Authoritarianism: It can definitely happen here
How serious is the threat of authoritarianism in the United States today? A new book by two Washington Post reporters reveals that shortly before the deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol last January, Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, warned aides that the U.S. was facing a "Reichstag moment." Milley was referring to the crisis in Germany in February 1933, one month after Adolph Hitler took power, when the German parliament was set on fire. Hitler and the Nazi Party used the opportunity to declare a national emergency, suspend Germany's democratic constitution and ban opposition parties. Germany descended into fascist dictatorship for the next 12 years.
The comparison is extreme but not entirely farfetched.
The Jan. 6 assault on Congress was an attempted coup d'etat. The protesters aimed to stop Congress from legally certifying Joe Biden's electoral victory and reverse the 2020 presidential election result. It was an assault on democracy, incited by Trump himself, who was subsequently impeached, but not convicted, for a high crime. Trump's response to Milley's charge is characteristic: a personal attack. Trump said, in a statement issued by his political action committee, "If I was going to do a coup, one of the last people I would want to do it with is Gen. Mark Milley."
The coup attempt failed, of course.
No coup has ever succeeded without the active or tacit support of the military. President Trump may have expected the military to intervene to keep him in power. What saved the country was the deep conviction among military leaders that the military should stay out of politics.
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https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/authoritarianism-it-can-definitely-happen-here/ar-AAMxBUP
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