agip wrote:
Anyone who votes for a Republican for any position anywhere is either naive, authoritarian or stupid.
There's no middle ground anymore. Trump and his Republicans are telling us that he will dismantle democracy if reelected. Full stop. You vote for them, you are a terrible, terrible American and seeking the destruction of our nation.
Jonathan Karl is a straight-news reporter. He talked with Bill Kristol this week about a Trump second term and Karl might as well have been Ian Bassin.
Why is Karl so alarmed that he sounds like a pro-democracy activist?
Because he’s spent the last year reporting on Trump. He’s interviewed Trump and loads of Republicans. He told Kristol that 95 percent of the sourcing for his book came from Republicans, many of whom worked for Trump. And the picture they painted for Karl was dystopian.
Acting appointments from top to bottom.
A cadre of thousands of political appointees, vetted for personal loyalty to Trump, replacing career civil servants.
An understanding among Trump lieutenants that they are free to break the law because they will be pardoned.
An overriding desire on the part of Trump to seek retribution against perceived enemies.
Again—and I cannot emphasize this enough—this is not a prediction from me and my weirdo, Never Trump friends. This is what the people who worked for Trump believe he will do.
Good post and good links.
Throughout history there have been many functioning democracies that have let their democracy crumble into some type of authoritarian government. We are not special we are not immune, it can happen here.
I do believe that there is a blindness, a character flaw in those who ignore what Trump says he will do to our legal and constitutional systems and who vote for him anyway.
This isn't a disagreement that I might have about government spending decisions, affirmation action, transgender stuff, taxes, mask wearing, border control, those arguments I understand.
This is about Trump using the government for retribution, for attacking democracy to stay in power and appointing those loyal to him above the law and constitution. These are things he has said he will do or has already done.
Yes, losing democracy can happen here just as it has in other countries. I bet many of them didn't see it coming either