rich, and criminal presidents stay in power indefinitely.

Corruption is a top down phenomenon

The corruption always starts at the top and works its way downwards to every level of bureaucracy. In Putin’s Russia, separate republics exist within its federal structure. Those republics are run by criminal gangsters, who in turn employ lower level criminal gangsters to administer the state. Legal systems, judges, lawyers, and courts exist, but only in theory. In practice they must submit to the authority of the state and turn a blind eye to government crime and corruption.

Every citizen of an authoritarian country knows the game. They understand that too much dissent can lead to prison or death. They understand that bribes must be paid to keep their businesses running, that the police work for the state and not for them. They know that their wealth is fragile and can be taken away at any point. So the rot sets in, and a sense of helplessness pervades.

America isn’t perfect, but its independent legal system has acted as a powerful check against the state. If a court rules against the government, the government must comply and not the other way around.

But that time is over.

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The strongman is back

The re-election of Donald Trump was, perhaps in hindsight, inevitable. During his first term Trump’s Supreme Court picks radicalized the court. Trump and Mitch McConnell also radically reshaped the federal judiciary appointing hundreds of activist judges. In 2024, those judges embarked on a campaign to throw out thousands of legally cast mail-in ballots (because Democrats tend to vote more by mail) that could have handed Trump swing states had he been behind. In other words, heads Trump wins, tails Trump wins too. His return to power is more than a personal victory then; it marks a turning point for how institutions function—or fail—in America.

With the July Supreme Court decision to grant presidents sweeping immunity from prosecution, there are no longer any real checks against Trump’s power. With the House and the Senate under Republican control, Trump has everything in place to enact his dictatorial fantasies. He knows that the legal system is his most dangerous enemy, so he will waste no time appointing more activist judges to the federal judiciary and ensuring the Supreme Court Justices up for retirement are replaced with even more radical appointees.

How democracy dies

This playbook is familiar to strongmen around the world, and has extremely predictable outcomes. In his essay ‘The Strong Man Fantasy’ historian Timothy Snyder, a renowned scholar of authoritarianism, writes:

To enrich himself and to stay out of prison, the strongman dismantles the justice system and replaces civil servants with loyalists. 

The new bureaucrats will have no sense of accountability.  Basic government functions will break down. Citizens who want access will learn to pay bribes.  Bureaucrats in office thanks to patronage will be corrupt, and citizens will be desperate.  Quickly the corruption becomes normal, even unquestioned. 

With Trump’s emphatic victory, he is well ahead of schedule. America has already normalized criminality and corruption. Snyder continues:

As the fantasy of strongman rule fades into everyday dictatorship, people realize that they need things like water or schools or Social Security checks.  Insofar as such goods are available under a dictatorship, they come with a moral as well as a financial price.  When you go to a government office, you will be expected to declare your personal loyalty to the strongman.   

If you have a complaint about these practices, too bad.  Americans are litigious people, and many of us assume that we can go to the police or sue.  But when you vote a strong man in, you vote out the rule of law.  In court, only loyalism and wealth will matter.  Americans who do not fear the police will learn to do so.  Those who wear the uniform must either resign or become the enforcers of the whims of one man.

Americans might not believe that this could happen to their “Shining City on a Hill”, but it has happened, and only a mass resistance movement can stop it.

How to defeat dictatorship

As financial markets surge in anticipation of new, regulation free environment under Trump, the sugar high will insulate the incoming administration from criticism for many months to come. Trump will use that time to solidify his power and ram through his most extreme policies.

But when financial markets contract and the good times end, Trump will face new political realities that cannot be blamed away. His tariff policies are likely to cause inflation. Lax regulation invites corruption, and gutting government services will create immense public blowback. The infighting and drama in the White House will reach new heights of madness.

This is when resistance movements must strike.

How and where will be decided in the coming months as pro-democracy forces regroup and rebuild. New voices must emerge in the Democratic party, and new organizations built to combat the forces of authoritarianism. Broad coalitions must be formed, new media entities created, and popular protest movements coordinated. Trump’s lies must be called out, and the chaos exposed and capitalized on.

We can all play our part in this resistance by staying informed, reading credible news sources, building local networks, and engaging politically at all levels of government. But the resistance won’t have success until the public is made to feel the consequences of voting in a strongman. That will happen soon enough, but we can only hope Americans remember what made their country so great to begin with and resolve to fight back.

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