A can of worms

For what it represented, Trump’s attack on the US Constitution has been roundly and rightly condemned. His only concern was to assert his ‘right’ to win an election he lost. But should liberal-minded people be so quick off the mark to pile in on the poor, deluded man? For all the wrong reasons he as at least revealed one essential truth: the US Constitution is a genuine barrier to a fully functioning democracy. It gives a clear, built-in advantage to rural, reactionary states. It provides for mechanisms in the electoral college to defy the popular will. It was written in a world composed of entirely different circumstances and in subsequent decades had no substance for millions of enslaved Americans. Of course, this is not Trump’s concern, and no common ground exists with his call to suspend the Constitution. But perhaps he is just the person needed to open a can of worms.