YOU. Willing To Defend Democracy???

Ben Franklin, 1787: response to a woman’s question about what the Constitutional Convention has just created: “A republic, if you can keep it.”
Volodymyr Zelensky, 2021, discussing the Russian threat to invade Ukraine: “Democracy is not a given. It must be fought for.”

Since 1775, over 1 million American men and women have died defending American democracy. Millions more wounded, some severely disabled.
YOU are not being asked to storm the beaches of Normandy and Iwo Jima. YOU are not being asked to endure 12 years of the Great Depression

Are. YOU. willing to defend American democracy?

Since 1980, there is a phenomenon which is steadily growing and frightening many: the rise of authoritarianism, largely in one political party, that violates basic Constitutional principles, in the name of “freedom.”

“When and if fascism comes to America it will not be labeled ‘made in Germany’; it will
not be marked with a swastika; it will not even be called fascism; it will be called of
course, ‘Americanism.'” [Halford E. Luccock]

The most sensational 1980-202X event has been the January 6, 2021, insurrection. A mob mobilized by a demagogue stormed and trashed the U.S. Capitol, proclaiming they were looking for ‘traitors’ to execute.

“Freedom has its life in the hearts, the actions, the spirit of men and so it must be daily earned and
refreshed – else like a flower cut from its life-giving roots, it will wither and die.”
[Dwight D. Eisenhower, l944]

The 1/6/21 insurrection is a symbol, a public event, in a much longer chain of events, much hidden. There are “militias” proclaiming willingness to protect their definition of America; often motivated by a certain demagogue
“At a conservative rally in western Idaho last month, a young man [asked] when he could start killing Democrats. “When do we get to use the guns” he said as the audience applauded. “How many elections are they going to steal before we kill these people?” The local state representative, a Republican, lated called it a “fair” question. [Lerer & Herndon; 11/14/21; N.Y. Times]
“In Ohio, the leading candidate in the GOP primary for Senate blasted out a video urging Republicans to resist the “tyranny” of a federal government that pushed them to wear masks and take vaccines authorized by the Food and Drug Administration.” [Lerer & Herndon; 11/14/21, N.Y. Times]

“Freedom exists only where the people take care of the government.” [Woodrow Wilson, 1912]

“Burned-out elections officials retreat from hot seats..Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin..After facing threats and intimidation..county officials who ran elections are quitting or retiring early..thanks to the baseless claims of widespread fraud that continue to be pushed by many in the Republican Party. [A.Izaguirre; 6/14/21; Assoc. Press]
“Trump allies aim for election posts..Those who rejected the 2020 results are now looking to fill prominent roles in states..to place Trump loyalists in key positions across the administration of U.S. elections..If they succeed, Trump and his allies could pull down some of the guardrails that prevented him from overturning Biden’s win..Jeff Timmer, former chair of the Michigan Republican Party: “The officials who fulfilled their legal duty after the last election are now being replaced by people who are pledging to throw a wrench in the gears of the next election.” [Gardner, Hamburger, Dawsey; 12/5/12; Wash. Post Weekly]. ***re-read, this is what happens in ‘banana republics’ [CORRUPTION]

“The freedom that counts is simply what is in the minds and hearts of millions of free
people.” [Adlai E. Stevenson, 1955]

“report finds U.S. democracy sliding..added to a list of “backsliding democracies.”..by the Stockholm-based International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Association” in a first..”The UnitedStates..fell victim to authoritarian tendencies itself..The report’s U.S. assessment centered on developments during former President Donald Trump’s administration. It called Trump’s factually baseless questioning of the legitimacy of the 2020 election results a “historic turning point” that “undermined fundamental trust in the election process” and culminated in the January 6 insurrection..” [Berger; 11/23/21; Wash. Post]

A small sampling of headlines:
-“Sowing Voter Confusion..GOP seeks to reshape the nation’s electoral system, leaving Democrats sidelined” [Corasaniti; 12/5/21; Assoc. Press]
-“Arizona enacts bills making it harder to vote.” [F.Fonseca; 5/12/21]
-“GOP maps lock in legislatures in 4 key states until next census.” [Corasaniti; 11/26/21; Assoc. Press]
-“Wisconsin GOP pushers to take over the vote” [R.Epstein; 11/20/21; N.Y. Times]
-“Gerrymanders Spread, Get Hard To Beat” [M.Wines; 11/21/21; N.Y. Times]
-“GOP again shelves voting rights bill” [C.Hulse; 10/21/21; N.Y. Times]
-“Texas Republicans enact voting restrictions” [N.Corasaniti; 9/8/221; N.Y. Times]

John Dean [Nixon’s Watergate lawyer] and Bob Altemeyer’s “Authoritarian Nightmare” is extremely sobering and frightening. They estimate 36.4 million American adults are “Double Highs” – the most extreme authoritarians – people who want a “strong man” ruler [ i.e, dictator]
The road to 2016-21 was enabled by many prior to Trump: reactionary billionaires wanting reduced government authority [over them] financed it; the “religious right” provides ‘boots on the ground.” Senator Barry Goldwater [1964 Republican presidential candidate] warned: :..Republicans are selling their souls to win elections..If and when these preachers get control of the party..it’s going to be a terrible damn problem.” He was correct.

“The Ship of Democracy, which has weathered all storms, may sink through the mutiny of those
on board.” [ President Grover Cleveland, 1894]

One of the Founders’ top 4 fears was mobs. Now we have mobs with guns.

“Will guns become a tool of political intimidation? It would change the face of political protest in America…conservatives may decide..carrying. guns – especially military-style rifles – can be used to intimidate both their political opponents and office-holders.” [P.Waldman; 11/18/21; Was. Post Weekly]
“Study, headlines reflect the rise of political violence..”From death threats against previously anonymous bureaucrats and public-health officials to a plot to kidnap Michigan’s governor and the 6 January, 2021, attack..acts of political violence have skyrocketed in the last five years’ wrote Rachel Kleinfeld.. “Ideas that were once confined to fringe groups now appear in..mainstream media..” [J.Rash; 11/20/21; Mpls. Trib.]
“Menace As Political Tool..Right-Wing GOP openly threatens violence…among a significant segment of the Republican Party…belief the country is at a crossroads that could require armed confrontation is no longer limited to the fringe…”When you start dehumanizing political opponents, or really anybody, it becomes a lot easier to inflict violence on them…30% of Republicans and 40% of people who “most trust far-right news sources believe that ‘true patriots’ may have to resort to violence to ‘save’ the country.” [Lerer & Herndon; 11/14/21; N.Y. Times]

“The death of democracy is not likely to be an assassination from ambush. It will be a slow extinction
from apathy, indifference, and undernourishment.” [R.M. Hutchins, 1954]

How much European or American history needs to be mentioned here??? What happened in Germany, 1920-45, is well documented. And – “ItDid Happen Here” as well. Freehling’s “The Road to Disunion” discusses the reign of terror in the 1830-60 American South: whites subjected to being tarred & feathered – and run out of town; “some 300′ whites” were lynched. The post-Civil War KKK aimed to ‘save’ the country [of the pre-war South]. That pre-war South also had “the shudder,” as did Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia – self-censorship [and -fear].

“The most popular man under a democracy is not the most democratic man, but the most despotic man.
The common folk delight in the exactions of such a man. They like him to boss them. Their natural
gait is the goosestep.” [H.L. Mencken. 1920]

One major anti-democratic effort is rewriting 1/6/21 events. The official right-wing story: this was only a mass “free speech” event of “concerned patriots.” All the talk of insurrection [what does the Pentagon know?] , etc. are “fake news.”
As usual, Trump is stonewalling everything, in every manner possible, stringing legal actions out, trying to “run the clock out.” He’s getting major help from enablers all over America in state legislatures. Over 400 bills reducing people’s ability to vote have been introduced. In virtually every state they control, Republicans pushing through radical “gerrymandering” plans [enabled by a Repub. dominated Supreme Court], turning themselves from minority to majority party by selecting their voters.
Violent protests across America have worked. Normal, neutral elections officials replaced by Trump loyalists. The very manner in which elections will be decided is bering changed – giving Republicans in positions of power the ability to declare vote results against them null and void. [banana republic style; Putin style]
Read Barton Gellman’s January/February, 2022, The Atlantics’s :”Trump’s Next Coup Has Already Begun” U.C. Irvine Professor R.I. Hasen: “Wr face a serious risk that American democracy as we know it will come to an end in 2024.” Sadly, he isn’t the first to state this
Trump’s 2017-2l tenure was unlike any in American history. The record-setting [“firehose’] of lying; the anti-democratic deeds; the anti-democratic and divisive language; the destruction; the damage to America’s world-wide reputation; the damage in lost faith of our people; the sheer unconcern for trying to help ordinary people [see COVID response] – all UNPRECEDENTED. The enormity of Trump’s quasi-dictatorship almost too much to comprehend.

Look up “the 14 characteristics of fascism.” We have “achieved,” in part for each of 13 of them, fascism. The ONLY one we have NOT achieved – fraudulent elections – is the one Trump and Republicans are working to obtain for 2022 and most definitely, for 2024. What is listed above is only “the tip of the iceberg” of the effortRepublicans are working on.
Over the top? Too much “conspiracy talk’? Ponder this: throughout the 1929-1839 period, many Jews in Nazi Germany refused to believe what they were seeing and hearing was happening. Germany was “too cultured.” Many of them had fought, some with distinction, in World War I.

Multiple reports are building; warnings have been issued. Read Jamelle’s “The Trump Conspiracy is hiding in plain sight” [12/8/21; N.T. Times]; Levitsky & Ziblatt’s “How Democracies Die ” [“Democracy’s erosion is, for many, almost imperceptible”]; Stanley’s HowFascism Works”; MacLean’s “Democracy in Chains; Snyder’s “On Tyranny”; Giroux’s “American Nightmare”; Homans” “Penetrating The System” [12/12/21; N.Y. Times].

A number of Republicans have written warnings: Dean’s “Broken Government” [ GOP insider; don’t vote for ANY Republican]; Boot’s “The Corrosion of Conservatism” [GOP needs to be “burned to the ground”}; Sykes’ “How TheRight Lost Its Mind”; Stevens’ “It Was All A Lie”

Trump and Trumpism is THE. man our Founders FEARED. Corruption was their #1 fear. Democracy requires tolerance, forbearance, compromise, limits, respect, love. We survived, barely, 2016-2021. We will NOT survive a second era like that. That, friends, is up to. YOU. Do. YOU. care?????

note: quotes supplied by the Harper Book of American Quotations, and “On 1984”}