I think the biggest challenge is the complacency of the American people thinking that this can never happen here. It's hard for me to understand how so many are not taking this seriously, the people that know better. I'm just a small business owner in Texas and I think about this every day, I feel almost obsessed with trying to figure out what I can do, if anything, but feel powerless. If those in power who know better are not doing everything they can to prevent this, what can I do. I think this country has changed and we are almost at the point of no return unless more people wake up and realize their cozy life may not always be cozy, we need those who know what to do to guide those of us who don't.
I believe there is too little discussion about the absence of a war on propaganda as a way to combat the authoritarianism we face. Propaganda has to be labeled as such and fought vigorously, not ignored and treated like ideas that can be rationally disputed. We’ve had wars on propaganda for a reason, but if the govt now isn’t willing or able to label and fight propaganda ….authoritarianism will win out
I think the window has already closed. We're in a liminal space. Authoritarianism is inevitable; it's just not here yet. The mortal blow was struck during the first week in January, 2021. Think back to the release of the recording of the Trump-Raffensperger call. Every member of Congress, really, anyone who has ever been involved in a partisan election knew exactly what was going on in that call. In a functioning democracy, there would have the Cabinet-level resignations (like the ones that actually happened after Jan 6). There would have been calls from Republican Senators for Trump to resign. There would have been almost universal condemnation and impeachment proceedings. And none of that happened. Everything that's happened since Jan 6 indicates to me that we're steadily losing ground.
And, that, my friends, is why last week's story about play meant so much to me. We should and shall play anyway.
Clear cut, true and concise interview, thank you. "Holding out an olive branch to someone who disagrees with you about tax policy is fundamentally different than doing so to someone who wants to burn down the system of government and install authoritarianism." Once it's gone it is gone, never to be the same. We continue sounding the alarm and hopefully collecting many more people that have not been really aware of what's actually happening and now are.
We can't compromise with those who feel that fascism is the best path forward for this nation. The problem is, most whom are fascists, won't acknowledge it. It's a serious case of unconscious incompetence.
Its a very dubious position to have to be in ..to hope that Manchin and Sinema will eventually vote for a carve out on the filibuster rule so " For the People Act can be passed". The For the People Act is an anecdote in its potential to protect free and fair elections and democracy. Meanwhile, we face a GOP that has become a proto fascistic party funded by right wing billionaires bent on preventing higher taxes and regulations on themselves. They are setting up the country and it's democracy through new election laws passed in 19 states to become a minority rule one party state if we don't stop them?
I'll quote the great Maureen Dowd from a couple of weeks ago. "Just like the original Sphinx, the Phoenix Sphinx is blocking the way until those who would move ahead solve her riddle:
What does Kyrsten Sinema want? And why doesn’t she stick around to explain it?
Somehow, we have gotten ourselves in a perverse situation where Sinema and Joe Manchin rule the world, and it’s confounding that these two people have this much sway. As Hemingway wondered in “The Snows of Kilimanjaro,” what are those leopards doing at this altitude?
As an Arizona resident, I feel that Sinema has been bought by our oligarchs. It seems she wanted to go to DC to get rich, with Big Pharma being happy to oblige.
She's in the pocket of big Pharma. We have an opportunity in this country to change the law that prevents medicare from negotiating drug prices. If passed, it would save billions by lowering the cost of prescription drug prices in this country. Campaign finance laws, which allow billions to be donated to candidates as dark money is legalized bribery and corruption.
This keeps me up at night and worries me every day, all day long, ever since TFG was the R’s nominee. The problem is that the majority of people do not think that authoritarian rule can happen here. Until people are truly educated on the fine print of this, our democracy, now at the precipice, will die within the next few years. What we need is a strong leader who has a platform to bring this all to light. We can donate money to the various Dem groups, but I still feel that the message is being lost. Biden will not make the case, so someone else, we’ll known, must.
I was glad to see Brian Klaas mentioned the New York Times coverage of Erdogan in 2002. Even at the time it seemed sycophantic to me, and deluded, and was a weird corollary to that newspaper’s misguided reportage of the run up to the Iraq war. It seems so easy to look at a politician new on the scene in a distant country and think, oh, a breath of fresh air, but we need to really scrutinize a bit more and look beneath the surface, we did not do that enough with Erdogan, Orban etc
We saw the same coverage with MBS of Saudi Arabia...and now he's ordering the murder of US journalists. There are some excellent reporters at the NYT outside of the political beltway sycophants, but their political coverage is so deliberately slanted and derivative that I haven't subscribed for years.
Oh gosh, I said I was pretty certain you two would know each other already ...
Slightly embarassed now but yes, I've thoroughly enjoyed his podcasts and book. I must read the others.
Thank you for this =)
Alex
I think the biggest challenge is the complacency of the American people thinking that this can never happen here. It's hard for me to understand how so many are not taking this seriously, the people that know better. I'm just a small business owner in Texas and I think about this every day, I feel almost obsessed with trying to figure out what I can do, if anything, but feel powerless. If those in power who know better are not doing everything they can to prevent this, what can I do. I think this country has changed and we are almost at the point of no return unless more people wake up and realize their cozy life may not always be cozy, we need those who know what to do to guide those of us who don't.
I believe there is too little discussion about the absence of a war on propaganda as a way to combat the authoritarianism we face. Propaganda has to be labeled as such and fought vigorously, not ignored and treated like ideas that can be rationally disputed. We’ve had wars on propaganda for a reason, but if the govt now isn’t willing or able to label and fight propaganda ….authoritarianism will win out
I think the window has already closed. We're in a liminal space. Authoritarianism is inevitable; it's just not here yet. The mortal blow was struck during the first week in January, 2021. Think back to the release of the recording of the Trump-Raffensperger call. Every member of Congress, really, anyone who has ever been involved in a partisan election knew exactly what was going on in that call. In a functioning democracy, there would have the Cabinet-level resignations (like the ones that actually happened after Jan 6). There would have been calls from Republican Senators for Trump to resign. There would have been almost universal condemnation and impeachment proceedings. And none of that happened. Everything that's happened since Jan 6 indicates to me that we're steadily losing ground.
And, that, my friends, is why last week's story about play meant so much to me. We should and shall play anyway.
Yes we have to play to keep our sanity!
Clear cut, true and concise interview, thank you. "Holding out an olive branch to someone who disagrees with you about tax policy is fundamentally different than doing so to someone who wants to burn down the system of government and install authoritarianism." Once it's gone it is gone, never to be the same. We continue sounding the alarm and hopefully collecting many more people that have not been really aware of what's actually happening and now are.
thanks!
We can't compromise with those who feel that fascism is the best path forward for this nation. The problem is, most whom are fascists, won't acknowledge it. It's a serious case of unconscious incompetence.
Its a very dubious position to have to be in ..to hope that Manchin and Sinema will eventually vote for a carve out on the filibuster rule so " For the People Act can be passed". The For the People Act is an anecdote in its potential to protect free and fair elections and democracy. Meanwhile, we face a GOP that has become a proto fascistic party funded by right wing billionaires bent on preventing higher taxes and regulations on themselves. They are setting up the country and it's democracy through new election laws passed in 19 states to become a minority rule one party state if we don't stop them?
I'll quote the great Maureen Dowd from a couple of weeks ago. "Just like the original Sphinx, the Phoenix Sphinx is blocking the way until those who would move ahead solve her riddle:
What does Kyrsten Sinema want? And why doesn’t she stick around to explain it?
Somehow, we have gotten ourselves in a perverse situation where Sinema and Joe Manchin rule the world, and it’s confounding that these two people have this much sway. As Hemingway wondered in “The Snows of Kilimanjaro,” what are those leopards doing at this altitude?
As an Arizona resident, I feel that Sinema has been bought by our oligarchs. It seems she wanted to go to DC to get rich, with Big Pharma being happy to oblige.
She's in the pocket of big Pharma. We have an opportunity in this country to change the law that prevents medicare from negotiating drug prices. If passed, it would save billions by lowering the cost of prescription drug prices in this country. Campaign finance laws, which allow billions to be donated to candidates as dark money is legalized bribery and corruption.
Yes, the road to authoritarianism is paved with corruption, bribery and propaganda.
This keeps me up at night and worries me every day, all day long, ever since TFG was the R’s nominee. The problem is that the majority of people do not think that authoritarian rule can happen here. Until people are truly educated on the fine print of this, our democracy, now at the precipice, will die within the next few years. What we need is a strong leader who has a platform to bring this all to light. We can donate money to the various Dem groups, but I still feel that the message is being lost. Biden will not make the case, so someone else, we’ll known, must.
I was glad to see Brian Klaas mentioned the New York Times coverage of Erdogan in 2002. Even at the time it seemed sycophantic to me, and deluded, and was a weird corollary to that newspaper’s misguided reportage of the run up to the Iraq war. It seems so easy to look at a politician new on the scene in a distant country and think, oh, a breath of fresh air, but we need to really scrutinize a bit more and look beneath the surface, we did not do that enough with Erdogan, Orban etc
Exactly
We saw the same coverage with MBS of Saudi Arabia...and now he's ordering the murder of US journalists. There are some excellent reporters at the NYT outside of the political beltway sycophants, but their political coverage is so deliberately slanted and derivative that I haven't subscribed for years.