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Hungary's democratic collapse is happening here, warns former U.S. Ambassador [1]

['Ellsworth Toohey']

Date: 2025-07-23

If you think authoritarianism can't happen here, David Pressman's essay in the New York Times is a chilling wake-up call. As the former U.S. ambassador to Hungary, Pressman watched democracy erode and corruption skyrocket under Viktor Orbán — not through dramatic coups, but through the quiet complicity of elites who believed they could outmaneuver a strongman.

The parallels to what America is going through are uncanny. Pressman explains how Hungarian judges, CEOs, and politicians convinced themselves that appeasing Orbán would protect their interests. Spoiler: it didn't. Their silence greased the wheels of autocracy, turning Hungary into a case study of how democracies die with a whimper, not a bang.

Now, Pressman sees the same rationalizations taking root here. Corporate logos that once championed Pride parades now fall silent. Legal institutions once hailed as democracy's guardians bend to the power of those in control.

The essay's core warning? The illusion that you can "preserve independence" by capitulating is precisely what enables strongmen to win.

This isn't just another political op-ed. It's a firsthand witness to the playbook being replicated in real time. Read it to understand why principled resistance isn't noble — it's survival.

Previously:

• Jordan Klepper reveals who the Trump party wants to emulate, and it ain't for freedoms

• Hungary cancels proposed Internet tax in the face of mass opposition

• Budapest Pride a big success, defying ban

• Orban humiliated: Hungary's crypto-fascist Fidesz party suffers string of municipal election defeats

• Hungary's Prime Minister shuts down opposition press, then goes after everyone else

• Mass protests and parliamentary chaos in Hungary over 'slave labour' law

• Hungary's ultra-right government wants to shut down its storied, amazing Central European University

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[1] Url: https://boingboing.net/2025/07/23/hungarys-democratic-collapse-is-happening-here-warns-former-u-s-ambassador.html

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