We live in a democracy. So what?

This is what happens when all the president’s men are grifters:

Another day, another set of regulations targeted for reversal by President Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency. The latest possible rollback affects a powerful greenhouse gas with up to 36 times more warming potential than carbon dioxide. The agency moved [Sept. 10] to make it easier for drillers to meet requirements meant to curb leaks of that gas, methane, from oil and natural gas infrastructure. The rules are not final, and the public will have 60 days to comment on the potential changes after they are published in the Federal Register. While the changes will save industry money, the agency’s own analysis found the proposed rules could pump hundreds of thousands more tons of the climate-warming gas into the atmosphere and add millions of dollars in agricultural, health-care and other costs to the U.S. economy because of climate change.

I read the story and thought nothing can be done, there’s no point getting worked up about corporate polluters and climate change and millions of people who suffer from climate-related hunger and thirst.

But I got worked up anyway.

Then I calmed down and wondered why I feel contempt not only for Trump but for everyone who supports him. Have I become hopelessly intolerant, or am I merely reacting in a sensible way to people who back policies that shouldn’t be tolerated in a civilized country?

I asked Swamp Rabbit, who was visiting my shack. He said, “Ain’t nothing civilized about this country. How are you defining tolerant?”

I told him tolerance is about conceding that people have the right to believe or disbelieve as they see fit. It is not about allowing giant corporations to poison the environment because they don’t believe in science.

“Blah blah,” the rabbit said. “We got Agent Orange in the White House and a bunch of his yes men running Congress. Who’s gonna stop ’em?”

Democracy will stop them, I told him. Even the dimmest citizens will come to realize that Trump, a lifelong bully, thief and liar, is making policies that are hurting the country. (I didn’t believe my own words, but they sounded good.)

“What if they stay with Trump?” he said. “They got a right to believe what they want, you said so yourself.”

For the sake of argument I told him the majority of Americans were sensible, that the majority always prevails in a democracy.

“How are you defining democracy?” he said. “Germany was a democracy until them sensible Germans elected Hitler.”

I was getting mad. “Wait a minute, rabbit. It wasn’t long ago you were warning me not to compare Trump with evil dictators. I think you said comparisons like that are too simplistic.”

“I was wrong,” he said. “There ain’t no such thing as too simplistic. Trump’s the living proof of that.”

Footnote: Let’s not get too pessimistic. Voting in the midterms will be a good first step toward ousting our would-be-dictator.