I am afraid that America is becoming an authoritarian state. I do not say this lightly, this is my country and I love it, but I am worried. And I am not alone. So many outside the United States - opinion writers, political leaders, and just plain folks - are appalled by what they are witnessing. They are comparing America to the likes of Hungary, Poland and Turkey, and yes, Hitler's rise in Germany and Mussolini in Italy.
They believed, as I did, that once the election was over and done, the braggadocio, would finally give way to resolute acceptance. But several recent opinion polls show that a majority of Republican voters, egged on by Donald Trump, believe that he rightfully won the election and they support his decision not to concede. All this after almost 30 days since the election, and where Joe Biden garnered 306 electoral votes and a national voter plurality of more than 6-million votes, a number that is still growing with the recounts. And after state by state reported that there was no evidence of election fraud.
This. Is. Not. Normal.
That the Republican leadership in Congress are going along with charade, is doubly disturbing. They began the year by displaying their lack of principles when the voted, almost to a person, not to convict Trump or even hear evidence during the impeachment trial. They emboldened him and they have supported him no matter what assaults on the precepts of democracy, what violations of the Constitution, what blatant disregard for the office of the presidency, what trashing of political norms he has shown.
Author, Matthew Mac Williams, who wrote The Rise of Trump; America's Authoritarian Spring , among other books on authoritarianism, has said what has happened in the Trump era is not at all shocking. In a poll he had conducted prior to the 2016 election, he found that roughly 40% of Americans were highly or moderately predisposed to authoritarian government. Trump played into these beliefs and he drew huge crowds with a cult-like following, and he continues a hold on these believers that is growing in size and strength. These Americans appreciate Trump's so called strength and power in the executive office, they love his distain and mocking of the press, and his strong nationalistic stance of take no prisoners with other countries, friend or foe.
Trump was able to rapidly rise to such heights because he is a charlatan, a snake oil salesman, a prevaricator of the highest degree. And his use of social media, such as Twitter, gave him a platform of unfiltered communication, a media where grievance politics, fear-mongering, and rumor and innuendo flourish. The right-wing media continued the polarization, keeping those believers wrapped in a cocoon of 'alternate facts' presented to them as the truth. These faithful followers have grabbed on to what Trump is selling because the American Dream has failed them all too often. Yet they fail to see the disaster looming before them, the rise of authoritarianism - they welcome it instead.
There have been plenty of signs pointing to Trump's authoritarian stance:
*the mollification of the Putin's take-over of the Ukraine * the total disregard of the emolument clause in the Constitution * using the Justice Department to investigate his enemies * calling the press 'the enemy of the people' * packing the courts - making them a political branch of government * using fear to keep his party, the GOP, from defying him *using federal forces against peaceful demonstrators *personally profiting from the presidency
Taking these individually they are egregious enough, collectively they represent a pattern that leads to destruction. And the Republican leadership has refused to move against Trump in his bid to over-turn a free and fair election, Trump has gone so far as to attempt to strong-arm individual states against certifying their election results. All the while the Congress is consenting to Trump's nomination of judges and approving his selections of department appointees, as if there is nothing awry. This has never happened in any previous administration. This lame duck has not lost his wings, Congress has lost its collective mind. Is this where we want to go as a country? Even if all the current Trump shenanigans fail to stop the transfer of power on January 20, 2021, his supporters will never accept the legitimacy of the Biden presidency. And, it appears, neither will the Republicans in Congress, insuring four more years of stalemate and non-governance.
These are dangerous times we live in currently; the president cannot defend America with his hands tied. Our enemies are already celebrating the divisiveness and chaos, and our allies don't understand it. America has lost its place as leader and example of a democratic government. Biden has promised to bring that back but he cannot do it alone.
Trumpism has become the new political party, the party that espouses authoritarian power. And if the true Republicans don't take their party back, I fear it will mark the end of the greatest experiment in democracy the world has known. We are half way there already.
I'm just sayin'
