Since American politics is dominated by two major parties, like ours, I wasn’t surprised when I found out that former president Donald Trump was acquitted over charges of “incitement and insurrection” at the Capitol Hill riot on January 6.

As one who believes in democracy, though, and watching the evidence that was unfolding during the impeachment trial, I still hoped that right would win over wrong and conscience would overcome partisanship.

I was wrong. 

Partisan politics is so deeply ingrained in one’s way of thinking and reasoning that only a miracle could change one’s mind.

Because our politics, here in Malta, is also based on a two-party system, one could understand how difficult it was for the outcome to be different.

Partisan politics distorts reality and pollutes one’s way of judging things.

Brandon Kein, a journalist with WIRED, reporting in an article entitled ‘How people’s political passion distorts their sense of reality’, quotes Troy Campbell, a consumer behaviour researcher, who states that, when confronted with solutions that challenged deeply-held values, people may be inclined to disbelieve the problem. 

“If you feel really negatively about the solution, if you don’t want the solution to happen, then you deny that the problem exists.  Then there will be coherence in your belief system,” Campbell asserts.

The fact that Trump kept insisting that there was electoral fraud and that the election was stolen and that he won, is clear proof how one distorts the facts to satisfy one’s ‘belief system’.

We live in an imperfect world. 

That individuals, in everyday life, distort and manipulate facts to back what they believe in is understandable. However, for political leaders to use such tactics for partisan ends is unforgivable and needs to be shamed and fought vigorously, tooth and nail. 

To go against one’s party for the good of one’s country is difficult, as Maryland’s Governor Larry Hogan told NBC: “It’s sometimes really hard to go against your base and your colleagues to do what you think is right for the country.” 

Our prime minister needs to rise above partisan politics and address more the nation rather than ‘we’ and ‘you’- Ray Azzopardi

Luckily, we still have people who have a conscience and who are able to see the bigger picture and go beyond their personal gain. These are individuals who risk their careers and are often labelled as ‘traitors’ as we have also experienced in our own country.

Though Republican Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell voted not to convict Trump, he still blamed him for the insurrection.

He stated: “There’s no question, none, that President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day.”

What better testimony from the minority leader! He tried to appease his conscience by declaring publicly what he believed and acted against his beliefs!

No wonder McConnell was blamed for showing ‘political cowardice’.

What took place in congress is an eye opener to our western democracies.

As President Joe Biden stated after the vote on Trump: “This sad chapter in our history has reminded us that democracy is fragile. That it must always be defended. That we must be ever vigilant.”

We need to be on guard and not allow partisan politics to distort reality. 

Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt, in their book How democracies die, warn: “When socio-economic, racial or religious differences give rise to extreme partisanship, in which societies sort themselves into political camps whose world views are not just different but mutually exclusive, toleration becomes harder to sustain.” 

The authors go on to explain that “as mutual toleration disappears, politicians grow tempted to abandon forbearance and try to win at all costs. 

“This may encourage the rise of anti-system groups that reject democracy’s rules altogether. When that happens, democracy is in trouble.”

That’s exactly what happened on Capitol Hill on January 6.

It was Trump who did not accept the result and wanted to ‘win at all costs’. Political leaders, who are enslaved to their party and for whom the party and its followers come above the common good, are putting democracy in peril. 

Our prime minister needs to rise above partisan politics and address more the nation rather than ‘we’ and ‘you’, ‘the ‘government’ and ‘the opposition’.

President Biden, in his maiden speech, gave prominence to the nation as a whole. He emphasised: “The American story depends not on any one of us, not on some of us but on all of us. On ‘we the people’ who seek a more perfect union.” 

He went on to pledge: “I will be a president for all Americans.” 

The way our leaders talk, reason and argue gives us an indication of how we conduct politics.

Though those who govern us are responsible for the way we live, it is we, citizens, who, ultimately, have the power to keep them or remove them. 

We, ultimately, have the final say. 

Once the institutions fail us and the rule of law is in jeopardy, we need to stand up and fight until justice is done. 

That is why Senate Democratic majority leader, Chuck Schumer, following the vote to acquit Trump, urged the American people to deliver justice once the senate failed to do so.

Ray Azzopardi is a retired headmaster.