I'm angry and frustrated by the authoritarian predicament we're in as a country--on the edge of losing its democracy. There are a lot of reasons for it staring with with 40 years of neoliberlism started under Ronald Reagan. But what I am focusing most of my blame on these days are the inherit structural flaws of the constitutional framework set up by our founding fathers. Namely, they are things like the electoral college and the senate. Both are inherently anti democratic because they allow minorities to rule over majorities.
Democrats have won seven out of the last eight popular votes in national elections, the 50 Dems in the senate represent 40 million more people than the 50 Republicans in the senate etc. Dems keep winning majorities but barely have jack to show for it, look at the reactionary 6-3 conservative majority on the supreme court McConnell engineered. It is nowhere close to being in step with most Americans by a long shot. Just in the last 20 years two Republicans got elected President despite losing the popular vote.
Each time the minority Republicans got power from the antidemocratic electoral college or aggressively gerrymandered districts, they extended it to the Supreme court to make it partisan, and to pass voter suppression laws on the state level and to the elevation of state's rights over the federal government and juridical review.
We are where we are I would argue because of the systemic flaws of the constitution and its electoral college that allows minorities and candidates with the fewest votes to take power over majorities. It is repugnant to any notion of democracy. Yes there were some reforms and voting rights measures but they got reversed by conservative courts. It wasn't enough. Look where we are now. The seeds of the democratic experiment's own destruction were sown into it from the beginning by the founding fathers.
What you have described is our roadmap to kakistocracy. The US has become a failed state in many respects. We no longer have the agility to make changes to our Constitution in a timely enough manner to prevent an autocratic takeover. We seem to lack the ability to determine the root causes of the anger of the Tea Party movement or the magnetism of Trump's proto-fascism. Sure, many individuals have figured this out but our leadership has not. By the time they do figure out what has gone wrong, we may be passed the tipping point. We are on dangerous ground.
Trump's regime was a Kakistocracy/kleptocracy with nepotism where fawning loyalty to the autocratic leader mattered most. And will be again if elected in 24 only worse.
You state that you feel “that faith has to be part of any successful pro-democracy movement in America”. Is that something you have found to be a historical precedent in your research, or a personal view?
In last 2 pages of Conclusion chapter of STRONGMEN seems to indicate the former. Ruth writes, “knowing that solidarity, love, and dialogue are what the strongman most fears …. History shows the importance of keeping hope and faith in humanity and of supporting those who struggle for freedom in our own time.”
This isn’t the first time we’ve had clergymen in Congress. Think about Robert Drinan, a Jesuit priest from Massachusetts, who served from 1971 to 1982, and John Cornell, a priest from Wisconsin. Both resigned at Pope john Paul’s request. Both were Democrats.
And this new movement of the radical right to which Mr. Cobb refers is pushing this country increasingly toward civil war. According to Dr. Barbara Walter, UC San Diego, the US is no longer considered, by CIA metrics, to be the gold-standard of democracy in the world. It is now an anocracy, a blend of dictatorship and democracy. Dr. Walter has a new book on the threat of civil war coming out in January, 2022.
I'm a great admirer of Mr. Cobb's body of work, thank you for the interview. I hope that future historians, perhaps in democracies that remain post-2024, will find a way to explain the passivity of Democratic party leaders as this movement grew...in plain sight, for 5 years. FBI Director Wray decided that ignoring the terrifying reality was more politically expedient than facing the complex issues required to define domestic terrorism and prosecute domestic extremists. The GOP base is so blinded by their twisted form of 'political faith' that they're risking hospitalization and death for their cause, while Democratic leadership gives cover to our feckless FBI leadership by pretending that the stakes aren't as high as they are. I feel as though we're on the cusp of widespread vigilante assassinations and no one is taking a step to change the course. Perhaps I'm alone in what I see in the abyss...I hope so, but my deepest fears have manifested for 5 long years.
There have been recent articles about the fact various agencies in the Koch Network have been behind anti-vax & anti-mask movements. CNP is behind some of funding of Jan 6. Phase one of CNP was veto of Fairness Doctrine, leading to RW media used as propaganda tools, building blocks of fascism. Movement started gaining traction in late 90s with the Tea Party. ALEC added voter suppression. Rove had his empire of election fraud (Nat'l Press Club has a picture graph of this I've put out on Twitter.)
Yes, this has been well-documented in 'Democracy in Chains'. We were warned about what had and what would happen by the author. The warnings were ignored at every level.
Didn't need to read Democracy in Chains. I lived through it and was aware of most of what was going on. There were rallies, protests, marches, concerts regarding ERA, homelessness & hunger. MAGA Reagan taught us not to trust the gov. Said gov was the problem, when it's CORRUPT gov that's the problem. People didn't know Kochs were behind it all, just big corps in general with their money and power.We had hand-marked paper ballots in IL where I lived. We counted them in public shopping malls with full public viewing. Rigged machines didn't start til 90s. Look up Chuck Hagel. He owned a voting machine company & elected himself NE Senator, using his voting machines! Voting machine companies are owned by private equity cos.--gatekeepers of our Democracy. Simple search will reveal. People were watching FOX & other RW media, but I never did. I was too busy raising family.
Five years ago I saw that Trump was a sociopath (APD) but voters did not recognize this disorder and put him in charge. When societies are so broken that they place their bets on a vile creature like Trump, with no conscience, then society is in a panic mode for survival. Our destructive neoliberal economics is a major root cause of our current calamity but our oligarchs refuse to change it. They would rather have the nation fail, than change the system. It has served them so well.
Biden was very condescending about the depths of corruption in Afghanistan's government, yet he seems unwilling or unable to see its presence in the US government. He's not an oligarch, but he's so accustomed to the skewed environment that he fails to see the imminent collapse. Pelosi floats on soft corruption of insider trading, pretending that it isn't part of the environment of the larger corruption of the GOP. Even the FDA is embroiled in massive conflicts of interest (see the latest article detailing why US COVID testing lags far behind the rest of the world).
I believe Biden is well aware of what's going on. There have been many actions behind the scenes, undoing damage trump has done.I don't know why they're not being exposed. Give an ex. Biden forced to sell millions of acres of oil leases in Gulf due to trump court ruling. DOJ is appealing.Plaintiffs filed contempt saying Biden not following thru. Court ruled against plaintiffs, saying Biden was. Biden is attempting to redefine WOTUS (Waters of the US).I have article out on Twitter. Public comments are due Feb22. This involves Gulf waters off states bordering Gulf.(plaintiffs) Biden has also fired several trump loyalists.Every person was put in their office to destroy & dismantle agency & dept they headed, following Koch Platform of 1980.This is policy GOP have been running on for over 40 years.Wray probably should be fired IMHO.Founders wanted 3 branches to work together.After WG we created Independent Counsel, appointed by Congress, approved by 3 judge panel & overseen by fed judge & who could prosecute sitting POTUS. All elements are together now to prosecute MOC & a POTUS.Select Committee was given legislative purpose by Judge Chitkin, Biden waived Exec priv & DC prosecutor can prosecute, convene gj to indict, & fed judge can sentence. Electoral College was compromise by founders between Congress & the people electing POTUS. National Popular Vote gets around EC & is Constitutional. It's almost there. We need more blue st. legislatures. Sorry this was so long. We need to know & understand political history.
You make a number of salient points...some repair work has been ongoing. It's not at all clear why the administration continues to believe that some ideal of 'quiet competence' will succeed against the hurricane-level maelstrom of FB, GOP, and right-wing media. Biden is further hampered by Merrick Garland's bizarre reluctance to protect the country against a repeat of 1/6, which is matched only by Director Wray's refusal to address domestic extremism. The country has fallen deeply into the abyss. Business as usual is tone deaf and ineffective, and Biden's plummeting poll numbers prove the point. We are existing within an existential crisis, and Biden, Pelosi, Wray, Garland are all pretending otherwise. This is beyond lunacy. Even if the Senate magically passes all pending voting rights legislation, it does nothing to slow or counter the many states that have passed voter nullification laws. Unfortunately, the National Popular Vote is as unreachable as reasonable gun reform. It simply will not happen. Even if historically red states miraculously elected Democrats in large numbers, our compromised SCOTUS would inevitably block such legislation.
I DK if Biden is doing "quiet competence". Just my opinion things aren't as well known. Not making excuses, but you leave out an important element that is hampering knowledge about what's really happening. It's the M$M & I'm not just talking RW media. They just throw out disinformation for "clickbait"- oh my, Biden's crashing in the polls!.-From what I've seen in the voting rights bills, they should help. Of course, GOP controlled st leg are going to do what they're gonna do. I DK about Wray, don't trust him. But I don't think others are "pretending" we're not in a Constitutional crisis. SCOTUS was compromised in 2000, when they installed the 1st POTUS, Bush. They made the decision of choosing a POTUS the job of the FL st leg. over a recount of the vote of the People. Guess who was on Bush's legal team for the FL recount? CJ Roberts, Barrett & Kavanaugh! Simple search will reveal! In order for Democracy to work, you have to work Democracy. You can't sit around & complain.Write, call text, register people to vote, volunteer to be a poll watcher or worker. Be forewarned, you'll have to be brave! Election officials are being threatened, but we can stand up to MAGA, can't we? If all else fails, it's PROTEST!
I quite agree. Do what you can. And keep doing it. Let us stipulate among ourselves that there is a great deal working against us. We accept that. Now time to move on. Find something you can do, and keep doing it. Peace.
In the last days of empire, lies, corruption and fantasy become rampant. Our political duopoly has long been controlled by our oligarchs. There is a reason why third parties are banned from the presidential debates. They exist outside the oligarchs' control. When economic power reaches an extreme point, they are able to control, not only the three branches of government but the thinking of the electorate via propaganda. Our two party system got us into this mess but we are supposed to believe that these two parties are the solution? Huh!
Eek and yikes...I hear that, hw, although I lean in to my own Buddhist faith as well as general hope and optimism (useless without action, imo, so that is something I engage in however I am able to try to salvage our fragile -at this time- democracy).
I urge folks to look at Prof. Richardson's Dec. 22 Letters from an American. She details the incredible rebound of the US economy under Biden's leadership, a rebound that outdoes the growth under Bush and Trump which continued to hollow out the economy for the top 1%. And MSM is not reporting it. The growth is phenomenal. 6%. China is poised to grow only 4%. Child poverty has been cut in half. Take a look and start telling your friends that Biden's approach to the economy and toward a positive government that supports and helps it citizens is working. And that no Republicans supported his economic bills, but are taking credit for them. Work to be done!
Yes! Thanks I heard about this. Dems really do need to have better PR. Hold press conferences. There are a few good interviews on different TV channels, but more needs to be done. Biden has improved supply chain drastically as well. He's considering getting NIH & Moderna to freely release their "recipe" for vaccine so we can vaccinate globally. He's also had confirmed most federal judges of any POTUS in 40 yeas (think it's 41 by now).
https://fb.watch/aC3YNeAAPr/
I'm angry and frustrated by the authoritarian predicament we're in as a country--on the edge of losing its democracy. There are a lot of reasons for it staring with with 40 years of neoliberlism started under Ronald Reagan. But what I am focusing most of my blame on these days are the inherit structural flaws of the constitutional framework set up by our founding fathers. Namely, they are things like the electoral college and the senate. Both are inherently anti democratic because they allow minorities to rule over majorities.
Democrats have won seven out of the last eight popular votes in national elections, the 50 Dems in the senate represent 40 million more people than the 50 Republicans in the senate etc. Dems keep winning majorities but barely have jack to show for it, look at the reactionary 6-3 conservative majority on the supreme court McConnell engineered. It is nowhere close to being in step with most Americans by a long shot. Just in the last 20 years two Republicans got elected President despite losing the popular vote.
Each time the minority Republicans got power from the antidemocratic electoral college or aggressively gerrymandered districts, they extended it to the Supreme court to make it partisan, and to pass voter suppression laws on the state level and to the elevation of state's rights over the federal government and juridical review.
We are where we are I would argue because of the systemic flaws of the constitution and its electoral college that allows minorities and candidates with the fewest votes to take power over majorities. It is repugnant to any notion of democracy. Yes there were some reforms and voting rights measures but they got reversed by conservative courts. It wasn't enough. Look where we are now. The seeds of the democratic experiment's own destruction were sown into it from the beginning by the founding fathers.
What you have described is our roadmap to kakistocracy. The US has become a failed state in many respects. We no longer have the agility to make changes to our Constitution in a timely enough manner to prevent an autocratic takeover. We seem to lack the ability to determine the root causes of the anger of the Tea Party movement or the magnetism of Trump's proto-fascism. Sure, many individuals have figured this out but our leadership has not. By the time they do figure out what has gone wrong, we may be passed the tipping point. We are on dangerous ground.
Trump's regime was a Kakistocracy/kleptocracy with nepotism where fawning loyalty to the autocratic leader mattered most. And will be again if elected in 24 only worse.
You state that you feel “that faith has to be part of any successful pro-democracy movement in America”. Is that something you have found to be a historical precedent in your research, or a personal view?
In last 2 pages of Conclusion chapter of STRONGMEN seems to indicate the former. Ruth writes, “knowing that solidarity, love, and dialogue are what the strongman most fears …. History shows the importance of keeping hope and faith in humanity and of supporting those who struggle for freedom in our own time.”
This isn’t the first time we’ve had clergymen in Congress. Think about Robert Drinan, a Jesuit priest from Massachusetts, who served from 1971 to 1982, and John Cornell, a priest from Wisconsin. Both resigned at Pope john Paul’s request. Both were Democrats.
And this new movement of the radical right to which Mr. Cobb refers is pushing this country increasingly toward civil war. According to Dr. Barbara Walter, UC San Diego, the US is no longer considered, by CIA metrics, to be the gold-standard of democracy in the world. It is now an anocracy, a blend of dictatorship and democracy. Dr. Walter has a new book on the threat of civil war coming out in January, 2022.
LINK:
https://www.amazon.com/How-Civil-Wars-Start-Stop/dp/0593137787/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1O0V7HY38QZ2E&keywords=barbara+f+walter&qid=1640025566&s=books&sprefix=barbara+f+walter%2Cstripbooks%2C130&sr=1-1
I'm a great admirer of Mr. Cobb's body of work, thank you for the interview. I hope that future historians, perhaps in democracies that remain post-2024, will find a way to explain the passivity of Democratic party leaders as this movement grew...in plain sight, for 5 years. FBI Director Wray decided that ignoring the terrifying reality was more politically expedient than facing the complex issues required to define domestic terrorism and prosecute domestic extremists. The GOP base is so blinded by their twisted form of 'political faith' that they're risking hospitalization and death for their cause, while Democratic leadership gives cover to our feckless FBI leadership by pretending that the stakes aren't as high as they are. I feel as though we're on the cusp of widespread vigilante assassinations and no one is taking a step to change the course. Perhaps I'm alone in what I see in the abyss...I hope so, but my deepest fears have manifested for 5 long years.
You aren’t alone in what you see.
There have been recent articles about the fact various agencies in the Koch Network have been behind anti-vax & anti-mask movements. CNP is behind some of funding of Jan 6. Phase one of CNP was veto of Fairness Doctrine, leading to RW media used as propaganda tools, building blocks of fascism. Movement started gaining traction in late 90s with the Tea Party. ALEC added voter suppression. Rove had his empire of election fraud (Nat'l Press Club has a picture graph of this I've put out on Twitter.)
Yes, this has been well-documented in 'Democracy in Chains'. We were warned about what had and what would happen by the author. The warnings were ignored at every level.
Didn't need to read Democracy in Chains. I lived through it and was aware of most of what was going on. There were rallies, protests, marches, concerts regarding ERA, homelessness & hunger. MAGA Reagan taught us not to trust the gov. Said gov was the problem, when it's CORRUPT gov that's the problem. People didn't know Kochs were behind it all, just big corps in general with their money and power.We had hand-marked paper ballots in IL where I lived. We counted them in public shopping malls with full public viewing. Rigged machines didn't start til 90s. Look up Chuck Hagel. He owned a voting machine company & elected himself NE Senator, using his voting machines! Voting machine companies are owned by private equity cos.--gatekeepers of our Democracy. Simple search will reveal. People were watching FOX & other RW media, but I never did. I was too busy raising family.
Five years ago I saw that Trump was a sociopath (APD) but voters did not recognize this disorder and put him in charge. When societies are so broken that they place their bets on a vile creature like Trump, with no conscience, then society is in a panic mode for survival. Our destructive neoliberal economics is a major root cause of our current calamity but our oligarchs refuse to change it. They would rather have the nation fail, than change the system. It has served them so well.
Biden was very condescending about the depths of corruption in Afghanistan's government, yet he seems unwilling or unable to see its presence in the US government. He's not an oligarch, but he's so accustomed to the skewed environment that he fails to see the imminent collapse. Pelosi floats on soft corruption of insider trading, pretending that it isn't part of the environment of the larger corruption of the GOP. Even the FDA is embroiled in massive conflicts of interest (see the latest article detailing why US COVID testing lags far behind the rest of the world).
I believe Biden is well aware of what's going on. There have been many actions behind the scenes, undoing damage trump has done.I don't know why they're not being exposed. Give an ex. Biden forced to sell millions of acres of oil leases in Gulf due to trump court ruling. DOJ is appealing.Plaintiffs filed contempt saying Biden not following thru. Court ruled against plaintiffs, saying Biden was. Biden is attempting to redefine WOTUS (Waters of the US).I have article out on Twitter. Public comments are due Feb22. This involves Gulf waters off states bordering Gulf.(plaintiffs) Biden has also fired several trump loyalists.Every person was put in their office to destroy & dismantle agency & dept they headed, following Koch Platform of 1980.This is policy GOP have been running on for over 40 years.Wray probably should be fired IMHO.Founders wanted 3 branches to work together.After WG we created Independent Counsel, appointed by Congress, approved by 3 judge panel & overseen by fed judge & who could prosecute sitting POTUS. All elements are together now to prosecute MOC & a POTUS.Select Committee was given legislative purpose by Judge Chitkin, Biden waived Exec priv & DC prosecutor can prosecute, convene gj to indict, & fed judge can sentence. Electoral College was compromise by founders between Congress & the people electing POTUS. National Popular Vote gets around EC & is Constitutional. It's almost there. We need more blue st. legislatures. Sorry this was so long. We need to know & understand political history.
I need to make a correction on Judge's name. It was Judge Chutnik who ruled Select Committee could get WH docs from Archives.
You make a number of salient points...some repair work has been ongoing. It's not at all clear why the administration continues to believe that some ideal of 'quiet competence' will succeed against the hurricane-level maelstrom of FB, GOP, and right-wing media. Biden is further hampered by Merrick Garland's bizarre reluctance to protect the country against a repeat of 1/6, which is matched only by Director Wray's refusal to address domestic extremism. The country has fallen deeply into the abyss. Business as usual is tone deaf and ineffective, and Biden's plummeting poll numbers prove the point. We are existing within an existential crisis, and Biden, Pelosi, Wray, Garland are all pretending otherwise. This is beyond lunacy. Even if the Senate magically passes all pending voting rights legislation, it does nothing to slow or counter the many states that have passed voter nullification laws. Unfortunately, the National Popular Vote is as unreachable as reasonable gun reform. It simply will not happen. Even if historically red states miraculously elected Democrats in large numbers, our compromised SCOTUS would inevitably block such legislation.
I DK if Biden is doing "quiet competence". Just my opinion things aren't as well known. Not making excuses, but you leave out an important element that is hampering knowledge about what's really happening. It's the M$M & I'm not just talking RW media. They just throw out disinformation for "clickbait"- oh my, Biden's crashing in the polls!.-From what I've seen in the voting rights bills, they should help. Of course, GOP controlled st leg are going to do what they're gonna do. I DK about Wray, don't trust him. But I don't think others are "pretending" we're not in a Constitutional crisis. SCOTUS was compromised in 2000, when they installed the 1st POTUS, Bush. They made the decision of choosing a POTUS the job of the FL st leg. over a recount of the vote of the People. Guess who was on Bush's legal team for the FL recount? CJ Roberts, Barrett & Kavanaugh! Simple search will reveal! In order for Democracy to work, you have to work Democracy. You can't sit around & complain.Write, call text, register people to vote, volunteer to be a poll watcher or worker. Be forewarned, you'll have to be brave! Election officials are being threatened, but we can stand up to MAGA, can't we? If all else fails, it's PROTEST!
I quite agree. Do what you can. And keep doing it. Let us stipulate among ourselves that there is a great deal working against us. We accept that. Now time to move on. Find something you can do, and keep doing it. Peace.
In the last days of empire, lies, corruption and fantasy become rampant. Our political duopoly has long been controlled by our oligarchs. There is a reason why third parties are banned from the presidential debates. They exist outside the oligarchs' control. When economic power reaches an extreme point, they are able to control, not only the three branches of government but the thinking of the electorate via propaganda. Our two party system got us into this mess but we are supposed to believe that these two parties are the solution? Huh!
Eek and yikes...I hear that, hw, although I lean in to my own Buddhist faith as well as general hope and optimism (useless without action, imo, so that is something I engage in however I am able to try to salvage our fragile -at this time- democracy).
This is the world we live in. Like you, I see no option but to deal with it. But I want others around me helping me to do so.
I agree. There's too much complaining and not enough action. You can read my suggestions in the above tweet.
I urge folks to look at Prof. Richardson's Dec. 22 Letters from an American. She details the incredible rebound of the US economy under Biden's leadership, a rebound that outdoes the growth under Bush and Trump which continued to hollow out the economy for the top 1%. And MSM is not reporting it. The growth is phenomenal. 6%. China is poised to grow only 4%. Child poverty has been cut in half. Take a look and start telling your friends that Biden's approach to the economy and toward a positive government that supports and helps it citizens is working. And that no Republicans supported his economic bills, but are taking credit for them. Work to be done!
Yes! Thanks I heard about this. Dems really do need to have better PR. Hold press conferences. There are a few good interviews on different TV channels, but more needs to be done. Biden has improved supply chain drastically as well. He's considering getting NIH & Moderna to freely release their "recipe" for vaccine so we can vaccinate globally. He's also had confirmed most federal judges of any POTUS in 40 yeas (think it's 41 by now).