America's Next Authoritarian Will Be Much More Competent

[melman]

Now that Joe Biden has won the presidency, we can expect debates over whether Donald Trump was an aberration (“not who we are!”) or another instantiation of America’s pathologies and sins. One can reasonably make a case for his deep-rootedness in American traditions, while also noticing the anomalies: the early-morning tweeting, the fondness for mixing personal and government business, the obsession with ratings befitting a reality-TV star—the one job he was good at.

From an international perspective, though, Trump is just one more example of the many populists on the right who have risen to power around the world: Narendra Modi in India, Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil, Viktor Orbán in Hungary, Vladimir Putin in Russia, Jarosław Kaczyński in Poland, and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Turkey, my home country. These people win elections but subvert democratic norms: by criminalizing dissent, suppressing or demonizing the media, harassing the opposition, and deploying extra-legal mechanisms whenever possible (Putin’s opponents have a penchant for meeting tragic accidents). Orbán proudly uses the phrase illiberal democracy to describe the populism practiced by these men; Trump has many similarities to them, both rhetorically and policy-wise.

He campaigned like they did, too, railing against the particular form of globalization that dominates this era and brings benefit to many, but disproportionately to the wealthy, leaving behind large numbers of people, especially in wealthier countries. He relied on the traditional herrenvolk idea of ethnonationalist populism: supporting a kind of welfare state, but only for the “right” people rather than the undeserving others (the immigrants, the minorities) who allegedly usurp those benefits. He channeled and fueled the widespread mistrust of many centrist-liberal democratic institutions (the press, most notably) —just like the other populists. And so on.

But there’s one key difference between Trump and everyone else on that list. The others are all talented politicians who win elections again and again.

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https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/11/trump-proved-authoritarians-can-get-elected-america/617023/

[Fahrenthold451]

1. And that's the only reason he lost

Not because he was authoritarian. He just didn't play the game competently.

[misanthrope]

2. Yep, that's why the 70 million votes he received concern me

There are apparently plenty of Americans who don't really care about threats to functioning democracy. I've been surrounded by a lot of them my entire life.

[marylandblue]

3. Every Democratic politician in America needs to read this article.

[Silent3]

4. Yes, stupidity and incomptence was oddly a saving grace with Trump

Republicans have shown a preference for stupid candidates , however. They just can't stand anyone who talks over the very, very low level of their heads -- crudeness and bumper-sticker simplicity are a big plus in the Republican world. So it's not entirely an accident that Trump lacked the ability to corrupt the system in a sophisticated way.

But if Republicans can find someone who puts on a great dumb fuck act, but who's sharp as a tack underneath, we'll be in much deeper trouble.

I think one of the best things Biden can do is actively work to put more checks on presidential power. Since he won't want to abuse his position anyway, this won't hamper his plans at all. He should try to make sure he, and all Presidents who come after him, are legally bound to comply with Congressional oversight, keeping safeguards against abusive use of this power by Congress, but also severely limiting the executive branch's ability to, for all practical intents and purposes, side-step accountability via endless legal challenges.

Biden should also seek to make the Justice Department even more independent and free from potential Presidential abuse.

The best possible such protections might even require the difficult task of amending the Constitution, which simply can't be done without Republicans working with Democrats. Perhaps if Republicans view this as Biden limiting his own power, they'd be willing to play along.

[Midnight Writer]

5. I've always believed each Republican President since Reagan has been testing us.

Just testing to see how much they can get away with.

Testing the boundaries and adjusting their gameplan.

[appalachiablue]

6. RR: Required Reading Section. (Also posted in 'Editorials' Section)

DT was Part 1.

(or Part 2. if you start w Reagan).

[Crunchy Frog]

7. This is why I'm not optimistic in the long term.

Trump exposed many weaknesses in our system, but I don't see anything that can be done to actually address those weaknesses, or shore up democracy.

The fascist party will simply learn what mistakes to avoid the next time they get a chance to grab everything.

We've also learned that nearly half the country has no problem with living under fascism or authoritarianism.

Even if we treat every election like it's life or death, eventually we're going to lose.

[Solly Mack]

8. K&R

[JudyM]

9. K&R

[area51]

10. k&r n/t