I can do this – Say this – no better!
Thank you Chris and the Point
QUOTE OF THE DAY
"I believe we're at an inflection point in this country — one of those moments where the decisions we're about to make
can change, literally change, the
trajectory of our nation."
--
President Joe Biden on Thursday, as he pushed for his economic packages.
The Point:
Donald Trump's presidency
(and post-presidency)
was and is a cataclysm for democratic institutions.
If it helps people realize how fragile this democracy is and what
they need to know and do to sustain it,
it will have done one good thing.
-- Chris
It's funny what four years of a president who carries a healthy
disregard for the Constitution, and a violent insurrection at the US Capitol,
can do for people's knowledge of our democratic institutions!
For the first time in 15 years, a majority (56%) of people could
name all three branches of the federal government in a new survey
conducted by Annenberg Public Policy Center.
That number was under 30% in 2016
but has consistently risen every year since
then -- suggesting strongly that Trump's assault on a variety of democratic
institutions
has made the average
American pay more attention to how the government works
(and doesn't).
People were also more aware of the rights afforded to
them by the Constitution than in the past.
Asked to name the five
freedoms conferred by the First Amendment, 3 in 4 named the freedom of
speech
while more than half (56%) were able to come up with freedom of
religion,
and
50% exactly named freedom of the press.
(Fewer
than 3 in 10 could name
the
freedom to assemble or the freedom to petition.)
Now,
before we break out the champagne,
it's not
exactly a huge victory that just half of Americans
get that freedom of the press is right
there in the First Amendment of the Constitution.
And there's also this:
"Just over
1 in 3 people knows how long the term of office is for a senator
(35% correctly said six years)
and
a representative (36% correctly said two years)."
So, yeah.
Not
exactly a clear win for American civics teachers out there.
But progress is progress.
And there seems little
doubt that the real threats to democracy -- culminating in a riot at the US
Capitol to protest the results of a fairly conducted presidential election -- have woken a decent-sized chunk of people up to the fact
that knowledge is power in our country.
Which, well, about
damn time.
The Point:
Donald Trump's
presidency (and post-presidency)
was and is a cataclysm for democratic
institutions.
If it helps people
realize how fragile this democracy is and what they need to know and do to
sustain it,
it will have done one
good thing.
-- Chris
