There are clear and present dangers looming ahead for Democracy in this nation. You want proof in no uncertain terms?

Let’s start with Donald Trump and his obvious denial of losing the 2020 election. In doing so Trump and his pabulum followers have promoted and continued to spread not only lies, but conspiracy crap that any thinking person would know is untrue.

Unfortunately the more a lie and falsehood are spread and repeated, the more idiots believe in the fake scenarios.

But wait! Trump is not the only dummy hoping to enhance careers by spreading goop.

Florida Governor and hopeful Republican Presidential candidate Ron DeSantis has his own form of putting a chill on democracy by spreading junk.

Last week DeSantis Trumpeted the arrests of 20 felons who allegedly voted illegally in the 2020 elections. These are the first cases brought by the state’s new election police force — and a clear effort to deter legitimate voting.

Mr. DeSantis says he came up with the 15-person Office of Election Crimes and Security to make sure anyone who isn’t allowed to vote gets prosecuted if they try. “If you commit an elections crime, you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” Mr. DeSantis said Thursday in Fort Lauderdale.

That might sound noble, except for the fact that DeSantis is creating an expensive Election Crimes Board for 20 arrests out of eleven million Floridians who cast ballots in 2020.  This was little more than to build a fantasy that there is widespread voter fraud.

A 2018 ballot initiative amended the Florida constitution to give formerly incarcerated felons the right to vote, but it excluded anyone convicted of murder or sexual assault. Mr. DeSantis says all 20 of the arrested voters fall into this category. 

His announcement would carry more credibility if the governor had faithfully followed the clear will of Florida’s voters. Instead, he undermined it, signing a law in 2019 that moved the goal posts by requiring felons to pay off any money owed in fines and fees before registering to vote, with the punishment for not doing so being another felony.

Of course  DeSantis did not mention whether these 20 felons were Republican, or Democrat, but he said most were from the heavily Democratic counties of Palm, Broward and Miami-Dade.

Then there are the recently Trump backed “election deniers” who won their respective offices in several states.

Last week, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., KY.) said that “there’s probably a greater likelihood that the House flips than the Senate,” and that in such statewide races, “candidate quality has a lot to do with the outcome.”

That, in turn evoked harsh criticism from Trump, writing on his social-media platform over the weekend, he disparaged McConnell as a “broken down hack politician” and said the veteran GOP senator should spend more time and money helping the candidates.

Trump also disparaged his former transportation secretary, Elaine Chao, who is McConnell’s wife. Chao resigned after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by a mob of Trump supporters.

Trump, who is in hot water in several states over different questionable antics is still the god to numerous, lost, racists party members looking to grab onto any salvation for a false future of White Power.

The trouble is that millions of Trump followers would sacrifice democracy for an unachievable satisfaction.