I\u2019ve been teaching political science full time at a community college for the last 18 years. And though I still love it, it\u2019s gotten much harder. When I started, I reveled in the idea of educating young minds about the \u201cAmerican experiment.\u201d Refreshing their memories (hopefully!) about basic civics but getting into the deeper and more complicated stuff, too.<\/p>\n

I teach American politics with a passion. And part of that passion has always come from a joyful and almost patriotic presumption that my students and I were all part of the same political culture. Though we can differ greatly when it comes to policy, Americans were all grounded in certain universal givens.<\/p>\n

Rule of law. Separation of powers. Equal protection and due process. The sanctity of our elections. Freedom of the press. \u00a0These are the pillars of the American republic.<\/p>\n

And all have been under unprecedented attack by Donald Trump.<\/p>\n

More troublesome have been the Americans that have sanctioned this war on these fundamental principles. The Americans pledging more loyalty to a crass and corrupt authoritarian than the ideals that connect us. The Americans acting as enablers to this president\u2019s historic abuse of power.<\/p>\n

With every cry of \u201ccoup\u201d or \u201cwitch hunt\u201d or \u201choax\u201d the president is attempting to destroy the long-established principle of checks and balances and the independence of the justice department.<\/p>\n

With every assault on Congress and the courts he lays waste to the bedrock American principle of separation of powers.<\/p>\n

With every yelp doubting the legitimacy of the electoral process he scorches the foundation of our democratic government.<\/p>\n

With every tantrum about \u201cfake news\u201d he delegitimizes the place that journalism holds as a bulwark against tyranny.<\/p>\n

And still, a disturbingly large fraction of the nation looks the other way. Others even applaud such behavior. They\u2019re energized by the president\u2019s nonsense about a \u201cdeep state\u201d and even think that this crusade against the Constitution is somehow \u201cdraining the swamp.\u201d<\/p>\n

Students sitting in my classroom next semester will run the entire range of opinion about this president. Each of them will sit there attentively as I lecture about these principles. How should I do it?<\/p>\n

As a philosopher would? \u201cThese principles are the ideals that we should strive for?\u201d<\/p>\n

As an historian would? \u00a0\u201cThese principles are what the nation used to value in the past?\u201d<\/p>\n

As a political science professor, I used to think that we all agreed that these principles always had defined what it means to be an American. Now, I sincerely don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n

We use the metaphor of a \u201cpillar\u201d to describe things -\u2013 like the pillars holding up a building \u2013- that are structurally necessary. These democratic principles are supposed to be pillars of our republic \u2013- necessary components in the political structure of our nation.<\/p>\n

By supporting this president, American citizens are making a mockery of these principles.\u00a0 They are proving that to them these concepts never really mattered all that much.<\/p>\n

Pillars? For way too many of our fellow citizens, these principles are less like pillars and more like impediments. And for those who embrace these principles with passion \u2013- some of us are even employed to espouse them in the classroom — that is nothing short of a tragedy.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ve been teaching political science full time at a community college for the last 18 years. And though I still love it, it\u2019s gotten<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":671,"featured_media":40586,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3027,1683,2826],"tags":[2526,3495,3496],"yoast_head":"\n