It is quite arrogant for the US to claim to be the top democracy in the world while fighting among themselves to keep that status. In particular (western) Europe has demonstrated far better results for their residents
I find it interesting that Ruth and Asahi are, all of a sudden, so concerned about certain segments of the American population who do not believe the Biden election was legitimate. May I refresh some memories as to another segment of the population who did not view Trump's election as legitimate:
And let's not forget Stacy Abrams who was running around Georgia and the rest of America claiming to be the duly elected Governor of Georgia. And let's not forget the Democrat mantra after the 2000 election "selected not elected."
So who really started all of this and why are you so upset now that the shoe is on the other foot?? And for the record, I believe Biden was duly elected.
This is so true. Our modification of capitalism to our present neoliberal economics, deindustrialized America to the point that the working class become broken and angry. This new economic philosophy outsourced our middle class for higher profits. Our middle class was forced into lower paying service sector jobs, so many becaome militant, looking for a savior. The Great Recession caused havoc as well. One of the causes for that recession was the deregulating of investment banks. The result was world shattering. This all added to the acceptance of a sociopathic autocrat as the solution.
I was reading Garry Kasparov's twitter feed the other day and took note of a group of dissidents who have lived under autocratic/authoritarian control (as Kasparov did) speaking to what life is really like under these regimes. Americans are being lulled into the belief that democracy has had its day, that it is inherently inefficient, antiquated and that in order to compete on the world stage, we need a strong 'unitary executive' in charge. Call it authoritarianism, fascism. whatever. Former Attorney General William Barr was a keen proponent of the theory. We watched how that turned out.
Those from Renew Democracy's Frontlines of Freedom would beg to differ with the cheers for autocratic rule. They've lived under these political systems and have the subsequent horror stories to share.
I think we need these voices from outside the American bubble to voice their concerns, worries, real-life experiences. The question is will the narrative penetrate? That's where American journalists and publications need to come in, have the courage to dump the 'bothsiderism' schtick and defend basic American values, the very ones Mr. Asahi Shimbun notes: freedom, democracy, the rule of law. We need to be as loud and effective as those who would burn the house down. It's an all hands on deck moment. Every voice defending democratic principles is worthy and needed.
President Biden has stated before: domestic policy is foreign policy; foreign policy is domestic policy. If we refuse to lead by our values and principles both home and abroad, we hobble any attempt at renewal.
I wish he had answered this: "Another thing that was difficult for people outside of the United States to understand was that we didn't expect that Trump would keep saying that the election was stolen. I get this question from many colleagues and readers: why do so many people still believe that the election was stolen? "
This gets into the realm of social psychology and the authoritarian mindset. It is well known that authoritarianism (and fascism) are about creating a fantasy for its followers. Those believing in this fantasy become unmoored from reality. A destructive charismatic leader will use polarizing rhetoric on his needy followers to unify his tribe against the outside enemy. It reinforces political bigotry and hatred for the "other". Only his tribe has the truth, while outsiders are considered fools for not seeing the omnipotence of their great leader. A cesspool can appear as a fresh water spring to these people, in their refusal to accept reality. Add to this the psychological phenomenon called the Backfire Effect and we end up with people not being about to revert back to reality even when given corrective information. This effect is quite common in the conservative mind. They will easily believe lies from those of authority within their tribe, over the truth from those outside the tribe.
Oh - funny that I remember Adam Schiff every day on CNN stating absolute for fact that he had the goods on Trump’s collusion with Russia and the FBI and DOJ spies on Trump’s campaign based on, what we now know and the FBI knew back then was false information provided by the Clinton campaign. That criminal investigation was based on completely fabricated information and was used as a basis to overthrow the Trump administration. Yeah - so I guess you forgot about that little tidbit of very recent history.
In New Hampshire yesterday, Liz Cheney (R-WY) ripped into the Trump Republicans. She said that Americans are “confronting a domestic threat that we’ve never faced before: a former president who's attempting to unravel the foundations of our Constitutional Republic, aided by political leaders who have made themselves willing hostages to this dangerous and irrational man.” Cheney was speaking at St. Anselm College, a traditional stop for those running for president.
She continued, “In this time of testing, will we do our duty? Will we do what we must? Will we defend our Constitution? Will we stand for truth? Will we put duty to our oath above partisan politics? Or will we look away from the danger, ignore the threat, embrace the lies and enable the liar?” she said. “There is no gray area when it comes to that question. When it comes to this moment, there is no middle ground.”
Liz Cheney, Jeff Flake, Romney and a few other Repubs had the courage to stand up to Trump's madness. I would love to see a mixed ticket of Liz Warren and Liz Cheney on the president/VP ticket just to calm things down a bit.
Liz Cheney is still Dick Cheny's demon seed. I despise her politics. Her redemption is that she is willing to defend America's democracy from the threat of Donald Trump and his authoritarian personality cult.
I mostly vote Green Party but our oligarchs would never permit the ascent of that mindset to gain power. I have to be realistic about what is attainable.
Oligarchs love it when people vote third party or green party because it Hertz the Democrat and helps the Republican to win in close elections. Jill Stein for example though I agree with many of her positions, helped Trump win the White House in the electoral college.
"As I said earlier, countries around the world see the United States as a leader of democracy. " I'm not sure why this statement generally seems to be taken as a given. For all of the U.S.' wars and incursions into other countries to deny them their democracy, and to still occupy countries from WW II (Japan, Germany) puts democracy as an action very low on the list of U.S. priorities.
Sure, it is a great talking point, a great bit of propaganda, but both at home with money (as the dominant political party) and abroad (with the military as the dominant political entity in support of the money) it is not democracy that is in action.
The reason this is taken as a given is because we hear too few opinions from outside the US. We've always lived in an insular way and still do. I lived abroad for 12 years and let me tell you, I didn't hear a lot of positive things about my home country (and the host country is one of our allies).
First, thanks for starting this series of interviews w international journalists, it's a great idea and important to hear their perspectives. We suffer from a lack of outside perspectives in the US.
Second, he says "The Biden administration says that today in the world we have a competition between democracy and autocracy." Now if only Biden would say that this problem is HERE, in this country, and acknowledge the problem, then take it head on. I'm not holding my breath, though.
I like to know more about what changes TO saw in 2010-2012 that led to Trump rise and also what are the main learnings from his talks to Trump supporters on why they still believe in Trump.
Yes indeed, the greatest threat to democracy in the US comes not from outside but from inside. The enemy lies within. And it is growing stronger and more violent in its rhetoric and behavior. It is like a cancer within the body politic. I thought Biden defeating Trump would be like chemo therapy to shrink the growing tumors of authoritarianism. The cancer is contained but at the same time spreading and growing more malignant with each passing day. American democracy is in crisis and we are going to need a stronger dose of chemo therapy to combat the spread of the disease. Or as Roy Scheider says to Richard Dreyfus in the movie "Jaws" "You're going to need a bigger boat".
Trump brought to the surface that most Americans have no understanding of the state of affairs of the world and it was supplemented by Foxnews. The Trump phenomenon will slowly fade away when republicans like Youngkin, who disavowed Trump, win and when those who accept his support lose. I predict in 5 to 10 years Trumpism will be long gone and forgotten
How does the Trump cancer fade away when we elect a Youngkin and fail to hold those who staged the Jan 6 coup accountable and fail to protect voting rights and (unfortunately) etc? seems to be metastasizing
I disagree...extreme Trump-style candidates are running for office (with Trump's endorsement) in every swing state. There is no question that they will win their primaries. In many instances, though far from all, they will win the general election. GOP candidates cannot win without the Trump base, and there are few Youngkin-style candidates avoid the unhinged GOP rhetoric, but who wink toward autocracy while repackaging parental frustration about 2 years of pandemic life as 'Democrats forcing propaganda on children in schools'. With the backing of every GOP donor, GOP thinktank, GOP media empire, and GOP elected officials with few exceptions, Trumpism grows stronger and more hardened by the day. McConnell endorsed the lunatic Herschel Walker in Georgia! Btw, just to set the record straight, not only did Youngkin NOT denounce Trump, he accepted his endorsement and expressed support for 'election integrity' (ie, voter suppression) reforms.
Great interview.
It is quite arrogant for the US to claim to be the top democracy in the world while fighting among themselves to keep that status. In particular (western) Europe has demonstrated far better results for their residents
The thread is very interesting. Thanks.
I find it interesting that Ruth and Asahi are, all of a sudden, so concerned about certain segments of the American population who do not believe the Biden election was legitimate. May I refresh some memories as to another segment of the population who did not view Trump's election as legitimate:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/11/13/one-third-of-clinton-supporters-say-trump-election-is-not-legitimate-poll-finds/
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/majority-young-americans-view-trump-illegitimate-president-poll-n735426
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-poll/half-of-republicans-say-biden-won-because-of-a-rigged-election-reuters-ipsos-poll-idUSKBN27Y1AJ
And let's not forget Stacy Abrams who was running around Georgia and the rest of America claiming to be the duly elected Governor of Georgia. And let's not forget the Democrat mantra after the 2000 election "selected not elected."
So who really started all of this and why are you so upset now that the shoe is on the other foot?? And for the record, I believe Biden was duly elected.
"Trump was the symptom, not the cause."
This is so true. Our modification of capitalism to our present neoliberal economics, deindustrialized America to the point that the working class become broken and angry. This new economic philosophy outsourced our middle class for higher profits. Our middle class was forced into lower paying service sector jobs, so many becaome militant, looking for a savior. The Great Recession caused havoc as well. One of the causes for that recession was the deregulating of investment banks. The result was world shattering. This all added to the acceptance of a sociopathic autocrat as the solution.
I was reading Garry Kasparov's twitter feed the other day and took note of a group of dissidents who have lived under autocratic/authoritarian control (as Kasparov did) speaking to what life is really like under these regimes. Americans are being lulled into the belief that democracy has had its day, that it is inherently inefficient, antiquated and that in order to compete on the world stage, we need a strong 'unitary executive' in charge. Call it authoritarianism, fascism. whatever. Former Attorney General William Barr was a keen proponent of the theory. We watched how that turned out.
Those from Renew Democracy's Frontlines of Freedom would beg to differ with the cheers for autocratic rule. They've lived under these political systems and have the subsequent horror stories to share.
I think we need these voices from outside the American bubble to voice their concerns, worries, real-life experiences. The question is will the narrative penetrate? That's where American journalists and publications need to come in, have the courage to dump the 'bothsiderism' schtick and defend basic American values, the very ones Mr. Asahi Shimbun notes: freedom, democracy, the rule of law. We need to be as loud and effective as those who would burn the house down. It's an all hands on deck moment. Every voice defending democratic principles is worthy and needed.
President Biden has stated before: domestic policy is foreign policy; foreign policy is domestic policy. If we refuse to lead by our values and principles both home and abroad, we hobble any attempt at renewal.
Another good interview!
Thanks for the invitation to find out about RENEW DEMOCRACY’S FRONTLINE OF FREEDOM
I wish he had answered this: "Another thing that was difficult for people outside of the United States to understand was that we didn't expect that Trump would keep saying that the election was stolen. I get this question from many colleagues and readers: why do so many people still believe that the election was stolen? "
This gets into the realm of social psychology and the authoritarian mindset. It is well known that authoritarianism (and fascism) are about creating a fantasy for its followers. Those believing in this fantasy become unmoored from reality. A destructive charismatic leader will use polarizing rhetoric on his needy followers to unify his tribe against the outside enemy. It reinforces political bigotry and hatred for the "other". Only his tribe has the truth, while outsiders are considered fools for not seeing the omnipotence of their great leader. A cesspool can appear as a fresh water spring to these people, in their refusal to accept reality. Add to this the psychological phenomenon called the Backfire Effect and we end up with people not being about to revert back to reality even when given corrective information. This effect is quite common in the conservative mind. They will easily believe lies from those of authority within their tribe, over the truth from those outside the tribe.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/26/politics/terry-mcauliffe-voter-fraud-stacey-abrams/index.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/11/13/one-third-of-clinton-supporters-say-trump-election-is-not-legitimate-poll-finds/
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/majority-young-americans-view-trump-illegitimate-president-poll-n735426
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-poll/half-of-republicans-say-biden-won-because-of-a-rigged-election-reuters-ipsos-poll-idUSKBN27Y1AJ
I'm not sure what your point is. My point is that the author didn't address the point he brought up. Which you haven't contradicted.
I have several points:
1. Why did the press not care about the the major segments of the population who disbelieved that Trump and Bush were legitimately elected?
2. Why no condemnation of Stacey Abrams for doing the same thing Trump is?
Gee, I dunno. Maybe because none of those folks planned to overturn the elections and encouraged an insurrection? Just guessing here...
Oh - funny that I remember Adam Schiff every day on CNN stating absolute for fact that he had the goods on Trump’s collusion with Russia and the FBI and DOJ spies on Trump’s campaign based on, what we now know and the FBI knew back then was false information provided by the Clinton campaign. That criminal investigation was based on completely fabricated information and was used as a basis to overthrow the Trump administration. Yeah - so I guess you forgot about that little tidbit of very recent history.
In New Hampshire yesterday, Liz Cheney (R-WY) ripped into the Trump Republicans. She said that Americans are “confronting a domestic threat that we’ve never faced before: a former president who's attempting to unravel the foundations of our Constitutional Republic, aided by political leaders who have made themselves willing hostages to this dangerous and irrational man.” Cheney was speaking at St. Anselm College, a traditional stop for those running for president.
She continued, “In this time of testing, will we do our duty? Will we do what we must? Will we defend our Constitution? Will we stand for truth? Will we put duty to our oath above partisan politics? Or will we look away from the danger, ignore the threat, embrace the lies and enable the liar?” she said. “There is no gray area when it comes to that question. When it comes to this moment, there is no middle ground.”
Liz Cheney, Jeff Flake, Romney and a few other Repubs had the courage to stand up to Trump's madness. I would love to see a mixed ticket of Liz Warren and Liz Cheney on the president/VP ticket just to calm things down a bit.
Liz Cheney is still Dick Cheny's demon seed. I despise her politics. Her redemption is that she is willing to defend America's democracy from the threat of Donald Trump and his authoritarian personality cult.
I mostly vote Green Party but our oligarchs would never permit the ascent of that mindset to gain power. I have to be realistic about what is attainable.
Oligarchs love it when people vote third party or green party because it Hertz the Democrat and helps the Republican to win in close elections. Jill Stein for example though I agree with many of her positions, helped Trump win the White House in the electoral college.
"As I said earlier, countries around the world see the United States as a leader of democracy. " I'm not sure why this statement generally seems to be taken as a given. For all of the U.S.' wars and incursions into other countries to deny them their democracy, and to still occupy countries from WW II (Japan, Germany) puts democracy as an action very low on the list of U.S. priorities.
Sure, it is a great talking point, a great bit of propaganda, but both at home with money (as the dominant political party) and abroad (with the military as the dominant political entity in support of the money) it is not democracy that is in action.
The reason this is taken as a given is because we hear too few opinions from outside the US. We've always lived in an insular way and still do. I lived abroad for 12 years and let me tell you, I didn't hear a lot of positive things about my home country (and the host country is one of our allies).
Yes … I was wondering, can’t we prioritize cleaning up our own household so we can be a good neighbor (instead of a murderous bully?)
First, thanks for starting this series of interviews w international journalists, it's a great idea and important to hear their perspectives. We suffer from a lack of outside perspectives in the US.
Second, he says "The Biden administration says that today in the world we have a competition between democracy and autocracy." Now if only Biden would say that this problem is HERE, in this country, and acknowledge the problem, then take it head on. I'm not holding my breath, though.
I’m not holding my breath on Biden, either … I need it to push back on the rising autocrats in my own town
Spot on comments from TO. Thanks
I like to know more about what changes TO saw in 2010-2012 that led to Trump rise and also what are the main learnings from his talks to Trump supporters on why they still believe in Trump.
Yes indeed, the greatest threat to democracy in the US comes not from outside but from inside. The enemy lies within. And it is growing stronger and more violent in its rhetoric and behavior. It is like a cancer within the body politic. I thought Biden defeating Trump would be like chemo therapy to shrink the growing tumors of authoritarianism. The cancer is contained but at the same time spreading and growing more malignant with each passing day. American democracy is in crisis and we are going to need a stronger dose of chemo therapy to combat the spread of the disease. Or as Roy Scheider says to Richard Dreyfus in the movie "Jaws" "You're going to need a bigger boat".
We got the bigger boat … more of us need to start manning and womanning the oars
Trump brought to the surface that most Americans have no understanding of the state of affairs of the world and it was supplemented by Foxnews. The Trump phenomenon will slowly fade away when republicans like Youngkin, who disavowed Trump, win and when those who accept his support lose. I predict in 5 to 10 years Trumpism will be long gone and forgotten
How does the Trump cancer fade away when we elect a Youngkin and fail to hold those who staged the Jan 6 coup accountable and fail to protect voting rights and (unfortunately) etc? seems to be metastasizing
I disagree...extreme Trump-style candidates are running for office (with Trump's endorsement) in every swing state. There is no question that they will win their primaries. In many instances, though far from all, they will win the general election. GOP candidates cannot win without the Trump base, and there are few Youngkin-style candidates avoid the unhinged GOP rhetoric, but who wink toward autocracy while repackaging parental frustration about 2 years of pandemic life as 'Democrats forcing propaganda on children in schools'. With the backing of every GOP donor, GOP thinktank, GOP media empire, and GOP elected officials with few exceptions, Trumpism grows stronger and more hardened by the day. McConnell endorsed the lunatic Herschel Walker in Georgia! Btw, just to set the record straight, not only did Youngkin NOT denounce Trump, he accepted his endorsement and expressed support for 'election integrity' (ie, voter suppression) reforms.
Well, I guess the people are just tired of having an unelected potato running the country.