“ the proverbial “existential threat” to American democracy“
I do not actually recall the propaganda media using the expression “American democracy“. They always said “our democracy“. I interpreted “Our“ as the Democrat party ruling everything with one vote more than 50%.
The reason we are a republic and not a pure democracy is to avoid the tyranny of the pure democracy, where there are no protections for any minority viewpoints.
True. And a single 5-4 vote on the Supreme Court creates a Universal Right imposed on every one.