President Joe Biden, I fear, may be screwing up. Not with the infrastructure bills. The current deliberations do look messy, but there’s still plenty of time to concoct a compromise that expands education, health care, and other important social welfare programs and includes climate change action. Biden, though, might be miscalculating on another critical front: saving democracy.

As I and others have noted, the nation is undergoing a crisis, with Donald Trump and his Republican comrades attempting to undermine democratic structures and norms to rig the system in their favor. For years, Republicans have tried to implement voter suppression schemes and have relied on gerrymandering (as Democrats often do) to gain a political advantage that would allow their minority party to exert majority control. They’ve been striving to create a political apartheid. And Trump and his devotees have supercharged this GOP effort with the Big Lie offensive and the seditious attack on the US Capitol, aiming to subvert democratic procedures to accommodate authoritarianism. Trump’s never-ending assault on US elections—claiming they are fraudulent unless they produce the results he seeks—is poisoning the political culture. He wants his followers to believe democracy doesn’t work, for then he (or others) can justify resorting to other means to grab and retain power.

And there’s a Plan B: if you can’t delegitimize the system, take it over. Trump loyalists—including QAnoners and other extremists—are signing up as precinct volunteers who can help pick poll workers and members of boards that oversee elections. That is, they are burrowing into the election system at the ground level. This is a scheme championed by Steve Bannon, the Trump adviser whom Trump pardoned. (Last week, Bannon, after speaking to a GOP social club about preparing for the next Republican administration, told a reporter, "If you’re going to take over the administrative state and deconstruct it, then you have to have shock troops prepared to take it over immediately.”) A number of pro-Trump election denialists are now attempting to win secretary of state races; this will permit them to control the election apparatus in swing states. Meanwhile, Trumpsters promoting his election fraud disinformation are still pushing for sham audits in Pennsylvania, Idaho, and elsewhere. And so far legislatures in 16 states have passed measures to shift election authorities from governors and secretaries of state to the legislatures, increasing the possibility of partisan wrangling over vote tallies.

It’s a war on democracy. Trump has recruited the national Republican Party, local state officials, and a wide assortment of extremists for this battle.

After the election, Trump conspired with a handful of henchmen to try to overturn the election. He pressured officials at the Justice Department to declare the results corrupt. He leaned on state officials, especially in Georgia. He recruited a conservative constitutional lawyer, John Eastman, who drafted a memo contending that Vice President Mike Pence could nullify Biden’s electoral vote victory. It was essentially a blueprint for a coup. (Pence didn’t agree with Eastman’s argument.) Trump incited a riot that had the potential to thwart Congress’ certification of Biden’s win. He failed in these rearguard—and largely behind-the-scenes—actions, though he and his lieutenants came within inches of triggering an all-out constitutional crisis.

Now Trump’s assault on the political system is out in the open. He denigrates the electoral system, and he has succeeded in convincing tens of millions of Americans that it cannot be trusted. A CNN poll last month found that 78 percent of Republicans believe Biden did not win, and 54 percent said there is solid evidence of that. (There is not.) Moreover, Trump’s continuing status as the leader of the Republican Party—and as its top contender for the 2024 presidential nomination—signals that the encouragement of violence to achieve a political end is widely excused, if not outright accepted, within GOP ranks. Only 56 percent of Republicans say it is “very important” to find and prosecute 1/6 rioters—a drop of 13 points since March—and 57 percent note there has been too much attention paid to the attack.

This is a dangerous moment for the nation. As news coverage obsesses on the immediate—the tussle over the infrastructure bills on Capitol Hill, the rise in undocumented immigrants at the border, the debt ceiling dustup, the collapse of police reform negotiations, and so on—the media generally have failed to cover Trump’s not-too-secret effort to break American democracy in a comprehensive fashion. The bogus audits draw attention, as do Trump’s ceaseless and baseless claims of election fraud. But there is no overarching narrative focused on Trump’s ongoing threat to democracy. This war in plain sight is not widely recognized.

Two weeks ago, Robert Kagan, a neoconservative who was a prominent cheerleader for the disastrous Iraq invasion, published a much-discussed piece in the Washington Post declaring what some of us have previously pointed out: “Our constitutional crisis is already here.” Kagan opened by starkly observing, “The United States is heading into its greatest political and constitutional crisis since the Civil War, with a reasonable chance over the next three to four years of incidents of mass violence, a breakdown of federal authority, and the division of the country into warring red and blue enclaves.” Trump, he correctly noted, is driving this conflict. The former guy and his Republican allies, Kagan wrote, “are actively preparing to ensure his victory [in 2024] by whatever means necessary.” He warned that “the stage is being set for chaos” and “[m]ost Americans and all but a handful of politicians—have refused to take this possibility seriously enough to try to prevent it.”

That may well include Biden. The president in July did deliver a passionate speech defending voting rights and derided Republican voter suppression and election subversion efforts. He asked the GOP, “Have you no shame?" And he called passing legislation to protect and expand voting rights a “national imperative.” But that was months ago, and Biden has not yet wholly engaged in this fight to preserve democracy. He has not told the people the full story: Trump is imperiling the foundation of the American political system. He has not brought attention to the menace at hand.

Only Biden has the standing—the megaphone—to fully sound the alarm and convey this distressing narrative to a wide audience of Americans. He needs to connect the dots for the public, to clearly identify the various interlocking aspects of this struggle, and to call out Trump and the Republicans for more than their obvious voter suppression bills—to name what they are doing as a treacherous assault upon the republic.

There are certainly reasons why Biden might not want to leap into all-out combat against Trump and the GOP at this moment. As a candidate, he vowed to pursue compromise with the other side and to attempt to repair the partisan wounds of the country. Blasting Republicans as a clear and present danger to the United States would not be in sync with that theme. And Biden is hoping to preserve some degree of Republican support for at least one of his infrastructure measures. Perhaps he figures there will be time to ring this bell after he pockets a few more legislative victories and before the next election.

Yet Trump and his cultists have already gained ground in this fight, as Kagan detailed. Should Biden wait much longer, it could become too late. The Republicans are further ahead in their campaign to rig the system than the Democrats are in blocking them. Texas Republicans, for instance, are well into their latest gerrymandering spree to diminish the voting power of communities of color. Enacting measures that bring much-needed programs to the public is vital for Biden and the Democrats. Before the midterm elections next year, they must demonstrate to voters they can deliver. But there is nothing more in the self-interest of Democrats than to thwart the Republican crusade to manipulate electoral machinery for their benefit.

Without a functioning democracy, it will be impossible to do much about the pressing matters the nation faces: climate change, income inequality, racial justice, future pandemics, and much more. The top priority of the president referenced in the presidential oath of office is to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution. That is his chief obligation. Biden certainly takes this charge seriously. But the 46th president has yet to publicly reveal he realizes the scope of the all-out political warfare underway and that the fate of the United States depends upon the outcome.

Got any thoughts or comments on this piece? Any tips or leads? Or anything else on your mind? Email me at thisland@motherjones.com.

Yes, Let’s Kick Pat Robertson on His Way Out

Last week, Pat Robertson, the founder of the Christian Broadcasting Network, stepped down as host of the long-running Christian talk show The 700 Club. As the founder of the Christian Coalition, Robertson has for decades been a force within Republican politics. He even ran for the GOP presidential nomination in 1988—and lost. More recently, he was a Trump supporter. (In 2017, he suggested the Las Vegas mass shooting was the outgrowth of popular disrespect for Trump and the national anthem.) And as the 91-year-old Robertson departs, he is due opprobrium for his long history of deplorable remarks.

When Disney World held a gay pride day, he warned that God would be pissed off and “it’ll bring about terrorist bombs; it’ll bring earthquakes, tornadoes, and possibly a meteor.” After a horrendous earthquake struck Haiti in 2010, he suggested this catastrophe had occurred because the Haitian people had forged a “pact” with Satan to win their independence from French colonial rule in 1804. He said that 9/11 was God’s punishment for the acceptance of abortion and gay rights in the United States. But perhaps the worst public statement he ever uttered occurred in 2013 on his own network. Denigrating gay people yet again, Robertson claimed that “some” homosexual men wear sharp-edged rings containing the HIV virus and use them to cut open the hands of other people to spread AIDS purposefully.

Here’s the exact quote: “You know what they do in San Francisco, some in the gay community there, they want to get people, so if they got the stuff, they’ll have a ring, you shake hands, and the ring’s got a little thing where you cut your finger. Really. It’s that kind of vicious stuff, which would be the equivalent of murder.”

The amount of animosity and idiocy in this remark is immense. Goodbye and good riddance to Robertson. He called himself a man of God. He has been a man of hate.

The Read, Watch, and Listen List

Skyfall vs. Casino Royale. It’s James Bond season. The 25th Bond film (depending on how you count), No Time to Die, is being released this week. Expectations for the film, the last one that will feature Daniel Craig as the iconic Brit, are high, as they always are for the latest Bond flick. A few days ago, my pal Daily Beast columnist Wajahat Ali tweeted: “I really hope the new James Bond movie is good. That will make me happy.” As a public service, I felt compelled to caution in a tweet to keep those expectations low: “There hasn't been a strong James Bond film since ‘Casino Royal’ (2006).” And that triggered a detonation as powerful as a C-4 blast set to destroy the underground lair of a supervillain. Ali fired back: “@DavidCornDC is usually right on politics, but he's wrong on Bond. We must remedy his ignorance. Casino Royale was the best Craig Bond movie but Skyfall was also very good. Quantum of Solace was forgettable and Spectre was just a slog, both a result of crap unfinished scripts.” I countered, “Skyfall was a disappointment. I can watch Casino Royale (2006) over and over. Once was enough for Skyfall.” But I was soon outgunned, as other Bond operatives rushed to defend Skyfall. That included Sherrilyn Ifill, the president of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, who insisted, “Skyfall was a masterpiece.”

Could I have been so mistaken? Always eager to reexamine my own biases, I rewatched this 2012 Bond outing, in which our disillusioned hero returns to the service to protect M from a former agent named Raoul Silva now hellbent on ruining and then killing her. I realized Skyfall wasn’t as off-the-mark as I remembered. There’s a great chase scene: motorcycles on the rooftops of the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul. A wonderful train derailment (though not as good as the one in The Fugitive). Director Sam Mendes sprinkles in compelling visual elements. Craig, Judi Dench (as M), and Ralph Fiennes (as her legislative overseer) bring high-level acting to the comic-book plot. Of course, the story is a bit silly. The revenge-obsessed Silva (Javier Bardem) has the cyber-smarts to off M whenever he wants, but he must devise a hyper-complicated and implausible assassination scheme because…well, otherwise there’s no movie. The film truly flies off the rails in the last 40 minutes, when Bond secretly absconds M to his now-decrepit childhood home in a desolate stretch of Scotland and a firefight ensues between a mostly unarmed Bond and Silva and his seemingly inexhaustible supply of henchmen. This was a bad plan. Of course, as psycho-killer Silva, a maniac with a death wish, is trying to force M to shoot herself and him at the same time, Bond—thwack!—tosses a knife into his back. Just in the nick of time. Still, M dies of wounds received in the battle. Bottom line: Bond fucked up. Nevertheless, he’s warmly welcomed back to the service and dispatched on a new mission. When I first saw the film, this long and pointless denouement was a turnoff that soured the entire movie. Yet with or without this misguided last quarter, Skyfall’s story line didn’t come close to matching the sophistication, intriguing twists, or noirish romance of Casino Royale. So, sorry, Sherrilyn, it’s no masterpiece. Yet hope springs eternal—especially for Bond films. 007’s lousy decisions got M killed, but I’m still rooting for the guy.

Got any thoughts on James Bond and his many films? Email me at thisland@motherjones.com.

I’ll Be Your Mirror: A Tribute to the Velvet Underground & Nico. For a long while, I was not a fan of tribute albums that bring together a bunch of groups and performers to pay homage to a particular artist by covering his or her songs. I listened to these discs to see if any of the participants could render a version of a song that was better than the original. Invariably, hearing these tunes only made me want to play the tribute-target’s own renditions. No reason to listen to this redo ever again, I concluded. But then I realized these tribute collections were not about producing remakes that surpass the originals. At their best, they illuminate and highlight qualities of an artist that might have eluded a casual or even a committed listener. Yes, you’re unlikely to substitute this new version for the one you know, but here’s another way of hearing—or considering—a piece of treasured music. This new tribute to the Velvet Underground achieves that end. Many of the tracks bring into focus the lush melodies contained—and sometimes hidden—in the songs of the seminal pre-punk rock band fronted by Lou Reed. This is particularly true for the tracks from REM’s Michael Stipe (“Sunday Morning”), Sharon Van Etten (“Femme Fatale”), The National’s Matt Berninger (“I’m Waiting for the Man”), and Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore and Primal Scream’s Bobby Gillespie (“Heroin”). By now, we don’t need to be told how important the Velvet Underground was. Their music needs no rediscovery. Their place in the pantheon was established long ago. None of these songs will replace the originals, and they are not meant to. But they do spur a deeper appreciation of the haunting and lyrical melody lines the band created while they were punking out (before anyone knew that was a thing). That’s a mighty fine tribute. Here’s Stipe’s contribution:

Got any recommendations for me or to share with other This Land subscribers? Email me at thisland@motherjones.com.

Coming Soon to This Land

My old friend Jill Sobule, a wonderful singer-songwriter who scored a few hit songs in the 1990s (especially, “I Kissed a Girl”), has written a sharp song about the new Texas law outlawing most abortions and permitting anyone to bring civil lawsuits against abortion providers. It will premiere in the next issue of This Land.

Read Previous Issues of This Land

October 2, 2021: How we almost got that big Lewandowski scoop; Dumbass Comment of the Week; MoxieCam™; and more.

September 28, 2021: Note to Greta Van Susteren: The road to hell is paved with both-siderism; the value of Netflix’s Worth; a crazy CIA story; and more.

September 25, 2021: What do Common, Leonard Bernstein, and Dwight Eisenhower have in common?; Dumbass Comment of the Week; the Mailbag; MoxieCam™; and more.

September 21, 2021: The Trump-Russia scandal denialists are taking another desperate stab at gaslighting you; Netflix’s The Chair nails the assignment; and more.

September 18, 2021: Hey Marco Rubio and Glenn Greenwald, this is the real problem with Milley, Trump, and nuclear weapons; Dumbass Comment of the Week (did Barack Obama really kill rock ’n’ roll with racial politics?); the Mailbag; MoxieCam™ (a new toy!); and more.

September 14, 2021: Will the new Bill-and-Monica television series spur a reappraisal of the Clinton scandal?; a stunning new Holocaust movie you can’t see—yet; one of the best articles ever about a family and its dog; and more.

September 11, 2021: How Trump’s conspiracy theories are killing people in West Virginia and elsewhere; more 9/11 reflections; Dumbass Comment of the Week (Special Confederacy Edition); a look at HBO’s very odd White Lotus; MoxieCam™; and more.

September 8, 2021: 9/11 plus 20: a remembrance and a thank-you; the chilling climate crisis warning in HBO’s Reminiscence; and more.

September 3, 2021: Texas shows how Trumpism has become fascistic vigilantism; Dumbass Comment of the Week; Rock ’n’ Roll Flashback (how I was popped by Iggy Pop); MoxieCam™; and more.

August 31, 2021: How a 1954 analysis perfectly explains today’s Republican Party; on his new album, James McMurtry captures the spirit of Warren Zevon; and more.

August 20, 2021: Yes, there are laws Trump may have broken while trying to overturn the election; Dumbass Comment of the Week (special Afghanistan edition); the Mailbag (should we report on Trump’s inane remarks?); MoxieCam™; and more.

Got suggestions, comments, complaints, tips related to any of the above, or anything else? Email me at thisland@motherjones.com.