"It’s irrefutable now: Trump is nakedly following the playbook of autocrats like Vladimir Putin and Viktor Orban. As his poll numbers fall, he is rushing to lock in permanent power by punishing his opponents and intimidating everyone else into submission. Craven congressional Republicans and a complicit Supreme Court have abetted Trump’s destruction of our democratic safeguards and norms.
"Yet Trump has a significant problem that neither Putin nor Orban faced. When Putin and Orban were consolidating their autocratics, they were genuinely popular. They were perceived by the public as effective and competent leaders. Just nine months into his presidency, Trump, by contrast, is deeply unpopular. He is increasingly seen as chaotic and inept. As David Frum says, this means that he is in a race against time. Can he consolidate power before he loses his aura of inevitability? Will those who run major institutions – particularly corporate CEOs – understand that we are at a crucial juncture, and that by accommodating Trump they have more to lose than by standing up to him?
"To put it bluntly, is the Jimmy Kimmel affair the harbinger of a failed Trumpian putsch?..." -- Nobel economist Paul Krugman, in his Substack, wondering if the tide is turning against the Malignant Fascist's authoritarian steamroller, especially after the Kimmel censorship affair. The "emperor with no clothes" (from the Hans Christian Anderson tale) is how the Malignant Fascist is often portrayed by cartoonists and is a perfect analogy -- the vain, clueless emperor parading around nearly naked with the townspeople afraid to point out his nakedness until an innocent boy points out the truth and the spell is broken. Those too afraid to point out who and what the Malignant Fascist and stand up to him don't deserve to call themselves patriotic Americans.
No comments:
Post a Comment