On the loss of America’s democracy

According to Keith Raffel, we have lost America’s democracy, (“With three court decisions, democracy strikes out,” Daily Herald, Opinion, July 6).

On the other hand, the Chicago Tribune editors opine “We are not among those who believe democracy in the U.S. is seriously imperiled, at least as we write. But we do believe it is undergoing a stress test unseen since Lincoln spoke 162 years ago,” (“The Idea of America, Under Stress,” Chicago Tribune, Opinion, July 6).

As of July 6, there is not only abundant evidence that democracy in the U.S. has been seriously imperiled, but it has been effectively lost along the way. For example, consider the 2024 SCOTUS Trump v. United States case in which the president was granted an unprecedented kinglike power: absolute immunity “from criminal prosecution for conduct within his exclusive sphere of constitutional authority.”

Also consider the loss of an independent Congress, where Republican majorities in the House and Senate are either totally beholden to or in deathly political fear of President Trump. In effect, Trump is the U. S. Congress.

Finally, consider the passage of Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill” that will enable the Department of Homeland Security to hire a literal army of ICE agents as well as establish detention camps for immigrants and other undesirables reminiscent of Germany’s Brown Shirts and concentration camps as well as Soviet gulags.

Frank G. Splitt

Mount Prospect