Once the US was a model to the world of how democracies should work;. No more.

Something popped up today on a publication I follow to get a sense of how others see us, and it was jaw-dropping. I follow Germany very closely because I see it as key in upholding democracy and stability in Europe, where much of my family lives. Der Spiegel is a centrist news magazine in the tradition of Time or Newsweek, and it posts selected articles and opinions on an English-language Substack.  The Germans have just had a shock with a far right political party, AfD, winning elections in the state of Saxony. Does that mean in Germany the far-right is rising? What to do, what to do? The US was once the model of how democracies should work, but now it is the resistance to Trump that should be the model for Germany of how to preserve democracy. 

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Until recently, and since my junior year abroad in Berlin in the late 1950's, a unified Germany had sought to construct a liberal democracy using the US as a model (though the parliamentary system differs).  Der Spiegel's editorial today was expressing fear that the rest of Germany was just hand-wringing, with no idea what to do.   The new model of how to stop this AfD march to more power was, brace yourself- the resistance to Trump in the USA, and in particular, the immediate reaction of his banning reporters from CNN, MSNBC, and Politico, followed by the boycott of other media in solidarity to even cover the White House.   (Update: last night the judge reviewing the suit filed against Trump by the banned networks temporarily restored their press passes.)

 The  Der Spiegel opinion piece was a shocker to me, too, that  Trump was even viewed in the same category as the AfD, and that instead of the government of the US being the role model for how democracy should be run and act, it was the USA's local grassroots resistance movement to Trump and his policies that was now a model. If anyone understands "far right" and/or fascism, it is Germany.  There is a great fear among many there of its resurgence..

How does Derr Spiegel see Trump and his regime in the US?  "Compared to the situation in the United States, the far right has not made significant inroads in Germany. .... In the US, by contrast, Trump holds the most powerful office in the world – for a second time. He is surrounded by a nationalist circle of advisers, backed by majorities in both chambers of Congress, supported by paramilitary police units, and secure in the knowledge that three of the nine justices on the Supreme Court were chosen by him."  That is a brutal view, but not incorrect.

The  Der Spiegel opinion piece was inspired by examples of US resistance, such as the immediate boycott by unbanned White House reporters also refusing to cover the White House media pool when Trump attempted to ban CNN, MSNow, and Politico, because he did not like how they reported his news.  Also cited as examples of resistance in the US were the local nature of the anti-AI data centers, the Minneapolis grassroots action against ICE, and more.  Der Spiegel urged those in Germany who feared the AfD to go and do likewise. 

I might add that NO Kings Day on Oct. 17 is an opportunity for those in Germany to see how peaceful resistance is done, and to add their moral support to the "resistance' in the US

.https://derspiegel.substack.com/

https://www.adl.org/resources/backgrounder/alternative-germany-afd-party-what-you-need-know

A bone to pick with memes and one line slogans. Eventually they fail. Been there, seen it.

I have a bone to pick with memes and one line slogans. Eventually they fail. Been there, seen it.

In 1958 and 1959, I spent my junior year abroad in Berlin. It was 13 years after the end of WWII; I had a front-row seat to observe how the communists were attempting to consolidate their hold on Berlin's Russian-controlled East Sector before the wall was built. One could easily cross zones in those days, and I was in a student dorm in the British sector. I could even walk into the East Sector; I was so close. It was an amazing place for this political science student to be. There were no memes on the internet, no TV commercials to control minds then, but red banners strewn everywhere carried slogans reminding people of the glories that would be given to workers, and similar posters adorned buildings everywhere. Even the poorest, least educated, and unquestioning minds got the message. It didn't work. Reality set in as the East German puppet government became more and more of a police state. Scientists, university students, artists, and skilled workers picked up their backpacks, took the elevated train or walked to the West sectors, and eventually kept on going West. My roommate was one of those. My future husband from another communist country used Berlin for his exit. The brain drain became a gusher, and in August 1961, two years after I returned to Northwestern in Illinois for my senior year, the Berlin Wall went up.

The use of short, choppy sentences with no explanation and plenty of one-line slogans for all to believe and repeat were the memes and repeated mantras and commercials of that era in Berlin. In 2026, like in my Berlin days, these modern memes and slogans, often repeated in commercials or by candidates, will convince only those who want to be convinced and who do not ask impertinent questions. The best way those impertinent questions can be asked on behalf of all of citizens is to protect freedom of the press to ask them.

Dictator Trump? It appears his goal: ban unfriendly media....and a third term?

 The only power left to stop Trump’s march to become a dictator is us…vote Nov. 3 to turn Congress blue. A MAGA congressman has just introduced a bill to give him a third term by a constitutional amendment. Trump's ban of non-loyal (to him)press from the White House is also one more step toward the end of democracy to be replaced by rule of one. person..

.Trump.

Republican Representative Andy Ogles of Tennessee introduced a House Joint Resolution (H.J.Res.29) proposing a constitutional amendment to alter the 22nd Amendment, which currently limits presidents to two terms (source: Google AI). This may go nowhere, but if it gains any support, it shows how far MAGA is willing to go and how important it is to nip this in the bud and to send a strong message.

The courts and process will be another route to stop this madness, but the Supreme Court seems mostly in his pocket, and the lower courts are too slow to act.

It is also time for Democrats to stop using the term "autocracy". It is too wishy-washy and intellectual. In plain English, and as Trump's actions indicate what his goal really is, the correct term is "dictatorship"...He wants obedience to what he rules is the law, instead of what the law books, the courts, the legislature, or the Constitution say. That goes for media, too; per Trump, it should report what he opines, with no unfriendly questions to challenge him. To Trump, all unfavorable news is fake news.

It is also time to refer to the GOP as MAGA, instead as the Republican Party: It is totally controlled by Trump and MAGA. There appears to be no room for Republicans who are "normies"...who are traditional, for small government, with responsible fiscal policies, and spreading support for freedom and democracy, and non-crony, non-corrupt capitalism worldwide. MAGA is none of that.

FYI: Colorado's mail in vote system was birthed by the GOP in 2013. Don't blame Dems for this one

I am seeing on another social media Facebook site an attempt by some in the GOP to blame mail-in voting for Colorado's recent shift from somewhat red to blue. Therefore, the inference goes, vote for the GOP candidate who wants to eliminate mail-in voting and make everyone turn up in person. 90% of GOP voters in Colorado vote by mail. In 2013, the Colorado Secretary of State, Republican Wayne Williams, launched the mail-in voting system we use now. The shift from red to blue may have something to do with Colorado's economy shifting from AG and energy to more high-tech, with an increase to one of the highest education levels in the US and the second-highest voter participation rate in the 50 states. The system Wayne Williams devised provides bipartisan scrutiny and integrity. Before going off on some tangent, MAGA, read this: https://www.denverpost.com/.../colorado-denv

 https://www.denverpost.com/2020/08/16/colorado-denver-mail-voting-usps-2020-election/#

https://mufticforumblog.blogspot.com/2026/09/maga-thinks-dems-fear-saveice-at-polls.html

https://mufticforumblog.blogspot.com/2026/09/one-of-most-fundamental-lies-trump-ever.html