Daily Dissent

A quick Daily Dissent (ok, two…)

THIS WAS SUCH A GOOD LISTEN! – ‘We have everything we need’: Political scientist Erica Chenoweth on resisting Trump 2.0

And then there’s this Opinion article in the NY Times. Imagine if – a year ago, three years ago, how about 8 years – ah nevermind.

Have We Lost Our Democracy?

• America has crossed the line into competitive authoritarianism.
• The Trump administration has taken (or credibly threatened) punitive action against a strikingly large number of individuals and organizations that it considers its opponents.
• The administration has targeted major law firms for retribution.
• Donors to the Democratic Party and other progressive causes also face political retribution.
• Like many autocratic governments, the Trump administration has targeted the media.
• Trump has also followed other autocrats in assaulting universities.
• Republican politicians face threats of violence if they oppose Trump.
• America has, with stunning speed, descended into a world in which opponents of the government fear criminal investigations, lawsuits, tax audits and other punitive measures
• Republican politicians are, as one former Trump administration official put it, “scared” out of their minds “about death threats.”
• Americans are living under a new regime. The question now is whether we will allow it to take root.