On the anniversary of the attack on the U.S. Capitol, concerns about the future of this country are foremost on the minds of most Americans, whether they believe in the election results or not. Those who believe in the integrity of the election — which numerous reviews have shown to be substantially valid (meaning that, while errors occurred, an accurate count still would have given Joe Biden Jr. the presidency) — are worried that continued denial of those results is undermining democracy. Those who believe the election was stolen think democracy has already been undermined.
Instead of settling down after the rioters discovered that former President Donald Trump did not really have their backs, but was only using them to stay in power, agitators have kept up their attacks, convincing a large number of ordinary Americans that Trump’s lies were true and that only an authoritarian such as Trump can save the country.
People living in Kazakhstan, the ninth-largest country in the world, have seen what authoritarianism really means: the enrichment of cronies, ignoring the economic needs of the people, and rigged elections that allow only pro-government candidates to win. After years of smaller protests, Kazakhstanis began a major protest on January 2, sparked by a rise in fuel prices, and the riots spread rapidly across the oil-rich country. In response, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev dismissed his government, declared a state of emergency, and vowed to “act as tough as possible.”
Trump recently endorsed Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán for reelection, supporting a fellow far-right, nationalist leader who has subverted democracy and moved to consolidate control over the media and judiciary. Yet Americans wear t-shirts featuring Trump with the slogan, “Do you miss me yet?”
David Leonhardt, writing in the New York Times’ The Morning, said, “The experience of other countries does offer some lessons about how to defeat anti-democratic movements. The most successful approach involves building coalitions of people who disagree, often vehemently, on many issues but who all believe in democracy.”
He quotes Daniel Ziblatt, co-author of How Democracies Die:
A classic dilemma of democracy, going back to the mid-20th century, is how to respond to a political party that uses democracy’s very openness to gain power and attack democracy. One response that has worked in the past in other countries in the 1930s (e.g. Belgium, Finland) that have overcome this dilemma is for broadly small-d democratic parties, even with big ideological differences, to overlook their differences in the short run to contain autocratic leaders or parties. Big coalitions are often necessary in the short run. …
There is obviously no easy way out, but in my view the Democrats need to work to forge a broader (small-d) democratic coalition that explicitly and publicly includes all small-d democratic Republicans. This means Liz Cheney, Mitt Romney, the Bush establishment network and other conservatives (as well as major business leaders and Christian leaders) need to publicly join and support a fusion ticket with the Democratic Party.
“Violently attacking the Capitol is not consistent with American democratic traditions,” Leonhardt writes. “Nor is trying to airbrush the horror of that attack, as many top Republican officials have. Nor are flamboyant, repeated lies about election results — and promises to act on those lies in the future.”
Cheney wrote, “The vast majority of Americans — Republicans and Democrats — want to live in a country that continues to be characterized by the freedoms that we enjoy and that they are fundamentally faithful to the Constitution. It’s a dangerous moment. The stakes are really high.”
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Foreign terrorists attacked America on 9/11...our own citizens attacked America on Jan. 6th. Two of the saddest days I've seen in my lifetime.