Perhaps we’ll one day read about Trump scrawling “democratic pigs” on the walls of the White House as Vincent Bugliosi wrote the Charles Manson crew did in his true crime classic, Helter Skelter./Image: Licensed Adobe stock, michaklootwijk
Greetings, Alt-reading lovers! We trust you had a wonderful weekend at spent most of it perusing Spread Your Right Wings (SYRW), or alternatively, sitting in an oversized armchair upholstered in brocade in a den with books piled high as the eye can see, an Ann Rule true-crime classic on your lap. Well, no need to read Ms. Rule, fabulous as she is. No, you only need pick up a copy of How Democracies Die by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt. You’ll see that a crime of unmatched proportions in American history is being committed by President Donald Trump and his governmental goons every day. You’ll even get to see how it ends!
Get that sheet pulled over your head and put a flashlight under your chin–you’re in for a fright!
Related: Read about the new insect parasite scientists discovered outside the White House–The Nunes.
That’s the Way/Uh-Huh, Uh-Huh/I Like It
So sang, KC and the Sunshine Band in their 1975 classic, “That’s the Way (I Like It). And the way Levitsky and Ziblatt lay out how the U.S. democracy is dying and will continue to die is how we right-wing Republicans like it. So let’s put on our polyester suits and platforms and get down, shall we!
Both Levitsky and Ziblatt teach and research government at Harvard University, Levitsky specializes in Latin America and the developing world, while Ziblatt’s expertise lies in Europe from the nineteenth century to the present, according to their author bios. Despite what we generally at SYRW and on the right seem to think, apparently, experts who’ve spent their lives studying certain topics, rather than offering reactionary opinions based on emotional responses on Fox News and conservative radio, do still exist. They’re opinions on this topic, the rise of authoritarian governments, are, therefore more valuable than yours or mine. But, luckily, because it’s something we like and support, the downfall of American democracy under Trump, we needn’t make fools of ourselves trying to argue against it. We need only revel in it.
If You Don’t Have Anything Nice to Say, Say It–and Say It Loud!
Wanna-be authoritarians begin by verbally attacking their opponents, Levitsky and Ziblatt note. Hence, Mr. Donald J. Stalin during 2016 campaign noted Hillary Clinton, “got schlonged” in the 2008 election, reported The Blaze. Who can forget how he called Hillary a “nasty woman,” during a debate leading up to the November 2016 election. Then, of course, he repeatedly led crowds of supporters in eerie, Hitler-style-rally chants of “Lock her up!” The Hill reminded us.
According to Levitsky and Ziblatt, this initiates a political polarization of the country. The media, whose job it is in a democracy to report on undemocratic actions by leaders, which we on the right seem to forget in our constant attacks on the fair, unbiased mainstream media, panics, as they have a front-row seat to the wanna-be authoritarians degradations of democracy.
“If the media feels threatened, it may abandon restraint and professional standards in a desperate attempt to weaken the government,” write Levitsky and Ziblatt. Which we can see, as CNN and MSNBC daily make the case, and do so admirably, that we’re saying with Trump is not normal.
And: The Top 3 ways–and a bonus–to defend Trump at all costs.
Legal Laziness
“Democracy is grinding work,” note Levitsky and Ziblatt. Compromise, negotiations, concessions, standard methods for governing in a democracy are too much trouble and not enough benefit for wanna-be authoritarians like Trump, the authors note. The Trump family business may have been ruled “by fiat,” they write, but not so the American government. An authoritarian hopeful finds this frustrating, even maddening, He just wants things his way–is that so wrong?
Road Map to Our Collective Funeral
With the release of the sham Nunes Memo last week, we have one of many examples of Trump doing Levitsky and Ziblatt note is another favorite way for presidents in the running for Academy of Fascist Arts and Sciences Award for Outstanding Performance by an Authoritarian Trying to Circumvent Democratic Checks and Balances.
“Indeed, government moves to subvert democracy frequently enjoy a veneer of legality…Many of them are adopted under the guise of pursuing some legitimate–even laudable–public objective, Â such as ‘cleaning up’ elections, combatting corruption, or enhancing national security.
And so it was, then Trump and Nunes insisted the Nunes Memo was simply exposing corrupt political basis at the Department of Justice and the FBI.
Next Stop–Take Your Pick in the Courts and Law Enforcement
Levitsky and Ziblatt note that filling the judiciary and governmental oversight agencies with loyalists is another would-be authoritarian’s slow seizing of power to rest solely in his hands. And so, Trump “interviewed” candidates for U..S. attorney, according to Politico. We doubt he asked, “What’s your greatest strength and your biggest weakness as an attorney?” Rather we can imagine him assuring the candidates would be loyal to him–not the country–in matters like the Muller Probe. Just like we at SYRW and on the right are.
Trump also fired then FBI Director James Comey for refusing to take an oath of loyalty to him and ending the Mueller Probe, reported The New York Times.
Also: Trump admin officials audition to decorate your home!
In Memoriam, In the Future
We can just picture it now. People who cared about the American democracy, clearly not us on the right, though, gather at the Washington Monument to mourn its death, a little headstone poking out of the ground: Here lies the United States of America, 1776 to 2018. As service attendees weep behind black, lace veils and into handkerchiefs, many gasp as noted teetotaler Commandant Trump stumbles onto the scene holding an open bottle of whiskey. He slurs his words as he screams, “You ingrates–all of you! I was just trying to make you happy! I never wanted any of this!”
Nancy Pelosi leaps out of her seat and throws herself on democracy’s grave, “I tried, I tried, I didn’t know what more to do!” she wails
Things That Go Bump in the Political Night
Wait–what was that? You heard that too? It sounded like someone breaking in. No, you check it out. Okay, fine, we’ll both go. God, could these stairs be creakier? Don’t walk so fast and leave me alone. Ok, I’m turning the lights on on the count of 1-2-THREE! Oh, no! Someone stole our democracy! And there’s a side-swept blond hair on the ground. Better pick that up and put it in a Ziploc bag for the police.
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© 2018 Akbar Khan
