'How To Lose America: The Death of Democracy Looks Nearer Than Ever'

[appalachiablue]

Salon, Elayne Clift, May 15, 2021. - Excerpts, Ed.

.. Most sentient beings on the planet breathed a huge sigh of relief last November when Joe Biden won the presidential election. We were even happier when he and his administration immediately began acting robustly on myriad issues. First came the well-chosen appointments, the flurry of executive orders reversing Trump's perversities, then the big bills aimed at health care, infrastructure, economic recovery, climate change, income inequality, childcare and more — all of which made Republicans in Congress and their QAnon conspiracists cringe — and jump into action. A majority of states immediately flew into action to bring back Jim Crow with hideous voting rights restrictions. Protesters began to be arrested. Gun violence and hate crimes grew by startling percentages while cops kept killing Black people.

Arizona Republicans decided to hold yet another recount of the election results there, barring journalists from the hangar where counters reportedly tried to spot bamboo in the ballots. (Proof, if we needed it, that the party has gone crazy.) Republicans in Congress began their urgent campaign, articulated by Mitch McConnell, to stop any legislation proposed by the White House or Democrats in the House of Representatives. Ted Cruz, Lindsey Graham, Josh Hawley and other deranged GOP members went on various rants grounded in lies and nonsense. Rand Paul accosted public health expert Dr. Anthony Fauci, accusing him of funding dangerous research in China (more proof of crazy). Vaccine conspiracies and anti-masking activists got really crazy.

All of this occurred after Jan. 6, when the unimaginable happened and an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol sent America a clear message: This country is not out of danger.

The fact is, the real and growing possibility of living through the destruction of American democracy is not going away. It is growing. Trump is now viewed as the head of the Republican Party as he holds the feet of elected officials to the fire with his fierce, alarming grip on their futures. A significant number of regular Republicans continue to embrace the lies, mantras and inconceivable theories spewed out by Fox News. Insurrectionists crawl out from under their rocks in droves. The Supreme Court is now a quasi-political body with a 6-3 conservative majority. All this is terrifying in its implications. Like many others, I grow more anxious by the day — so much so that I actually inquired about getting a British passport, which my husband and children hold.

I know that what happened in countries like Turkey, Egypt, Poland, Hungary and others can happen here.

We are not immune from autocrats and dictatorship and we are not protected by our Constitution if it no longer holds meaning for those in power. Our future is riding on the midterm elections next year, and the 2024 presidential election. Consider this: In 1923 Hitler mounted a failed coup and when he failed, his effort was treated leniently. A decade later he was Germany's dictator. In 2021 Trump inspired a failed coup treated leniently by those who say we "need to move on." Will he, or his appointed alter ego, be our dictator in less than a decade? Ece Temelkuran, a noted Turkish journalist, wrote a book in 2019 explaining how President Erdogan came to rule that country: "How to Lose a Country: The Seven Steps from Democracy to Dictatorship." She writes, "Watching a disaster occur has a sedating effect. As our sense of helplessness grows along with the calamity, [we begin to feel that] there is no longer anything you can do.. global news channels jump in [for] the denouement.. It began with a populist coming to town.

She draws chilling comparisons between the fate of Turkey and what's happening in the U.S. and elsewhere: "It doesn't matter if Trump or Erdogan or [the U.K.'s] Nigel Farage is brought down. Millions of people are fired up by their message and will be ready to act upon the orders of a similar figure"...

More, https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/how-to-lose-america-the-death-of-democracy-looks-nearer-than-ever/ar-BB1gLtLX



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QAnon

[FoxNewsSucks]

1. If SB1 is successfully killed by Moscow Mitch,

that will be the death of our democracy, and it'll happen before the midterms. We need action now. For the life of me, I don't understand why Sinema and Manchin don't see this. Or if they do, why they are handing republicons their vicory.

[Fiendish Thingy]

2. Mitch doesn't have the power to kill S1- but Jim Crow Joe Manchin does.

As the Pod Save America guys say “without HR1(S1), we’re fucked”

The fight is NOW, not November 2022.

[TreasonousBastard]

3. Throughout history, republics and democracies have failed. Look at Greece and Rome...

It's really very simple-- democracy means a lot of people have to agree to disagree and get on with business. While they are battling their silly little battles, a tough guy, or group, with the will and ability to dominate will take over.

[acg]

4. Unanswered Questions

UNANSWERED QUESTIONS
By Al Garcia

America’s far-right has QAnon, the discredited conspiracy theory cult that sees the world, and especially America, as part of an organized cabal of Satan-worshipping, cannibalistic pedophile-devouring and child sex-trafficking realm, out to keep Donald Trump from his throne of thorns.

And here I am, holding one solitary candle, trying to keep the flickering and teetering flame of sacrificed lives and surrendered dreams alive.

And through it all, I keep wondering what might have happened in the lives and minds of those who no longer care or believe in the very dreams that they once helped come true. What extinguished the light that guided them, and showed them the face of truth? What killed the passion that used to see beyond the darkness and the shadows? What made them seek to dwell inside the blackness of the human heart, and in the sullenness of the human mind?

If only they would or could answer, and tell me why? If only they could hear me through their rage and their fury.

They have stepped beyond the bounds of decency and reality, and into a world that will explode and shatter their delusional euphoria, as so many others have experienced and regretted, but too late their realization of the madness of the choices that they made.

[PortTack]

5. Warnings we should and attention to. The future is unwritten. I for one am doing all I can

And I believe I am not alone.

Let’s follow the lead of our newly elected president and other congressional leaders taking action everyday to prevent our democracy from dying. Others too..look at Stacey Abrams, she didn’t get mad or despair, she took action.

We do need a voting rights bill, saw Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken interviewed, they both feel that some form of voting legislation will pass. Neither are quick to give lip service. Schumer too. If we do not, many of these laws, if not all, the most egregious parts will struck down in the courts. There is not one single state with newly minted voting suppression laws that is not being sued. GA has six suits.

The problem with these kinds of articles..all talk and no action. When ....WHEN are we going to stop talking like we have no power or options..geez!! Despair and inaction will only wear one down if you let it!