Friedman: I'm still terrified of what American democracy looks like

Two weeks after the end of the US elections, writer Thomas Friedman said he felt horrified and fearful, and attributed his horror to the appearance of democracy in America.

He described the elections that took place earlier this month as "the most exciting" since 1864, and "perhaps the most important" since 1800.

He stressed that the reason for his fear is that these elections could have been the last for America.

in The New York Times

, Friedman likened 

what is happening in the United States after the election results came to light with a woman who metaphorically called Mrs. Freedom, who was crossing the street on November 3 (election date) when suddenly a bus appeared Driven by a madman (referring to US President Donald Trump), crossing the red light.

Still crossing the red flags

He continues his analogy, saying that "the lady was free but jumped off the road at the right moment, and she is now sitting on the sidewalk with her heart beating hard, but she is happy that she miraculously escaped death. That reckless driver still crosses the red lights and never stops."

And surprisingly - Friedman adds - "the bus passengers are still applauding and cheering the excitement and excitement that accompanies their trip, although some of them realize in their heart that their driver poses a threat to the whole city."

The writer pointed out that many Americans - Republicans, Democrats and Independents - cast their votes in the elections in numbers unprecedented in American history, despite the fact that they took place in the midst of an accelerating pandemic.

Friedman said that Trump is still crossing red flags (Al Jazeera)

The polling stations were run and counted by elderly Americans who volunteered to do that duty, despite their awareness that they might be vulnerable to infection with the emerging coronavirus, and some of them were already infected.

Friedman believes that this is why he believes that these events are the greatest expression of "American democratic vitality," since Abraham Lincoln's victory over his rival, General George McClellan, in the 1864 presidential election that took place in the midst of the outbreak of the civil war in the United States.

Despicable claims

This is why Donald Trump's attempts to distort the elections this time with "false allegations" of fraud appear "utterly despicable," as the columnist described the New York Times.

He adds, "If Trump and his aides had opposed the election result for a day or two, there is nothing wrong with that, and it would have been acceptable and there is nothing in it. But for them to continue their resistance, floundering and adrift in order to turn against the will of the people at the instigation of the flatterers in their media - as Friedman puts it - that is what It raises the following question:

How can one trust the Republican Party, in its current form, to assume the reins of power in the White House again?

Friedman says that members of that party have remained completely silent as they see Trump waging a war against his imagined enemies within the federal agencies, instead of using it in the fight against the worsening Corona pandemic.

No program or plan for the Republican Party

The writer goes on to straighten the arrows of his criticism, saying that a political party does not argue against a reckless president like Trump, "it is no longer a party, but rather becomes a populist entity to worship the individual."

Perhaps this is what has become clear since the Republican Party became the first party to conclude its conference to announce its presidential candidate without presenting any program or plan.

The US president’s attempt to undermine the results of free and fair elections - as Friedman puts it - is “a warning to Democrats all over the world not to underestimate the populists, because they will not give up power easily,” as John Adams did when he lost the election to Thomas Jefferson in 1800.

The Republican needs help

Therefore - the writer explains - the task of President-elect Joe Biden is not limited to reforming America, but rather to marginalizing the "Trumpian version" of the Republican Party and helping it with sponsorship until it becomes a healthy conservative party that adopts conservative methods in the fields of economic growth, infrastructure, social policy, and education, Regulation and climate change, and it is also concerned with governance and accepts concessions and reconciliations.

Democrats, on the other hand, should ask themselves why Trump has remained so powerful among white working-class voters who have no college education, and why he has garnered more support from black and Latino voters and white women.

A light has flashed from the recent elections warning Democrats not to restrain the demographics, as Friedman believes, who concludes his article by emphasizing that the great countries are led by a "healthy milieu" while weak states lack that.