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American Democracy Has Less Than Six Months Left. [1]

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Date: 2022-07-03

On Tuesday September 15, 2020 over two weeks before the the Presidential elections I posted the following:

“We must understand that in Trump we have an egocentric monster whose audacity and self-promotion have no bounds. And, even more so, we, the media, and the educated portion of the electorate are constantly surprised by the audacity of his actions. He may be stupid and crass, but that has rarely been a deterrent to the dreams of the fledgling autocrat. He rises on the shoulders of the plutocrats in waiting and the sycophancy that surrounds the incipient dictator and lives on the beliefs of those whose lives are pebbled with fear and limited education…. Those, like Trump, who seek to possess or preserve wealth or power through the political process can rarely gain it in a democratic society unless it can ally itself with the fears and hates of those in the majority whose economic and social position is more tenuous than theirs. We should also remember that in democratic Athens, the oligarchs were fully prepared to betray democracy and their country to their enemies in order to install an autocratic government run by them. Oligarchs have no country other than the one that best protects their wealth and political power. What disturbs me most about all this is, as I pointed out in my posts,* the threat is more than real but in the comments to my posts and others that raise similar issues, the majority of responses fall into three categories: 1. It cannot happen here. You are making a major issue over something that is improbable. 2. Someone will save us. Someone somewhere has this under control and is prepared to deal with it -— like the Army, the DNC, the Biden campaign, and so on. 3. What can we do? We as individuals are powerless. Perhaps, we can escape to Canada. To which I can only answer, yes it can happen and the Transition Integrity Project demonstrates that not only are there many ways for it to happen but in the current situation they are probable. We cannot rely on someone saving us. As individuals, we must go beyond voting — marching, volunteering, contributing to campaigns, joining groups, and preparing for the crisis.

(https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/9/15/1977458/-What-If-Trump-Loses-And-Won-t-Leave-Could-It-Happen-Here)

One of the posts I was referring to dates back as far as July 27, 2020 — (https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/7/27/1964414/-What-Should-We-Do-Now-The-frightening-report-of-the-Transition-Integrity-Project). Up until a few days before January 6, I had posted several articles warning about the attempt of by the defeated presidential candidate in order to retain power. The overwhelming response to these posts and similar posts by others was it can’t happen here. In light of of the January 6 hearings I thought I would republish it here. I republish it not to tout my prescience after all, if I really believed what I wrote and thought it was so important, why did I not haul my 89 year-old ass out and fly to DC to stand with the cops trying to defend the Capitol. I republish it because we are faced with a situation even more dire now.

The January 6 hearing, while it may satisfy our need for conformation of our beliefs and may produce a few indictments but any conviction of significant players will undoubtedly come too late to meaningfully effect the erosion of our democracy. More depressing is that should any of the indictments (not even the convictions) reach the Supreme Court, it is probable that the indictments will be dismissed. In addition, the docket for the next session of the Supreme Court indicates that it is highly likely that the Court will take many contested federal election issues out of the Courts, out of the rule of law, and place them into the hands of partisan state legislature.

This is how democracies die, not suddenly by force of arms, but through the erosion of rights and the apathy of the electorate. It has happened before, recall Greece and Rome. Democracy in America has about six months to live.

Unless the Democrats increase their hold on the Senate in November by two and hold on to House, we can kiss our democracy goodby.

This is a situation that does not require us to place body and mind at risk — even that of an eighty old decrepit like me. The only option we have is a march to the polls by all especially the old who have their security to lose, the marginal and so-called despised minorities who have their advances to acceptance to lose, women who have control of their bodies to lose, and especially the young who have their future to lose.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/7/3/2108263/-American-Democracy-Has-Less-Than-Six-Months-Left

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