Around Town With Maria: How Did We Get Here? Democracy in Peril w/Tim Kipp and Nick Biddle 12/4/25

Описание: Two local activists and history teachers will present a lecture and discussion on the forces that shape our current political condition. Nick Biddle earned tenure as a professor of Latin American history at Appalachian State University and later became executive coordinator of The Alliance For Democracy, a national non-profit dedicated to campaign finance reform and corporate accountability. Tim Kipp taught U.S. history and political science for 39 years, mostly at Brattleboro Union High School.

According to Biddle and Kipp, “Trump’s bulldozing of the East Wing of the White House is a grim metaphor for what his regime is doing to the republic. Running the country like one of his many failed businesses, Trump is shredding the Constitution.” Utilizing a structural analysis this presentation will explore how fundamental weaknesses of our governing systems enable Trump’s authoritarianism.

Biddle will begin by underscoring the clear disdain for democracy held by the so-called “Founders.” Governor Edmund Randolph spoke for all of them when he opened the Constitutional Convention by declaring that “our chief danger arises from the democratic parts of our government”. In September 1787 the delegates announced the Constitution. It opens with five words — “We the People of the United States.”

Enfranchisement has been the key measure of who “We the People” are. Property qualifications, gender and race have been criteria to limit civil and political rights. The disfranchised are effectively excluded from the protections enumerated in the Constitution. Each time an expansion of suffrage occurs a reactionary movement to disfranchise ensues. It’s been a tug of war since 1787.

Biddle will review a little understood weapon in the arsenal of disfranchisement, the development and expansion of “corporate personhood.” Utilized by corporate lawyers since the 19th century, corporate personhood has lifted a billionaire class to unprecedented heights of wealth and political power. Corporate personhood was used in the 2010 Citizens United case by the Supreme Court to equate money with free speech. Since then billions of dark money dollars have captured our political system. How does corporate personhood work? What makes it so dangerous? What can be done to disrupt it? These are questions we will explore.

Kipp will cover how the structural weaknesses of the Constitution have been exploited by the Trump regime to construct the most anti democratic government in U.S. history.

First, Madison and his fears about unethical leaders will be examined. Followed by a look at basic principles and formations such as popular sovereignty, and checks and balances. These essential components of the founding document today are unable to withstand the resistance of the current regime that actively undermines the integrity of congressional hearings and oversight powers.

Next the legislative function of government is analyzed. Lawmaking itself is compromised by an executive that has little appreciation for the democratic process. Executive orders and emergency decrees and the outright ignoring of the legislative branch are the new normal. The Republican Party willingly collaborates with the Trump regime. The presentation will conclude with a look at the judicial process.

The Justice Department and the Supreme Court have abandoned their historic obligations as custodians of the rule of law. Trump has transformed Justice and the highest court into instruments of partisan power. No longer do they serve as neutral overseers of a constitutional process.

These are the most perilous times this country has endured since the Civil War. The Constitution itself is under direct attack from those in power. A long train of historical influences has determined how and where we are today.