Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

DonViejo

(60,536 posts)
Sat Jan 14, 2017, 11:06 AM Jan 2017

Sorry, liberals: Donald Trump really means what he says -- and plans to silence and intimidate...

Sorry, liberals: Donald Trump really means what he says — and plans to silence and intimidate dissenters

Trump seeks to divide and conquer the media, while congressional allies like Jason Chaffetz go after critics

AMANDA MARCOTTE

For liberals,and anyone with a fundamental love of our democracy, the two months since the election have been one long anxiety attack. Like most really bad anxiety attacks, this one has been fueled not just by fear, but also uncertainty. We know Donald Trump is bad, but the question is, how bad? Was Trump’s bringing-fascism-to-America act just a campaign ploy, one that he will drop in favor of being a bog-standard Republican when he steps into office? Or are we really looking down the barrel of an authoritarian regime that suppresses dissent and has no regard for the norms of democracy?

Unfortunately, the past week’s events suggest Trump is going with Door #2: Authoritarian regime that shows strong indicators of sliding into fascism. Doubly disturbing is that there appears to be no resistance from the Republican ranks on Capitol Hill. In fact, at least one Republican congressman, House Oversight chair Jason Chaffetz, is taking the initiative to instigate authoritarian crackdowns of his own.

Trump’s first press conference since his election was a three-ring circus that only helped cement his reputation as an unhinged liar, but he did make disturbing amounts of progress on intimidating the press.

Trump took a divide-and-conquer strategy during that press conference. He zeroed in on CNN and BuzzFeed, attacking them as “fake news” for printing reports — reports that are 100 percent true — that a dossier implicating Trump in Russian espionage efforts was presented by intelligence officials to both Trump and President Obama. He then praised other outlets for not running with the story (though some did), a rather unsubtle effort to turn journalists against one another.

more
http://www.salon.com/2017/01/14/sorry-liberals-donald-trump-really-means-what-he-says-and-plans-to-silence-and-intimidate-dissenters/
2 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Sorry, liberals: Donald Trump really means what he says -- and plans to silence and intimidate... (Original Post) DonViejo Jan 2017 OP
They can't silence all of us superpatriotman Jan 2017 #1
It won't be like Germany unless criticism of Trump is made illegal... Buckeye_Democrat Jan 2017 #2

Buckeye_Democrat

(14,846 posts)
2. It won't be like Germany unless criticism of Trump is made illegal...
Sat Jan 14, 2017, 11:14 AM
Jan 2017

like it was in Germany in regard to Hitler.

That won't happen.

On the other hand, Hitler didn't have nuclear bombs at his disposal, so the world might be in worse shape with Trump.

Latest Discussions»General Discussion»Sorry, liberals: Donald T...