A Yale historian has a chilling warning about what happens next with the Trump presidency

[inanna]

Posted about 13 hours ago by Joe Vesey-Byrne

A historian specialising in political tyranny has said it’s inevitable that President Trump will do away with democracy.

When President Donald Trump was elected on the back of a populist wave, there were two conclusions one could draw. His unconventional style, and disregard for the constitution meant he was either going to be president for the next two years, or the next twenty.

Timothy Snyder, a professor at Yale University, and author of ‘On Tyranny’ believes it will be something like the latter.

<snip>

In ‘On Tyranny’, Snyder predicts the President will have his own ‘Reichstag fire’, a terrorist attack, pinned on his enemies, after which he is legally given unprecedented powers, and democracy is suspended. He also made the case for this, in an article for the New York Review of Books on February 26.

...

https://www.indy100.com/article/donald-trump-yale-historian-message-from-history-on-tyranny-7817976

[The_Casual_Observer]

1. And the gun tot'n freedom lovers will be in lockstep

And collusion with the army against any protest or rebellion. It's already started, in Portland for example.

[Hoyt]

2. Trump will do his 4, maybe 8, years and be gone. The Yale professor is trying to sell his book.

Trump will likely leave a mess, but he won't be in office more than 8 years, even if it seems an eternity.

People said this crud about bush and Obama. It's not befitting of an academic.

[defacto7]

5. You should read up about this guy.

You may be surprised. The OP isn't an accurate description of the book anyway.

[Hoyt]

7. Don't have to. Anyone that says Trump will be Prez for more than his two term is foolish.

[defacto7]

10. This article is full of inaccuracies. I'm more concerned

with the motives of the article and it's writer. A lot of assumptions from from Snyder's statements are out of context and twisted for effect. When a legitimate scholar with a background such as his has his words twisted, I would call that another way to discredit someone who the rw fears. It's fake info and a pit too easily fallen into.

[Hoyt]

11. I don't doubt that Trump will do us great harm, but the OP isn't my concern. 3 or 4 Supreme Court

nominations, healthcare, tariffs, return to racism, and xenophobia, etc., certainly are a concern.

It's gonna feel like 20 years of Trump even if he resigns in 2017 or 2018.

[defacto7]

13. agreed.

[Alice11111]

16. Correct!

[lastlib]

14. I just finished reading his book. It's alarming, to say the least.

It's a very sober, academic look at how various tyrannical regimes in Europe and elsewhere in the past century have come to be, and the lessons they hold for the world, and particularly for the USA. Trump fits the authoritarian mold like the glass slipper fit Cinderella, and it's chilling to see the parallels between Trump and past tyrants. I have on mutliple occasions on this board raised the possibility of a "Reichstag fire" event happening that Trump would seize on to take dictatorial power, and from this book and other gleanings, I am seeing that it would not be out of his character to assume such power to bury democracy as we know it.

I've also seen an interview with Snyder related to this book and the ideas behind it. Snyder doesn't strike me as the kind of guy who is just trying to make some fast money by selling his book. He has done some solid, fairly objective research and written it without a lot of hype or histrionics. He's worth listening to, and his book is WELL WORTH a read! We dismiss him at our peril.

[dajoki]

20. I doubt that he will...

finish one term let alone two.

[unblock]

3. *try*. he said it's inevitable he will *try* to do away with democracy.

he did not say it's inevitable he will succeed.

[defacto7]

4. I've read the book and have handed quite a few away.

The snip is not exactly as it reads. He predicts nothing but he warns of the possibilities that we are up against based on history and how to react to it or fight it.
The name of the book is, "On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons From the Twentieth Century".

[MBS]

18. I've been giving copies to friends and family myself.

For the same reasons as you.

[Kilgore]

6. Sounds like he's pimping his new book n/t

[defacto7]

12. if he's pimping his book it isn't for the money.

No money in this one.

[lastlib]

15. No.

He's not. As I noted up-thread, he has a sober, objective perspective on past tyrannical regimes, and draws some clear parallels from those tyrannies to the present White House squatter. And with the price tag I saw for it, it's too cheap to be a big money-maker. Read it. Learn from it. And don't say you weren't warned.

[MBS]

17. I agree completely.

it's a important warning from someone who knows intimately how these things happen.

[Turbineguy]

8. I don't think there is any comparison to 1920's and 30's Germany.

There are those who probably think there is, but it's really not that bad.

On the other hand, ordinary Germans were not as heavily armed.

[MedusaX]

9. It is certainly *45's intent to do away with the Constitution & democracy

Whether or not he succeeds is currently in the hands of Mueller & NYAG Schneiderman & SCOTUS.

If, by chance, *45 can be stopped, and those who are his co-conspirators can be removed from office, we must do more than just attempt to reinstate that which has been deconstructed.

We must learn from the experience and
• make changes to campaign finance laws;
• secure the cyber infrastructure;
• establish security clearance worthy background check requirements for all candidates,
cabinet nominees and
administration appointees;
• establish 10-14 yr SCOTUS term limits which are renewable;
• establish a shared leadership structure in house & senate whereby the majority & minority leaders have equal power and therefore must agree on the procedural & functional aspects of legislating;
• & several others

Without making the changes necessary to prevent a *45 Copy Cat attempt, reinstating that which has been deconstructed will prove to be nothing more than an exercise in futility.

IMO/FWIW

[Nitram]

19. We must all be ready for this to happen.

And we must all avoid the typical response we saw to 9/11 where everyone moved towards supporting the president and placing more restrictions on personal freedom. We must be ready to call for people to avoid panic and hysteria, and trust in the system's built in defenses and strengths. Overreaction would play right into the tyrant's hands.