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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsHistorian Timothy Snyder "Its pretty much inevitable" that Trump will stage a coup
...and overthrow Democracy.
American democracy is in crisis. The election of Donald Trump feels like a state of emergency made normal.
Trump has threatened violence against his political enemies. He has made clear he does not believe in the norms and traditions of American democracy unless they serve his interests. Trump and his advisers consider a free press to be enemies of his regime. Trump repeatedly lies and has a profoundly estranged relationship with empirical reality. He uses obvious and naked racism, nativism and bigotry to mobilize his voters and to disparage entire groups of people such as Latinos and Muslims.
Trump is threatening to eliminate an independent judiciary and wants to punish judges who dare to stand against his illegal and unconstitutional mandates. In what appears to be a violation of the emoluments clause of the Constitution, Trump is using the office of the presidency to enrich himself, his family and his inner circle by peddling influence and access to corporations, foreign countries and wealthy individuals. Trump and his representatives also believe that he is above the law and cannot be prosecuted for any crimes while in office.
What can the American people do to resist Donald Trump? What lessons can history teach about the rise of authoritarianism and fascism and how democracies collapse? Are there ways that individuals can fight back on a daily basis and in their own personal lives against the political and cultural forces that gave rise to Trumps movement? How long does American democracy have before the poison that Donald Trump and the Republican Party injected into the countrys body politic becomes lethal?
In an effort to answer these questions, I recently spoke with Timothy Snyder, a professor of history at Yale University. He is the award-winning author of numerous books including the recent Black Earth: The Holocaust as History and Warning and Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin. Snyders new book, On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century, explores, among other things, how the American people can fight back against Donald Trumps incipient authoritarian regime.
Trump has threatened violence against his political enemies. He has made clear he does not believe in the norms and traditions of American democracy unless they serve his interests. Trump and his advisers consider a free press to be enemies of his regime. Trump repeatedly lies and has a profoundly estranged relationship with empirical reality. He uses obvious and naked racism, nativism and bigotry to mobilize his voters and to disparage entire groups of people such as Latinos and Muslims.
Trump is threatening to eliminate an independent judiciary and wants to punish judges who dare to stand against his illegal and unconstitutional mandates. In what appears to be a violation of the emoluments clause of the Constitution, Trump is using the office of the presidency to enrich himself, his family and his inner circle by peddling influence and access to corporations, foreign countries and wealthy individuals. Trump and his representatives also believe that he is above the law and cannot be prosecuted for any crimes while in office.
What can the American people do to resist Donald Trump? What lessons can history teach about the rise of authoritarianism and fascism and how democracies collapse? Are there ways that individuals can fight back on a daily basis and in their own personal lives against the political and cultural forces that gave rise to Trumps movement? How long does American democracy have before the poison that Donald Trump and the Republican Party injected into the countrys body politic becomes lethal?
In an effort to answer these questions, I recently spoke with Timothy Snyder, a professor of history at Yale University. He is the award-winning author of numerous books including the recent Black Earth: The Holocaust as History and Warning and Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin. Snyders new book, On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century, explores, among other things, how the American people can fight back against Donald Trumps incipient authoritarian regime.
Read the interview here
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Historian Timothy Snyder "Its pretty much inevitable" that Trump will stage a coup (Original Post)
liberalnarb
May 2017
OP
JustAnotherGen
(31,810 posts)1. And nothing can be done
Nothing?
liberalnarb
(4,532 posts)4. Did your read the interview?
Sculpin Beauregard
(1,046 posts)2. The only way he could succeed is by commanding the
Military against American population. The generals will never allow it. They are not stupid. That won't stop T from agitating to his base of deplorables, though.
smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)3. K&R
tavernier
(12,377 posts)5. I don't think he remembers one day to the next
the names of his kids, let alone the town he's in. I think his brain is beyond a coup. Cuckoo for certain, though.
malaise
(268,930 posts)6. Perfect - I think his brain is beyond a coup. Cuckoo for certain, though
tavernier
(12,377 posts)7. I'm here all week
Try the veal and tip your waitress!
No red meat here