by WILLIAM SALETAN FEBRUARY 7, 2022 5:30 AM
“Americans like to think our country is immune to authoritarianism. We have a culture of freedom, a tradition of elected government, and a Bill of Rights. We’re not like those European countries that fell into fascism. We’d never willingly abandon democracy, liberty, or the rule of law.
“But that’s not how authoritarianism would come to America. In fact, it’s not how authoritarianism has come to America. The movement to dismantle our democracy is thriving and growing, even after the failure of the January 6th coup attempt, because it isn’t spreading through overt rejection of our system of government. It’s spreading through lies.”
“All you have to do is believe lies: that real ballots are fake, that prosecutors are criminals, and that insurrectionists are political prisoners. Once you believe these things, you’re ready to disenfranchise your fellow citizens in the name of democracy. You’re ready to cover up crimes in the name of fighting corruption. You’re ready to liberate coup plotters in the name of justice.”
“And that’s where we are. Donald Trump and his party have sold these lies to more than 100 million Americans. He has built an army of authoritarian followers who think they’re saving the republic.”
-- William Saletan
Opinion A Trump dictatorship is increasingly inevitable. We should stop pretending. By Robert Kagan Editor at large November 30, 2023 at 8:00 a.m. EST (Anthony Gerace for The Washington Post; photos by Getty Images, AFP) Listen 33 min https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/11/30/trump-dictator-2024-election-robert-kagan/ Comment 12074 Add to your saved stories Save Robert Kagan, a Post Opinions contributing editor, is the author of “Rebellion: How Antiliberalism Is Tearing America Apart — Again,” which will be published by Knopf in May. Let’s stop the wishful thinking and face the stark reality: There is a clear path to dictatorship in the United States, and it is getting shorter every day. In 13 weeks, Donald Trump will have locked up the Republican nomination. In the RealClearPolitics poll average (for the period from Nov. 9 to 20), Trump leads his nearest competitor by 47 points and leads the rest of the field combined by 27 points. The idea that he is unelectable in the
Comments
Post a Comment