My Take: Insurrection, Trump abuses threaten your vote and your liberty

Michiganders who love liberty should be alarmed at what we are learning about former President Donald Trump and the legacy of Trumpism that he is leaving behind.

As a lawyer who specializes in defending individual rights and freedoms, I am clear-eyed enough to know that the people we elect to serve us — Republicans and Democrats — don’t always stay within their constitutional boundaries. When they stray, they must be held accountable. What Trump has done, however, according to the evidence of the special congressional committee investigating his role in trying to overturn the 2020 election results, go well beyond the pale — with repercussions that threaten our votes and our rights this election cycle and beyond.

We know Trump was aware that his supporters were heavily armed when they attended the rally that led to the attack on Congress, and even encouraged them. We know Trump applied enormous pressure on elections officials to change the results of votes Americans had already cast for president in 2020. We know he sent fake electors to steal the election and pressured the Department of Justice to help him alter the outcome. We know Trump thought then-Vice President Mike Pence deserved to be hanged.

We also know Trump didn’t act alone. Some of his top administration officials and advisors have been implicated. Members of Congress loyal to him asked for pardons, in case they were abetting a criminal conspiracy. Here in Michigan, dozens of people have been linked to the plot to overturn and undermine the 2020 election, including fake electors, and those who continue to spread baseless conspiracies and refuse to acknowledge the results of a free and fair election in 2020.

In a court of law, these facts could demonstrate culpability if proven to the satisfaction of a jury of regular Americans faithful to the rule of law.

Meanwhile, a radically reactionary majority on the U.S. Supreme Court — Trump’s legacy — is taking a sledgehammer to our hard-fought and hard-won rights. When six justices reversed Roe v. Wade in June, they condemned half the American population to forced reproduction, a form of oppression that Black female slaves suffered before the Civil War. The same six justices enabled police to avoid accountability for forcing confessions out of citizens, by limiting enforceability of Miranda rights. The court allowed a racially gerrymandered election map in Louisiana to stand, despite its erosion of voting fairness and equity in violation of the Voting Rights Act.

Intended as a bulwark against abuses of power, the Supreme Court’s unelected justices who serve for life have hijacked and distorted the U.S. Constitution and indicated an intention for more in the future. The court’s erosion of our rights empowers a political elite to perpetuate a highly partisan agenda and preserve its own power, at the expense of the freedoms and constitutional rights of all Americans.

Under Trump, government has become truly unmoored from the anchor of the U.S. Constitution. In Michigan, Trump’s disregard for our rights has infected politicians at the local, county and state levels. One candidate for governor openly tells supporters to tamper with elections and ignore the will of voters. Another advocates a zero-tolerance approach to abortions, with no exceptions for rape and incest. In races across Michigan, Trump-inspired and -endorsed candidates and campaigns are attacking our rights and freedoms, from reproductive rights to voting rights.

Trump abused the presidency, exploited the three branches of government and coopted politicians across the country so he could stay in power. In the process, Trump has corrupted the U.S. Constitution and inverted its principles. Self-interest has replaced the general welfare. The privileged few determine the rights of the many. Protection under the law is selective and unequal. Power comes not from the people but from entrenched politicians.

Saving our constitution and our democratic principles will take a lot of work. We must begin by recognizing that those who claim to stand for liberty are the first ones to sacrifice it when they prevent Americans from voting, getting reproductive health care and protecting themselves against police abuses.

Trump and his supporters are not the first nor only scourge to threaten our democratic republic designed to preserve the liberty of the people and the rule of law. If we the people are to be true American patriots, we must make them the last, by participating in our republic — as voters, poll watchers, jurors and volunteers where needed for self-government.

— Kary Love is an attorney who lives in Ottawa County.