The Fight Against Fascists (I Can't Believe This Exists)

[Dill]

(06-09-2021, 12:04 AM)Benton Wrote: In our short life as a democracy, Trump is probably the closest thing we've had to a fascist.

Should we vilify him for that? I dunno, probably.

Should we use him as a cautionary tale on not blindly following morons just because of party? Definitely.

How the dude was not impeached for advocating for a coupe then walking away from it is mind boggling, and troubling. The thing is, he probably didn't think ... with all the rhetoric from Paul and Cruz and equal morons ... that there was anything wrong with saying people were stealing from his supporters and they need to forcefully take things back.

Well, Trump is in the running for most authoritarian and anti-democratic, that is for sure. 

I don't think his anti-democratic behavior flows from principle, though, as it would from a true fascist. 

Rather, Trump is just an unethical opportunist who doesn't understand or think much about rule of law. If he sees a personal advantage in breaking the law and can get away with it, he will. E.g., using state resources to coerce a foreign leader to harm one of his domestic political opponents. So not the kind of person you want in charge of a nation based on rule of law. 

But the bolded is the real problem. It's not just Trump. A significant number of his followers also embrace the anti-democratic behavior, and this concentrates it in party power. That is why he was not impeached. And that is how he continues to exert powerful control over Congress. The Party represents and protects him now, even out of office.  One cannot now hold a position of party leadership and hold Trump accountable for anti-democratic behavior.

In 2020, many Republican state officials courageously called the election as they saw it, and refused to be intimidated--even under direct coercion from Trump. Trump-appointed judges did their job impartially. So although one of the firewalls against anti-democratic leadership failed when Trump escaped impeachment twice, another one held during the election--but just barely.

Now Trump and his Fox/OANN backers understand that their power/ratings depend on continued undermining of election legitimacy--not only Biden's win but in prep for the upcoming 2022 midterms. That means amplifying disinformation about the election and recounts.  It means legislation according state officials and legislatures more power to "oversee" tabulation of election results. It means using party power to coerce Republican election officials in critical states to go along, so that election results, if unfavorable to the Trump party, can be "managed"--thus wholly taking out that already weakened firewall.

The crisis of our democracy didn't pass after 1/6. It continues to grow.