March 2020 is a stress test, not only of hospitals and supply chains, but of the democratic habits that keep power accountable when fear is in the air. Emergencies expand authority, fracture trust, and tempt leaders to treat transparency as optional. A republic can survive quarantine. The question is whether its standards can.
America didn’t enter 2020 with a reset. It entered with momentum, and momentum is what politics looks like when standards have already been weakened. From escalating conflict abroad to a Senate trial that feels prewritten, the real danger is not a single event. It’s the permission structure we build when accountability becomes optional and precedent…