General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsTeri Kanefield (atty, UC/Berkeley) : How fascists come to power: by creating crisis and spectacle
And what has Trump done? He's created a crisis around the issue of undocumented immigrants, and the spectacle of the wall. And he's used the spectacle to declare a National Emergency.
An emergency which has suddenly given him dozens of new emergency powers.
https://terikanefield-blog.com/governing-by-crisis-spectacle-and-sadopopulism/
6/ But you cant tell the people THAT. So you tell them a good story.
You tell them the oligarchs are redeemers.
A leader comes to power by creating mystical connection with the nation and the people.
They earn loyalty by protecting the people from enemies.
7/ The fascist way to power is to promise to restore the nation to its mythic greatness.
OK, so if leaders dont govern in the usual sense (devising policy to better the lives of the citizens) what do they do all day?
They create crisis and spectacle!
11/ Each time Trump creates crisis or spectacle, a chorus of voices (from the left) insist that hes screwing up, that hes emotionally brittle, that any moment hell bring about his own ruin. They laugh at his idiocy. Maybe he isnt screwing up at all.
12/ Perhaps he is governing according to the manifesto for how to establish and maintain fascism.
13/ Trump & Team fully understand the Putin-Ilyin method. How do I know? Because Steve Bannon coined the phrase flood the zone.
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/01/presidential-emergency-powers/576418/
Unknown to most Americans, a parallel legal regime allows the president to sidestep many of the constraints that normally apply. The moment the president declares a national emergencya decision that is entirely within his discretionmore than 100 special provisions become available to him. While many of these tee up reasonable responses to genuine emergencies, some appear dangerously suited to a leader bent on amassing or retaining power. For instance, the president can, with the flick of his pen, activate laws allowing him to shut down many kinds of electronic communications inside the United States or freeze Americans bank accounts. Other powers are available even without a declaration of emergency, including laws that allow the president to deploy troops inside the country to subdue domestic unrest.
This edifice of extraordinary powers has historically rested on the assumption that the president will act in the countrys best interest when using them. With a handful of noteworthy exceptions, this assumption has held up. But what if a president, backed into a corner and facing electoral defeat or impeachment, were to declare an emergency for the sake of holding on to power? In that scenario, our laws and institutions might not save us from a presidential power grab. They might be what takes us down.
uponit7771
(90,225 posts)alwaysinasnit
(5,038 posts)with any of this. Steven Miller comes to mind but I don't think he is alone, or even the originator. Or am I just off my rocker???
pnwmom
(108,925 posts)alwaysinasnit
(5,038 posts)between 45 and Putin, and has surveillance on them?
pnwmom
(108,925 posts)alwaysinasnit
(5,038 posts)instruction from Putin as he has the attention span of a gnat. Stuff is being relayed to 45 but the question is "how?" I sure hope Mueller has a handle on this.
guillaumeb
(42,641 posts)And the example of Trump should cause politicians on both sides to reconsider the concept of allowing any President to declare a national emergency, except perhaps in the case of an attack.
hughee99
(16,113 posts)He had his legislature grant him the power to rule by decree. Its not just how fascists come to power, lots of people come to power this way.
DontBooVote
(901 posts)we're not allowed to do that here. We're not supposed to go there, here.
pnwmom
(108,925 posts)DontBooVote
(901 posts)seems to be no end in sight. And I'm afraid that what the OP describes is exactly where we're headed, just like has happened many times in the past. I was accused of being a doom-and-gloomer as a result. Because, you know why?
Because not a single one of us truly knows what is going on. There are 1000s of opinions but not a single sure thing that allows us to believe justice will prevail. And none of us knows what will happen to us as Democrats and Liberals nor to our children and grandchildren. I am terrified for them, not knowing what their future holds. What does our future hold?
pnwmom
(108,925 posts)same time.
I hate what's happening, but I think the Democrats are doing what they can do, along with certain Republicans, like Bob Mueller. And I'm not giving up hope. That's what the Russians want us to do -- just accept what's happening as the new reality.
DontBooVote
(901 posts)my life. And we kicked some ass! I'm a Democrat, through-and-through and have been my entire conscious life. I thank Dr. Martin Luther King, for one, for helping to calibrate my ideological compass early in my life.