"... Because the American extreme right and (more rarely) the extreme left benefit from the spread of antidemocratic narratives, they have an interest in silencing or hobbling any group that wants to stop, or even identify, foreign campaigns. Senator Mark Warner, the chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, told me that 'we are actually less prepared today than we were four years ago' for foreign attempts to influence the 2024 election. This is not only because authoritarian propaganda campaigns have become more sophisticated as they begin to use AI, or because 'you obviously have a political environment here where there’s a lot more Americans who are more distrustful of all institutions.' It’s also because the lawsuits, threats, and smear tactics have chilled government, academic, and tech-company responses.
"One
could call this a secret authoritarian 'plot' to preserve the ability
to spread antidemocratic conspiracy theories, except that it’s not a
secret. It’s all visible, right on the surface. Russia, China, and
sometimes other state actors—Venezuela, Iran, Hungary—work with
Americans to discredit democracy, to undermine the credibility of
democratic leaders, to mock the rule of law. They do so with the goal of
electing Trump, whose second presidency would damage the image of
democracy around the world, as well as the stability of democracy in
America, even further." -- Anne Applebaum, concluding a detailed essay in The Atlantic on the common cause fascist authoritarians in Russia, China and elsewhere are making with the Malignant Loser and his MAGA cult to undercut freedom and democracy in American and worldwide. It's an important read for anyone looking for the best description of the forces at work to turn American democracy into a Russian- style autocracy.
