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Democrats Must Say Why Democracy Is Important

10/11/2022

Logo of the Democratic Party

I am confounded by two related blunders in Democratic messaging this cycle. First, Democratic politicians praise democracy and declare that we must fight to maintain it. But they never say why democracy is essential. It is almost as if they believe democracy is important because we have had it for over 200 years. Second, Democratic politicians and strategists claim that they must speak to the issues of uppermost concern to voters. These issues include the economy, abortion, inflation, education and schools, immigration, climate change, and crime. These have in common that democracy underlies our ability to address them. Without democracy, a ruling elite will decide the country's path to each of these issues. Our choices will be limited.

Why Democratic politicians are unable to make a robust case for democracy as the foundation on which a strong economy, the right to reproductive health care, education, and other freedoms depend remains a mystery to me. Republican politicians do not support democracy. Republicans now support illiberal democracy (see my October 10, 2022, blog).

Illiberal Democracy Is about More than Race

10/10/2022

Demonstrators protest against recent legislative measures introduced by the government of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Budapest's Heroes square on Jan. 5, 2019.Photographer: Laszlo Balogh/Getty Images

Some MAGA Republicans now show a preference for illiberal democracy or authoritarianism. An illiberal democracy is a governing system in which the ruling elite allows their citizens to vote but denies them the information or rights needed to exercise the right to vote effectively. Viktor Orban, the Prime Minister of Hungary, who describes Hungary as an illiberal democracy, won his last election by about 18 percentage points, giving his party a two-thirds majority. Orban's opponent partly attributed his loss to his inability to access media. Unsurprisingly, many MAGA Republicans who prefer an illiberal democracy also admire Orban. Those MAGA Republicans who want the U.S. to become an illiberal democracy are silent about what aspects of an illiberal democracy they favor. They favor a white Christian nation with no homosexuality, although they do not say how they intend to make that happen. But they do not say what other aspects of an illiberal democracy they favor or are willing to accept.

We can only speculate what an illiberal U.S. democracy would look like. Fascist Italy or Germany in the thirties, Eastern Europe today, including Hungary, or the authoritarian U.S. South in the twenties or thirties do not provide a realistic picture of an illiberal U.S. The U.S. is too different. But we do have the policies that libertarians like the Kochs and their far-right donor networks have advocated and actions Trump either implemented, tried to implement, or said he favored.

The areas in which we can expect are as follow:

Privatization of the commons, such as public schools, transportation, and some of the protections afforded by government agencies such as the Federal Aviation Administration and Federal Drug Administration;
Elimination of federal government protections from both other government entities and private corporations, such as pollution, workplace dangers, financial dangers, and drugs;
Elimination of privacy rights, such as the right to an abortion, contraceptives, interracial marriage, and same-sex marriage;
Elimination or curtailment of freedoms of the press, speech, and assembly;
Elimination or curtail gun rights;
Elimination of safety net protections, such as Medicare, Social Security, right to unionize, and minimize wages;
Creation of obstacles for opposition parties and candidates, such as politicization of media regulation and sale of media outlets; and
Removal of the fair and equal protection of government such as judicial appointments, career bureaucrats, armed forces leadership, law enforcement including DOJ, court orders, and pardons.

Many MAGA Republicans support and would dispute the elimination or curtailment of many of these rights. For example, MAGA Republicans certainly support gun rights. But if Trump and his clan should become leaders of a perpetual ruling party, would that party support all citizens' access to guns? Similarly, MAGA Republicans now favor free speech, but in an illiberal democracy run by MAGA Republicans, I suspect their view of this and many other rights would change.

Celebrity Overwhelms Oil

10/6/2022

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman speak at the G-20 summit in Buenos Aires 2018 REUTERS

The mainstream media was surprised at Herschel Walker’s hypocrisy. He encouraged and paid for a girlfriend to obtain an abortion. The media knew Herschel had four kids with women whom he had not married or participated with in raising the kids. Presumably, the media was surprised that Walker claimed publicly to be opposed to abortion while encouraging and paying for abortion services to benefit himself. I am astounded at the media’s reaction. First, the media must know that Republican politicians lie and are hypocrites as a part of their job descriptions. But more importantly, in the second place, Republican men view themselves above the rules that others must follow. Anyone who does not understand these two facts about Republicans will not report very insightfully about them.

But I am also astounded at the media’s coverage of Hershel Walker’s fertility issues for a second reason. Competing with the Walker story was that OPEC, including Saudi Arabia, would reduce its oil production by 2 million barrels. Of course, the media mentioned the story, but only to pause before resuming the Hershel saga. The media could defend its coverage of Walker by saying that the outcome of his Senate race could determine which party controls the Senate. That argument would genuinely be sad. The cost of OPEC oil will partly determine the price of gas and the amount of inflation. Every Senate and House race could be affected. Perhaps Republicans were right, and Walker’s celebrity made him an overwhelming candidate.

History Rhymes

10/5/2022

The Red Summer of 1919 refers to a series of race riots that took place between May and October of that year. Chicago History Museum/Archive Photos/Getty Images

The summer of 1919 saw a burgeoning white nationalist reaction to blacks. George Edmund Haynes, the first executive director of the Urban League, identified more than 38 riots and 48 lynchings in cities across the country. Whites expressed animosity toward blacks for a variety of reasons. Following WWI, whites faced an economic downturn and increased competition with black workers for jobs and housing. White capitalists used blacks and ethnic European strikebreakers with native white workers. Also, the Communist Revolution in Russia provided capitalists with a concrete example of how socialist and communist influences among black and ethnic white workers native would further harm native white workers.

In addition to the economic strain, many native white workers resented the efforts of blacks to change their social status. Many blacks had migrated from the South to cities in the North or border states. Spurred partly by their achievements during WWI, blacks were unwilling to accept their previous societal treatment. When white mobs attacked blacks, blacks fought back with equal violence.

We are a long way from 1919, but there are some striking similarities. Some whites feel economic strains and resentment at the achievements of people of color. There is also a growing threat of more violence, following the individual violence we have seen in the mass shootings and the organized violence we saw on January 6. As grateful as we must be that Joe Biden is President instead of Woodrow Wilson, we must also be uneasy that today’s white nationalists are embedded in more substantial networks than previous white nationalists. “History does not repeat itself, but it rhymes.”

Denying Helplessness

10/4/2022

One of the hallmarks of the last decade has been the absolute denial of some events about things that I had considered irrefutable. Trump’s bogus claim that he won the 2020 presidential election, the big lie, has been adopted by millions of MAGA Republicans. They also deny that Donald Trump lost the 2020 presidential election. People deny other, more esoteric issues, like climate change and the need for vaccinations to decrease the risk of [long] Covid. But MAGA Republicans and conservatives are not the only ones who deny facts some of us consider incontrovertible. Some people with whom I agree on many issues deny some unarguable issues. One such issue is the affinity of Republicans to authoritarianism or fascism. Many Democrats deny that the current Republican Party has become a white nationalist party that supports fascism.

One of the explanations for the willingness of people to deny issues that others can support with evidence is derived from the Kitty Genovese murder. In 1964, Kitty Genovese returned home from work late in the evening. Winston Mosely, a stranger, followed Genovese to her home and killed her. The attack occurred outside an apartment complex where, according to news stories, 38 people watched the killer stalk and stab Genovese. The 38 witnesses represented a range of reactions. Some witnesses could see the attack, but not very well and only fleetingly. Other witnesses could only hear the sounds of the attack and were not certain what was happening. And at least one witness did intervene.

Applying what we learned from the Genovese murder, at least three things are necessary for witnesses to help. They must notice the events that might signal help is needed, know how to render assistance, and feel individual responsibility for helping. That is, if a large group of witnesses is present, then the responsibility of any one person to give aid is reduced. “If they don’t help, why should I?” When we fail to render help or correct a situation that calls for change, we may deny the need for help or deny that we are responsible for fixing the problem. If we apply what we learned from this murder, we may be willing to ignore evidence because we do not know how to acknowledge it.

Failure to Pass Voting Rights Act - The Pathway to More Failure

10/3/2022

Because of the opposition of Democratic Senators Sinema and Manchin to a voting rights bill, President Biden and the Democratic Congressional leadership decided to prioritize infrastructure and climate change bills. According to numerous civil rights groups and national civil rights leaders Reverend Al Sharpton and Sherrilyn Ifill, the failure to pass a voting rights act were due to the White House’s emphasis on other legislation. The Democrats failed to remind voters that the President needed Congress to pass legislation. Thus, failure to pass voting rights undermined a critical campaign promise that promised to undermine the motivation of Democratic campaign workers. As a result, Biden had to bear the brunt of the blame for not passing voting rights.

The Democrats’ failure to pass voting rights jeopardized the likelihood that they could keep a majority in the House. But they saw another path to minimizing losses in the midterm election. The press reported that some White House staffers hoped to out-organize Republicans and use court battles to stave off a complete rout. If so, those staffers are curiously unaware that for the last decade or so, Republicans have out-organized Democrats. Republicans have relied on a media infrastructure anchored by Fox News and radio stations throughout the country to spread lies. Nonetheless, it has delivered for Republicans on election day. And one only must look at the Supreme Court to see that depending on the federal judiciary to follow the rule of law is a flawed strategy.

Without voting rights, Democrats do not have much chance of retaining the House in November. Of course, the anti-abortion ruling by the Supreme Court, the January 6 and Mar-a-Largo stolen classified documents investigation, and the legislative victories that President Biden and Congressional Democrats have achieved should minimize losses. If Democrats had realized earlier they had a chance to carry the midterms; they might have started earlier to run strong campaigns. But they did not go after Republicans like they had a chance to win. And now the structural advantages that Republicans have, such as gerrymandering and conservative rural districts, maybe too much to overcome. Not all is lost. If Democrats can learn lessons from the midterm, such as effectively communicating, they may still have a chance in 2024. I will have more to say on this later.

Old School Voter Intimidation

9/29/2022

Disillusioned and former Republicans have developed a cottage industry claiming their party was pristine and egalitarian until Donald Trump dirtied it with authoritarianism. William H. Rehnquist, Chief Justice and Associate Justice of the Supreme Court from 1976 until he died in 2005, an esteemed Republican, intimidated and harassed blacks and Latinos to discourage them from voting in the early 1960s. And when asked whether he had blocked voters denied it and perjured himself. One witness testified that he saw Rehnquist approach two black men waiting in line to vote, challenge their ability to read and ask them to leave. Another witness, James J. Brosnahan, a former U.S. attorney, testified that he saw Rehnquist in a predominant black and Latino precinct challenge voters to discourage them from voting. Brosnahan said he had been summoned to the precinct because of complaints about Rehnquist’s conduct. Two other witnesses also testified that they saw Rehnquist approach and attempt to intimidate voters.

Recent books such as American Psychosis by David Corn, It Was All a Lie by Stuart Stevens and American Strife) counter the myth of a Republican Party dedicated to egalitarian principles from the Civil War until Trump rode down the escalator in Trump Tower. Since the early 1960s, the Republican Party has tried to limit American citizens’ voting rights. Republicans do not believe they can consistently persuade voters to give them political power. But the question is, what policies do Republicans support that most American voters will not join? Watch this space!

An Iconic Snowball Melts

9/28/2022

Almost eight years ago, on February 26, 2015, Oklahoma Senator James Inhofe, and the leading Senate Republican on climate change (Chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee), brought a snowball to the Senate floor. Senator Inhofe’s purpose was to prove that climate change was a hoax. After all, according to the Republican’s leading Senate expert on climate change, unseasonably cold temperatures in Washington, D.C. meant that the earth’s climate was not changing. Of course, in other places, it was unseasonably warm.

Weather is the mix of events that happen in the atmosphere. The weather is different in different parts of the world and is subject to short-term changes. On the other hand, the climate is the weather over extended periods in a specific region. As Hurricane Ian, the latest of increasingly severe natural disasters, confronts the U.S. and weather disasters regularly rock the rest of the world, even the most extreme climate deniers have begun to notice. Globally, researchers have found about a 30 percent increase in category 4 and 5 hurricanes like Hurricane Ian as the earth’s temperature increases. Ian is likely to cost $50 billion to $70 billion. Compared to the increasingly severe weather events we are now experiencing; Senator Inhofe’s snowball is even less convincing than it was.

What is convincing is the similarity in thinking between “establishment Republicans” like Senator Inhofe and some of the newer Republicans like Representative Marjorie Taylor Green, another climate denier. (She claims climate change makes our planet safer because it produces carbon dioxide!)

Why Do We Deny Trump Is a Foreign Agent

9/27/2022

Despite an abundance of evidence showing that Trump has acted as a foreign agent for decades, most observers seem reluctant to admit even the possibility. After Trump married his first wife, Ivana, the Czech secret police (StB) began monitoring the couple. Monitoring prominent foreign citizens who frequently visited Czechoslovakia was a well-known practice of Eastern bloc secret services. According to Yuri Shvets, a former KGB undercover spy stationed in New York City, the KGB began actively recruiting and coaching Trump when he visited Russia in 1987. On his return to the U.S., Trump took out full-page adverts in the Washington Post, New York Times, and Boston Globe criticizing U.S. foreign policy. Specifically, Trump called for U.S. withdrawal from NATO and accused Japan of exploiting the U.S. by not paying for its defense.

As President, Russia and Vladimir Putin benefitted from some of Trump’s acts. In addition, Putin helped by weakening the U.S., the leading democratic republic in the world, and further legitimizing authoritarian countries like Russia. As a result of withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal, Putin benefits immediately from an increase in the price of petroleum products, Russia’s only viable exports. In addition, Putin has been frantic to have the economic sanctions placed on Russia by the western alliance removed. The bite of these sanctions is due to the collaboration between the U.S. and its European allies. Withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal, the Paris Climate Accords, and other acts, such as the imposition of tariffs, have strained relations between the U.S. and its western allies. As a result, the consensus on which the sanctions against Russia depended might have been weakened.

Given the Russian interest in recruiting Trump as an asset and the benefits Russia has derived from his leadership, it seems highly possible that Trump is a Russian asset. Nonetheless, observers seem incredibly reluctant to consider this possibility. This reluctance is so extreme that when confronted with the possibility that Trump is an agent or at least an asset (someone unaware that they are acting as a spy). While Trump was President, this reluctance may have been an attempt to normalize political life following its disruption by Trump’s election. Some people may be trying to ignore a distressing and chilling event. Others may not be able to see the horrific implications of slowly developing events.

Since Trump was defeated in his bid for re-election, we have discovered just how horrific those implications are. For example, we have found that Trump was on the verge of withdrawing from NATO. If that had occurred, the repercussions for Ukraine would have been catastrophic. Also, we have now discovered that Trump typically traveled with classified documents that he left in his hotel rooms. And following the execution of a search warrant on Trump’s Mar-a-Largo Golf club, we found out that Trump had stolen thousands of classified documents. Trump returned some of these classified documents after the government executed a subpoena. However, Trump did not return over a hundred highly classified documents until the Department of Justice executed a search warrant.

Why are so many observers still unwilling to say that Trump is an agent? Why did Trump steal these documents? Did Trump randomly select these documents, or do they form a pattern? We do not have answers to these questions, yet. But given everything we now know about Trump; a rational person would consider the possibility that Trump is an asset or agent of a foreign government.

Trump Can Smell Weakness in Others

9/26/2022

According to Mark Leibovich’s book, Thank You for Your Servitude, Donald Trump’s only well-developed intuition was his ability to sniff weakness in others. Whether Trump’s intuition about people is accurate, he probably believes it is. And while we cannot be sure what Trump thinks of Attorney General Merrick Garland, there is reason to believe he considers Garland a pushover. Garland is soft-spoken and gentlemanly. And after Garland executed the search warrant on his Mar-a-Largo golf club, Trump sent Garland a threatening message. Trump asked a Department of Justice (DOJ) official to tell Garland that he had been in touch with people around the country and found them enraged by the search. According to Trump, the country was on fire. He asked Garland what he could do to reduce the heat.

Trump’s view of Garland as a weakling increases the likelihood that he will attempt to squelch any DOJ indictment against him by pressuring Garland. Given where we are as a country, trying to pressure Garland will likely involve stirring up his hardcore followers. And that is likely to produce violence. Anything Garland and the Department of Justice can do to convince Trump of their seriousness quickly may reduce the likelihood of violence.

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