It’s obvious that the oligarchs are the driving force behind this movement. Look no farther than musk. Until we can conquer the concentration of wealth in their hands, do we really have a chance?
I believe that under the Supreme Court decision on the Insurrection and the election and their interpretation that trump could not be removed from the ballot as a candidate, and trump winning the election by certification is entirely separate from eligibility to serve. Now trump falls under the 14th amendment section 3 and is ineligible to serve as President, it is now that the issue of the 14th Amendment is ripe and there is standing by the House, the Senate, the DoJ, the States to file motions and court cases to block from serving under the 14th amendment section 3. Of Chief Justice Roberts swears in trump knowing trump is disqualified from serving under the 14th amendment section 3, Roberts will be violating the Constitution and siding an insurrectionist. Now is the time for the Democrats to raise the 14th amendment section 3 in the House and Senate.
“She details how Trump sought to undermine democratic norms by discrediting the media, politicizing the justice system, attacking governmental institutions, and casting doubt on the integrity of elections. “
“discrediting the media”……..he vocalized what everyone has known for years. Even Jeff Bezos admits his own paper has lost credibility.
“politicizing the justice system”…. Who sent the FBI to raid his political opponent? Biden did. Who supported Letitia James’ vendetta against Trump?
“casting doubt on integrity of elections”…… didn’t Hillary Clinton do the same 4 years pereviously? Yes, she did.
Marc Friedman: Anne Applebaum (Senior Fellow at Johns Hopkins) and Ruth Ben-Ghiat (Professor, NYU) are two leading experts on the history of modern autocracy.
Their work complements each other, with Anne Applebaum speaking Slavic languages (Polish, Russian) and Ruth Ben-Ghiat specializing in Italian literature and history. So Ruth Ben-Ghiat starts with her history of Fascism under Mussolini.
The story each tells has many commonalities, including the observations you cite from Anne Applebaum:
"Applebaum examines how Donald Trump’s earlier presidency mirrored the tactics of autocrats worldwide. She details how Trump sought to undermine democratic norms by discrediting the media, politicizing the justice system, attacking governmental institutions, and casting doubt on the integrity of elections. His overt admiration for autocratic leaders like Putin, Erdogan, and Kim Jong-un further highlighted his alignment with their strategies to remain in power.
"Applebaum also scrutinizes Trump’s use of propaganda and disinformation, noting parallels with regimes like Russia and China. “Trump’s constant barrage of lies and half-truths created an alternate reality for his supporters, a hallmark of autocratic rule,” she writes."
One of the signal dangers presented by Trump is his branding of the Press as the "Enemy of the People," which is Stalinist language.
Trump would actually isolate the Press at his rallies in 2016, which subjected reporters to abuse from unruly Trump supporters.
The most chilling danger from Trump is the inflammatory rhetoric, the baiting of racial hatred and the fanning of the wildfires of fear of people from different cultures.
It began with language borrowed from Hitler, "They poison our blood."
During Trump's administration, violence against Asians and Jews was fanned and wide spread.
During the 2024 race, the hatred was filled by the obscene lie to the effect that, in Ohio, immigrant Haitians stole house pets and ate them in Voodoo sacrifice.
This pet-blood ritual is a recycle of the Mediaeval "blood libel" that inflamed pogroms Europe-wide: "The Jews steal your child and eat boys and girls in blood rituals."
VP-Elect JD Vance doubled down on this recycled blood libel, even after Republican officials in Ohio desperately asked him to back down in face of increase in violence against the immigrants.
Now both Trump and Elon Musk are pushing to expand the hatred overseas in the United Kingdom and on the European Continent.
Musk, in particular, is bloodthirsty in criticizing Nigel Farage for not sheltering the inflammatory racist, "Tommy Robinson" (real name, Stephen Yaxley-Lennon), who spreads incendiary hatred against Syrian refugees in violation of a court order.
Thankfully, Musk's criticism in Great Britain backfires on Musk.
I know a lawyer and his wife who moved to Portugal because they saw the future and did not want to live and pay taxes in an autocracy. I have mixed feeling about this decision: I admire them for their forethought but resent them for abandoning our community here in Northern New York State.
It’s obvious that the oligarchs are the driving force behind this movement. Look no farther than musk. Until we can conquer the concentration of wealth in their hands, do we really have a chance?
A fair question
😢
I believe that under the Supreme Court decision on the Insurrection and the election and their interpretation that trump could not be removed from the ballot as a candidate, and trump winning the election by certification is entirely separate from eligibility to serve. Now trump falls under the 14th amendment section 3 and is ineligible to serve as President, it is now that the issue of the 14th Amendment is ripe and there is standing by the House, the Senate, the DoJ, the States to file motions and court cases to block from serving under the 14th amendment section 3. Of Chief Justice Roberts swears in trump knowing trump is disqualified from serving under the 14th amendment section 3, Roberts will be violating the Constitution and siding an insurrectionist. Now is the time for the Democrats to raise the 14th amendment section 3 in the House and Senate.
“She details how Trump sought to undermine democratic norms by discrediting the media, politicizing the justice system, attacking governmental institutions, and casting doubt on the integrity of elections. “
“discrediting the media”……..he vocalized what everyone has known for years. Even Jeff Bezos admits his own paper has lost credibility.
“politicizing the justice system”…. Who sent the FBI to raid his political opponent? Biden did. Who supported Letitia James’ vendetta against Trump?
“casting doubt on integrity of elections”…… didn’t Hillary Clinton do the same 4 years pereviously? Yes, she did.
Rubbish. Biden HD nothing to do with the Mar a Lago search.
https://www.factcheck.org/2023/04/fbi-access-request-is-not-evidence-white-house-lied-about-not-being-involved-in-mar-a-lago-raid/
Marc Friedman: Anne Applebaum (Senior Fellow at Johns Hopkins) and Ruth Ben-Ghiat (Professor, NYU) are two leading experts on the history of modern autocracy.
Their work complements each other, with Anne Applebaum speaking Slavic languages (Polish, Russian) and Ruth Ben-Ghiat specializing in Italian literature and history. So Ruth Ben-Ghiat starts with her history of Fascism under Mussolini.
The story each tells has many commonalities, including the observations you cite from Anne Applebaum:
"Applebaum examines how Donald Trump’s earlier presidency mirrored the tactics of autocrats worldwide. She details how Trump sought to undermine democratic norms by discrediting the media, politicizing the justice system, attacking governmental institutions, and casting doubt on the integrity of elections. His overt admiration for autocratic leaders like Putin, Erdogan, and Kim Jong-un further highlighted his alignment with their strategies to remain in power.
"Applebaum also scrutinizes Trump’s use of propaganda and disinformation, noting parallels with regimes like Russia and China. “Trump’s constant barrage of lies and half-truths created an alternate reality for his supporters, a hallmark of autocratic rule,” she writes."
One of the signal dangers presented by Trump is his branding of the Press as the "Enemy of the People," which is Stalinist language.
Trump would actually isolate the Press at his rallies in 2016, which subjected reporters to abuse from unruly Trump supporters.
The most chilling danger from Trump is the inflammatory rhetoric, the baiting of racial hatred and the fanning of the wildfires of fear of people from different cultures.
It began with language borrowed from Hitler, "They poison our blood."
During Trump's administration, violence against Asians and Jews was fanned and wide spread.
During the 2024 race, the hatred was filled by the obscene lie to the effect that, in Ohio, immigrant Haitians stole house pets and ate them in Voodoo sacrifice.
This pet-blood ritual is a recycle of the Mediaeval "blood libel" that inflamed pogroms Europe-wide: "The Jews steal your child and eat boys and girls in blood rituals."
https://www.adl.org/resources/backgrounder/blood-libel-false-incendiary-claim-against-jews
VP-Elect JD Vance doubled down on this recycled blood libel, even after Republican officials in Ohio desperately asked him to back down in face of increase in violence against the immigrants.
Now both Trump and Elon Musk are pushing to expand the hatred overseas in the United Kingdom and on the European Continent.
Musk, in particular, is bloodthirsty in criticizing Nigel Farage for not sheltering the inflammatory racist, "Tommy Robinson" (real name, Stephen Yaxley-Lennon), who spreads incendiary hatred against Syrian refugees in violation of a court order.
Thankfully, Musk's criticism in Great Britain backfires on Musk.
See:
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/06/world/europe/uk-elon-musk-far-right.html
Marc Friedman: Very good post that brings a lot together in a unified theme from Anne Applebaum.
Thank you so very much for sharing powerful insights, not least, the growing cooperation among autocratic leaders.
Thanks, Armand, for your great comment. And thanks for mentioning that Applebaum is a senior fellow with my alma mater!
I know a lawyer and his wife who moved to Portugal because they saw the future and did not want to live and pay taxes in an autocracy. I have mixed feeling about this decision: I admire them for their forethought but resent them for abandoning our community here in Northern New York State.
I just signed up but do not know my password.