Glenn Kirschner – Judge Chutkan sets speedy trial – March 2024 – in Trump’s trial for trying to overturn 2020 election
Thom Hartmann – GOP’s Bizarre Anti-Semitic Conspiracy Theory Targets…Beyonce?!
The Lincoln Project – Last Week in the Republican Party – August 29, 2023
Liberal Redneck – The battle for White votes in the South
Mangey Street Puppy Completely Transforms
Beau – Let’s talk about FEMA, Hawaii, and hotels….
Glenn Kirschner – Georgia DA Willis states that charging decisions are “imminent” for “defendants” for election crimes
The Lincoln Project – Elise Knew
Thom Hartmann – The Real Reason the Rich Flock to Davos…
Liberal Redneck – The State of Conspiracy Theories
Kitten Who Could Only Scoot Learns To Walk https://youtu.be/rhShLzq46zI
Beau – Let’s talk about Trump paying Clinton….
Experts in autocracies have pointed out that it is, unfortunately, easy to slip into normalizing the tyrant, hence it is important to hang on to outrage. These incidents which seem to call for the efforts of the Greek Furies (Erinyes) to come and deal with them will, I hope, help with that. As a reminder, though no one really knows how many there were supposed to be, the three names we have are Alecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone. These roughly translate as “unceasing,” “grudging,” and “vengeful destruction.”
Republicans (by whatever name, and throughout history) do tend to buy into conspiracy theories, whereas Democrats (throughouy history and by whatever name) generally do not – not even if there is evidence – not even if the conspiracy is real. Because some conspiracies are real. People do work together in groups if nexessary to get something done which can be accomplished no other way. We are humans, and that’s what we do. And, if whatever that something is, is illegal (or maybe just discreditable), that’s a conspiracy. I remember when Hillary spoke of a vast right-wing conspiracy and was universally mocked. But subsequent events have shown that, though not 100% correct in all details, she was right. But you won’t hear a Democrat today allow the phrase “right-wing conspiracy” pass his or her lips.
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Donovan Schaefer, University of Pennsylvania
Conspiracy theories have been around for centuries, from witch trials and antisemitic campaigns to beliefs that Freemasons were trying to topple European monarchies. In the mid-20th century, historian Richard Hofstadter described a “paranoid style” that he observed in right-wing U.S. politics and culture: a blend of “heated exaggeration, suspiciousness, and conspiratorial fantasy.”
But the “golden age” of conspiracy theories, it seems, is now. On June 24, 2022, the unknown leader of the QAnon conspiracy theory posted online for the first time in over a year. QAnon’s enthusiasts tend to be ardent supporters of Donald Trump, who made conspiracy theories a signature feature of his political brand, from Pizzagate and QAnon to “Stop the Steal” and the racist “birther” movement. Key themes in conspiracy theories – like a sinister network of “pedophiles” and “groomers,” shadowy “bankers” and “globalists” – have moved into the mainstream of right-wing talking points.
Much of the commentary on conspiracy theories presumes that followers simply have bad information, or not enough, and that they can be helped along with a better diet of facts.
But anyone who talks to conspiracy theorists knows that they’re never short on details, or at least “alternative facts.” They have plenty of information, but they insist that it be interpreted in a particular way – the way that feels most exciting.
My research focuses on how emotion drives human experience, including strong beliefs. In my latest book, I argue that confronting conspiracy theories requires understanding the feelings that make them so appealing – and the way those feelings shape what seems reasonable to devotees. If we want to understand why people believe what they believe, we need to look not just at the content of their thoughts, but how that information feels to them. Just as the “X-Files” predicted, conspiracy theories’ acolytes “want to believe.”
Over 100 years ago, the American psychologist William James noted: “The transition from a state of perplexity to one of resolve is full of lively pleasure and relief.” In other words, confusion doesn’t feel good, but certainty certainly does.
He was deeply interested in an issue that is urgent today: how information feels, and why thinking about the world in a particular way might be exciting or exhilarating – so much so that it becomes difficult to see the world in any other way.
James called this the “sentiment of rationality”: the feelings that go along with thinking. People often talk about thinking and feeling as though they’re separate, but James realized that they’re inextricably related.
For instance, he believed that the best science was driven forward by the excitement of discovery – which he said was “caviar” for scientists – but also anxiety about getting things wrong.
So how does conspiracy theory feel? First of all, it lets you feel like you’re smarter than everyone. Political scientist Michael Barkun points out that conspiracy theory devotees love what he calls “stigmatized knowledge,” sources that are obscure or even looked down upon.
In fact, the more obscure the source is, the more true believers want to trust it. This is the stock in trade of popular podcast “The Joe Rogan Experience” – “scientists” who present themselves as the lone voice in the wilderness and are somehow seen as more credible because they’ve been repudiated by their colleagues. Ninety-eight percent of scientists may agree on something, but the conspiracy mindset imagines the other 2% are really on to something. This allows conspiracists to see themselves as “critical thinkers” who have separated themselves from the pack, rather than outliers who have fallen for a snake oil pitch.
One of the most exciting parts of a conspiracy theory is that it makes everything make sense. We all know the pleasure of solving a puzzle: the “click” of satisfaction when you complete a Wordle, crossword or sudoku. But of course, the whole point of games is that they simplify things. Detective shows are the same: All the clues are right there on the screen.
But what if the whole world were like that? In essence, that’s the illusion of conspiracy theory. All the answers are there, and everything fits with everything else. The big players are sinister and devious – but not as smart as you.
QAnon works like a massive live-action video game in which a showrunner teases viewers with tantalizing clues. Followers make every detail into something profoundly significant.
When Donald Trump announced his COVID-19 diagnosis, for instance, he tweeted, “We will get through this TOGETHER.” QAnon followers saw this as a signal that their long-sought endgame – Hillary Clinton arrested and convicted of unspeakable crimes – was finally in play. They thought the capitalized word “TOGETHER” was code for “TO GET HER,” and that Trump was saying that his diagnosis was a feint in order to beat the “deep state.” For devotees, it was a perfectly crafted puzzle with a neatly thrilling solution.
It’s important to remember that conspiracy theory very often goes hand in hand with racism – anti-Black racism, anti-immigrant racism, antisemitism and Islamophobia. People who craft conspiracies – or are willing to exploit them – know how emotionally powerful these racist beliefs are.
It’s also key to avoid saying that conspiracy theories are “simply” irrational or emotional. What James realized is that all thinking is related to feeling – whether we’re learning about the world in useful ways or whether we’re being led astray by our own biases. As cultural theorist Lauren Berlant wrote in 2016, “All the messages are emotional,” no matter which political party they come from.
Conspiracy theories encourage their followers to see themselves as the only ones with their eyes open, and everyone else as “sheeple.” But paradoxically, this fantasy leads to self-delusion – and helping followers recognize that can be a first step. Unraveling their beliefs requires the patient work of persuading devotees that the world is just a more boring, more random, less interesting place than one might have hoped.
Part of why conspiracy theories have such a strong hold is that they have flashes of truth: There really are elites who hold themselves above the law; there really is exploitation, violence and inequality. But the best way to unmask abuses of power isn’t to take shortcuts – a critical point in “Conspiracy Theory Handbook,” a guide to combating them that was written by experts on climate change denial.
To make progress, we have to patiently prove what’s happening – to research, learn and find the most plausible interpretation of the evidence, not the one that’s most fun.
Donovan Schaefer, Assistant Professor of Religious Studies, University of Pennsylvania
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
==============================================================
Alecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone, yes, conspiracy theories are exciting. And therefore can be dangerous. But can it not also be dangerous, maybe even more dangerous, to ignore a real conspiracy which is fully or practically right out in the open? Sure, if you are hooked on living (and governing) by reason and compassion and equality, excitement – or at least that kind of excitement – can be uncomfortable or worse.. But not nearly as uncomfortable as living in a fascist theocracy. If we want to reach more people, to have a big tent, to fill it with people who are not exactly like us, we need to learn to make our messaging more exciting. And it certainly would not hurt to expose a few right wing conspiracies and cabals along the way.
The Furies and I will be back.
Glenn Kirschner – House Committee Wants Phone Records of McCarthy, Gaetz & Others; McCarthy & Co. Decide to Obstruct
Meidas Touch – Trump’s ‘America First’ Hypocrisy EXPOSED!
CNN – Trump singled out election official. Hear the horrific voicemails he received
MSNBC – How One Bar’s Liquor License Case Could Bring Down The New Texas Abortion Ban
Ring of Fire – Treasury Says Top 1% Are Responsible For $163 BILLION In Unpaid Taxes Each Year
Really American – Trump’s 9/11 Lies Exposed
Robert Reich – Why the Filibuster is Unconstitutional
Beau – Let’s talk about my morning routine and plot holes…. (By all means let’s use a different letter. And I know exactly which one to use.)
Experts in autocracies have pointed out that it is, unfortunately, easy to slip into normalizing the tyrant, hence it is important to hang on to outrage. These incidents which seem to call for the efforts of the Greek Furies (Erinyes) to come and deal with them will, I hope, help with that. As a reminder, though no one really knows how many there were supposed to be, the three names we have are Alecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone. These roughly translate as “unceasing,” “grudging,” and “vengeful destruction.”
I saw a wicked good article on QAnon last week, written by a game designer. If you have time you should really look at it. But here’s a quote which gives you the key takeaway:
“When I saw QAnon, I knew exactly what it was and what it was doing. I had seen it before. I had almost built it before. It was gaming’s evil twin. A game that plays people.” Cue ominous music:
While we probably can train ourselves to be on the alert for telltale signs of phony conspiracies, not everyone has the time or the disposition. That’s why I was so relieved to see the article which follows:
================================================================
Timothy R. Tangherlini, University of California, Berkeley
The audio on the otherwise shaky body camera footage is unusually clear. As police officers search a handcuffed man who moments before had fired a shot inside a pizza parlor, an officer asks him why he was there. The man says to investigate a pedophile ring. Incredulous, the officer asks again. Another officer chimes in, “Pizzagate. He’s talking about Pizzagate.”
In that brief, chilling interaction in 2016, it becomes clear that conspiracy theories, long relegated to the fringes of society, had moved into the real world in a very dangerous way.
Conspiracy theories, which have the potential to cause significant harm, have found a welcome home on social media, where forums free from moderation allow like-minded individuals to converse. There they can develop their theories and propose actions to counteract the threats they “uncover.”
But how can you tell if an emerging narrative on social media is an unfounded conspiracy theory? It turns out that it’s possible to distinguish between conspiracy theories and true conspiracies by using machine learning tools to graph the elements and connections of a narrative. These tools could form the basis of an early warning system to alert authorities to online narratives that pose a threat in the real world.
The culture analytics group at the University of California, which I and Vwani Roychowdhury lead, has developed an automated approach to determining when conversations on social media reflect the telltale signs of conspiracy theorizing. We have applied these methods successfully to the study of Pizzagate, the COVID-19 pandemic and anti-vaccination movements. We’re currently using these methods to study QAnon.
Actual conspiracies are deliberately hidden, real-life actions of people working together for their own malign purposes. In contrast, conspiracy theories are collaboratively constructed and develop in the open.
Conspiracy theories are deliberately complex and reflect an all-encompassing worldview. Instead of trying to explain one thing, a conspiracy theory tries to explain everything, discovering connections across domains of human interaction that are otherwise hidden – mostly because they do not exist.
While the popular image of the conspiracy theorist is of a lone wolf piecing together puzzling connections with photographs and red string, that image no longer applies in the age of social media. Conspiracy theorizing has moved online and is now the end-product of a collective storytelling. The participants work out the parameters of a narrative framework: the people, places and things of a story and their relationships.
The online nature of conspiracy theorizing provides an opportunity for researchers to trace the development of these theories from their origins as a series of often disjointed rumors and story pieces to a comprehensive narrative. For our work, Pizzagate presented the perfect subject.
Pizzagate began to develop in late October 2016 during the runup to the presidential election. Within a month, it was fully formed, with a complete cast of characters drawn from a series of otherwise unlinked domains: Democratic politics, the private lives of the Podesta brothers, casual family dining and satanic pedophilic trafficking. The connecting narrative thread among these otherwise disparate domains was the fanciful interpretation of the leaked emails of the Democratic National Committee dumped by WikiLeaks in the final week of October 2016.
We developed a model – a set of machine learning tools – that can identify narratives based on sets of people, places and things and their relationships. Machine learning algorithms process large amounts of data to determine the categories of things in the data and then identify which categories particular things belong to.
We analyzed 17,498 posts from April 2016 through February 2018 on the Reddit and 4chan forums where Pizzagate was discussed. The model treats each post as a fragment of a hidden story and sets about to uncover the narrative. The software identifies the people, places and things in the posts and determines which are major elements, which are minor elements and how they’re all connected.
The model determines the main layers of the narrative – in the case of Pizzagate, Democratic politics, the Podesta brothers, casual dining, satanism and WikiLeaks – and how the layers come together to form the narrative as a whole.
To ensure that our methods produced accurate output, we compared the narrative framework graph produced by our model with illustrations published in The New York Times. Our graph aligned with those illustrations, and also offered finer levels of detail about the people, places and things and their relationships.
To see if we could distinguish between a conspiracy theory and an actual conspiracy, we examined Bridgegate, a political payback operation launched by staff members of Republican Gov. Chris Christie’s administration against the Democratic mayor of Fort Lee, New Jersey.
As we compared the results of our machine learning system using the two separate collections, two distinguishing features of a conspiracy theory’s narrative framework stood out.
First, while the narrative graph for Bridgegate took from 2013 to 2020 to develop, Pizzagate’s graph was fully formed and stable within a month. Second, Bridgegate’s graph survived having elements removed, implying that New Jersey politics would continue as a single, connected network even if key figures and relationships from the scandal were deleted.
The Pizzagate graph, in contrast, was easily fractured into smaller subgraphs. When we removed the people, places, things and relationships that came directly from the interpretations of the WikiLeaks emails, the graph fell apart into what in reality were the unconnected domains of politics, casual dining, the private lives of the Podestas and the odd world of satanism.
In the illustration below, the green planes are the major layers of the narrative, the dots are the major elements of the narrative, the blue lines are connections among elements within a layer and the red lines are connections among elements across the layers. The purple plane shows all the layers combined, showing how the dots are all connected. Removing the WikiLeaks plane yields a purple plane with dots connected only in small groups.
There are clear ethical challenges that our work raises. Our methods, for instance, could be used to generate additional posts to a conspiracy theory discussion that fit the narrative framework at the root of the discussion. Similarly, given any set of domains, someone could use the tool to develop an entirely new conspiracy theory.
[Deep knowledge, daily. Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter.]
However, this weaponization of storytelling is already occurring without automatic methods, as our study of social media forums makes clear. There is a role for the research community to help others understand how that weaponization occurs and to develop tools for people and organizations who protect public safety and democratic institutions.
Developing an early warning system that tracks the emergence and alignment of conspiracy theory narratives could alert researchers – and authorities – to real-world actions people might take based on these narratives. Perhaps with such a system in place, the arresting officer in the Pizzagate case would not have been baffled by the gunman’s response when asked why he’d shown up at a pizza parlor armed with an AR-15 rifle.
Timothy R. Tangherlini, Professor of Danish Literature and Culture, University of California, Berkeley
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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Alecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone, the best science and technology in the world underperforms (to say the least) if people don’t believe it, don’t use it, won’t use it. Some conspiracies are real. More are not. I hope you can put a fire under all of us to use the technology and trust the results.
The Furies and I will be back.
It’s a busy tired day here in the CatBox. The infusions still bring fatigue, but it’s not as severe as it was. But today is a grocery delivery day, and putting them all away will be a lot of work. Tomorrow Diana is coming to change my patch, but I should be able to do a full Open Thread then. The big question for the day is this: How will Injustice Amy Coney Blowjob interface with Injustice Pervert Nookie KavaNazi? (Update: groceries are stowed.)
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 4:29 (average 6:08). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Cartoon:
Trump* Virus Update:
US Cases: 9,125,714
US Deaths: 233,172
Plus all Trump*/GOP plague murders Republicans are hiding
Short Takes:
From YouTube (Parody Project Channel): We Do Not Speak Your Name | The Spooky Men’s Chorale
It’s unusual that anyone shares parody as good as Don’s work. We are blessed that Don has shared this with is. Thank You! Speak the name Biden instead! RESIST!!
From YouTube (Raw Story Channel): MSNBC host shuts down Trump adviser: ‘Hunter Biden isn’t running for president’
Good job! All reporters need to shut down all Republican propagandists when they spread bullshit. That is, whenever they speak! RESIST!!
From YouTube (a blast from the past): Don’t Think Twice It’s All Right – Bob Dylan
Ah… the memories! Protest like the 60s! RESIST!!
It’s another tired day, here in the CatBox. My meeting with Diana yesterday was Routine, as was grocery delivery, but by the time I finally got to bed I was too tired to sleep well last night, so I’m really shot today. Deborah, my Home health doctor is coming this morning for my routine monthly checkup. I am gradually expanding my diet, so that if I do have a problem, I’ll know what caused it. This morning I had pancakes for breakfast. Wow! They were almost as good as a dawg! Tomorrow I have nothing extra to do, and Sunday is a morning WWWendy day. TGIF!
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 3:12 (average 4:46). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Cartoon:
Trump* Virus Update:
US Cases: 8,223,181
US Deaths: 222,836
Plus all the Trump*/GOP plague murders Republicans are hiding from us
Short Takes:
From Crooks and Liars: A ruling by Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett that whitewashed racism in the workplace shocked the Internet this week.
In a recent report on Barrett’s notable opinions, the Associated Press highlighted a 2019 workplace discrimination ruling that Barrett wrote for a unanimous three-judge panel.
According to the the [sic] report, Barrett said that there was no evidence that use of the n-word “created a hostile or abusive working environment.”
The AP reported:
“The n-word is an egregious racial epithet,” Barrett wrote in Smith v. Illinois Department of Transportation. “That said, Smith can’t win simply by proving that the word was uttered. He must also demonstrate that Colbert’s use of this word altered the conditions of his employment and created a hostile or abusive working environment.”
According to Barrett’s racist Republican perspective, this is the mere exercise of their God given right and patriotic duty to hate Blacks. RESIST!!
From YouTube (MSNBC Channel): Trump Fuels Range Of Conspiracy Theories With Town Hall Answers
Bad as these are, Criminal Fuhrer Trump* is hammering on absurd conspiracy theories because there is nothing else he could say that wouldn’t be even worse for his electoral prospects. RESIST!!
From YouTube (a blast from the past): Neil Young – Heart Of Gold
Ah… the memories! Protest like the 60s! RESIST!!
Oh my! Twice within one week! I had a favourite meal — turkey and the trimmings! Canadian Thanksgiving is now a memory. Normally I and a number of others would get together for our Thanksgiving feast of turkey, ham, veggies and salads. Of course there would also have been the obligatory pumpkin pie. But alas, COVID-19 put that off until next year at the earliest. Instead, I ordered a turkey dinner with all the trimmings from my favourite restaurant and ate at home. It was sooooooooooooooo good! I also treated my 3 fur babes to fresh roasted chicken which they scarfed up like Hoover uprights! While we were scarfing, the news did not stop. I am taking a course in Indigenous Studies from the University of Alberta online and I am also taking a course on racism based on Ibram Xendi’s book “How to be an Anti Racist” through my church. It has been a busy week of studying and will continue to be until mid November.
CNN — “The unmasking is a massive — it’s a massive thing,” Trump said shortly after the release of the names. “It’s — I just got a list. It’s — who can believe a thing like this? And I watched Biden yesterday on ‘Good Morning America’ being interviewed by one of your colleagues, George Stephanopoulos, and he said he knew nothing about anything. He has no idea. He knows nothing about anything.” …
So important to Trump was this unmasking news that Attorney General William Barr tasked John Bash, the US Attorney in San Antonio, in late May with conducting an investigation into whether the unmasking was politically motivated.
That investigation has ended, according to The Washington Post. And it has ended without any charges being brought against Biden or any other Obama administration official. Or even any public report of its findings. …
There’s a pattern here, of course. From his initial insistence that 3 to 5 million people voted illegally in the 2016 election (for which he has provided zero evidence) right through these unmasking claims, Trump has desperately seized onto anything and everything that would suggest that not only did the so-called “deep state” work to keep him from winning but it has also done everything it can to hamstring his presidency. …
Remember how Trump repeatedly raised questions about whether Russia sought to interfere in the 2016 election to help him and hurt Hillary Clinton? Well, the intelligence community, special counsel Robert Mueller and the US Senate Intelligence Committee all said that that’s exactly what happened.
Or how Trump said that the entire Russia investigation was politically motivated by people out to get him? It wasn’t.
Or how Trump said that President Barack Obama and Biden had “spied” on his presidential campaign? Also, debunked.
Or how the DNC email server was somehow in the possession of the Ukrainians? It isn’t.
Or how Google and social media sites are biased against conservatives? Not quite.
The more recent events have led Trump to be extremely unhappy with AG Barr because he did not do Trump’s bidding to Trump’s satisfaction. In a comment within the past few days, Trump was asked if Barr would be his AG pick for a second term should he win. Trump would only say he was not happy. With Trump it is one thing after another, one scandal after another, conspiracy theory after conspiracy theory after another. Trump is a walking case of paranoid delusions and a national security risk.
Canadian Press — She’s accurately predicted the Brexit vote, the 2016 American presidential outcome, and last year’s federal election in Canada.
Now, a Canadian-made artificial intelligence system called Polly is forecasting next month’s U.S. presidential election, using public social-media data and algorithms.
Polly is profiled in the new documentary “Margin of Error,” which premieres Saturday on Ontario’s publicly funded network TVO, and across Canada on tvo.org and the station’s YouTube channel. …
The predictions currently update daily and have a high margin of error that will become smaller closer to the Nov. 3 election, but as of Wednesday afternoon, she had Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden with 346 Electoral College votes vs. U.S. President Donald Trump at 192.
Polly also had Biden with 55 per cent of the popular vote vs. Trump at 45 per cent.
“But of course the huge caveat in that, particularly in the U.S., is issues of voter turnout, vote suppression, early voting and discounted ballots,” …
Definitely check out the interactive map at https://advancedsymbolics.com/us-election/. I don’t know about you, but I like Joe Biden’s numbers there. Of course there are many factors involved, but if previous uses are any indication, Polly may have star status . . . assuming nobody screws with the algorithms, this just may a new and reliable tool. The article has more detail so I encourage you to read it.
AlterNet — President Donald Trump urged California Republicans to defy a state order to remove fake “official” ballot drop boxes after numerous top officials called them “illegal.”
State Attorney General Xavier Becerra and Secretary of State Alex Padilla on Monday issued an order to the California GOP and three county chapters requiring the removal of unofficial ballot drop boxes erected in front of locations like gyms, gun stores and churches that were falsely marked “official.”
Trump, however, urged the party to fight the order in court.
“You mean only Democrats are allowed to do this? But haven’t the Dems been doing this for years?” the president tweeted, drawing a dubious comparison between the boxes and the legal “ballot harvesting” efforts by Democrats that have drawn his ire. “See you in court. Fight hard Republicans!” …
“Screw you!” Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., said in response to Newsom’s tweet, according to Politico. “You created the law, we’re going to ballot harvest.” …
The offices of the attorney general and secretary of state said in a cease-and-desist order to the GOP that the law required “persons to whom a voter entrusts their ballot to return to county election officials provide their name, signature and relationship to the voter.”
Becerra and Padilla also argued during a Monday conference call that the boxes were “illegal,” because they were designed to trick voters by claiming to be “official.” The boxes lack the security requirements mandated for official collection boxes installed by election officials, they added.
Just like a Republican to twist and obfuscate well intentioned laws. I have not read the actual California law, but as Bill Maher says, “I just know it’s true.” Trump has encouraged North Carolinian Republicans to vote twice, once by mail and once in person. I hear the same has been conveyed to Trump supporters in Florida. Now over and above all the other Trump bullshit, he is encouraging voters and the Republican party to break the law . End the madness and DUMP TRUMP and as many Republicans as possible.
The Atlantic — The most important ballot question in 2020 is not Joe Biden versus Donald Trump, or Democrat versus Republican. The most important question is: Will Trump get away with his corruption—will his crooked and authoritarian tactics succeed?
If the answer is yes, be ready for more. Much more.
Americans have lavished enormous powers on the presidency. They have also sought to bind those powers by law. Yet the Founders of the republic understood that law alone could never eliminate the risks inherent in the power of the presidency. They worried ceaselessly about the prospect of a truly bad man in the office—a Caesar or a Cromwell, as Alexander Hamilton fretted in “Federalist No. 21.” They built restraints: a complicated system for choosing the president, a Congress to constrain him, impeachment to remove him. Their solutions worked for two and a half centuries. In our time, the system failed.
Through the Trump years, institutions have failed again and again to check corruption, abuse of power, and even pro-Trump violence.
As Trump took office, I published a cover story in this magazine, arguing that his presidency could put the United States on the road to autocracy. “By all early indications,” I wrote, “the Trump presidency will corrode public integrity and the rule of law—and also do untold damage to American global leadership, the Western alliance, and democratic norms around the world. The damage has already begun, and it will not be soon or easily undone. Yet exactly how much damage is allowed to be done is an open question.”
We can now measure the damage done. As we near the 2020 vote, the Trump administration is attempting to cripple the Postal Service to alter the election’s outcome. The president has successfully refused to comply with subpoenas from congressional committees chaired by members of the opposing party. He has ignored ethics guidelines, junked rules on security clearances, and shut down two counterintelligence investigations of his Russian business links, one by the FBI, the other by Special Counsel Robert Mueller. He has assigned prison police and park police to new missions as street enforcers, bypassing the National Guard and the FBI. As in 2016, he is once again welcoming Russian help for his election campaign—only this time, he controls the agencies that are refusing to answer the questions of Congress and the American people.
Those who would minimize the threat that Trump poses take solace in his personal weaknesses: his laziness, his ignorance of the mechanics of government. But the president is not acting alone. The Republican politicians who normally might have been expected to restrain Trump are instead enabling and empowering him. …
…Trump has normalized the minority rule. …
Republicans in the Trump years have gotten used to competing under rules biased in their favor. They have come to fear that unless the rules favor them, they will lose. And so they have learned to think of biased rules as necessary, proper, and just—and to view any effort to correct those rules as a direct attack on their survival. …
To understand how the U.S. system failed in Trump’s first term—and how it could fail further across another four years—let’s look closer at some of Trump’s abuses and the direction they could trend in a second term. …
Trump has used violence as a political resource since he first declared his candidacy, in the summer of 2015. But as his reelection prospects have dimmed in 2020, political violence has become central to Trump’s message. He wants more of it. After video circulated that appeared to show Kyle Rittenhouse shooting and killing two people and wounding a third in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on August 25, Trump liked a tweet declaring that “Kyle Rittenhouse is a good example of why I decided to vote for Trump.” “The more chaos and anarchy and vandalism and violence reigns, the better it is for the very clear choice on who’s best on public safety and law and order,” Trump’s adviser Kellyanne Conway said on Fox & Friends on August 27. Two nights later, a 600-vehicle caravan of Trump supporters headed into downtown Portland, Oregon, firing paintball guns and pepper spray, driving toward a confrontation during which one of them was shot dead. …
Trump’s appeal is founded on a racial consciousness and a racial resentment that have stimulated white racist terrorism in the United States and the world, from the New Zealand mosque slaughter (whose perpetrator invoked Trump) to the Pittsburgh synagogue murders to mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Gilroy, California. In recent weeks, political violence has caused those deaths in Kenosha and Portland. A second Trump term will only incite more such horror. …
Trump uses power to enrich himself and weaken any institution of law or ethics that gets in the way of his self-enrichment. He holds power by inflaming resentments and hatreds. A second term will mean more stealing, more institution-wrecking, more incitement of bigotry. …
Voters in 2020 will go to the polls in the midst of a terrible economic recession, with millions out of work because of Trump’s mishandling of the coronavirus pandemic. But the country is facing a democratic recession too, a from-the-top squeeze on the freedom of ordinary people to influence their government. Will the president follow laws or ignore them? Will public money be used for public purposes—or be redirected to profit Trump and his cronies? Will elections be run fairly—or be manipulated by the president’s party to prevent opposing votes from being cast and counted? Will majority rule remain the American way? Or will minority rule become not a freak event but an enduring habit? These questions are on the ballot as Americans go into the voting booth.
Although the article is long, to me it is “a call to arms” to VOTE and to vote wisely taking into account Trump’s and Republican corruption. Author David Frum, usually considered right of centre, also covers Trump’s Abuse of the Pardon Power, his Abuse of Government Resources for Personal Gain, and Directing Public Funds to Himself and His Companies. Americans cannot afford to let this mad man take the country hostage for another four years!