Updated and revised: 7/16-20/2018 and 6/19
A version of this was published in the Sky-Hi News, July 25, 2018.
A version of this was published in the Sky-Hi News, July 25, 2018.
1958-1959
I was spending my university junior year abroad in Berlin. It was a heady time
for a US political science major wondering what did happen and why what was
happening now was going so wrong and so right simultaneously. It was thirteen years after World WW II ended. I walked through the rubble and desolate
stretches of bombed-out spaces on both sides of the
Brandenburg Gate. The Wall had not yet been built. It was a hands-on view as
one form of fascism lay in ruins and the Soviets consolidated control of their
conquered eastern sector. I met a young
medical student from Yugoslavia, then a communist country headed by a dictator
Tito. We later married, and we were together for over the next 50 years until
he passed away in 2015. He became a US citizen, active in civic affairs, with
certificates and plaques hanging on our walls to attest how much he loved life
in America, democracy, and the freedom to pursue his dreams. We visited Yugoslavia and his family when it began to loosen up beginning in 1972 and then on the average of every two years until 2015. I experienced it in their brutal Stalinist era, fear of a late night knock at the door, their period of more benign dictatorship with limited capitalism, and their pains of a war for independence to become a democratic Croatia.
This
is what I have learned from these life experiences. When people are fearful, confused by chaos
out of their control, feel victimized or losing economic and political power
they once had, communism and fascism find fertile ground. There is a human streak
longing to be part of the ruling group (some call that tribalism or racism) and
to point blame so they can put down the offenders and rationalize abuses of democratic institutions to gain and maintain absolute power. At the same time, those feeling wronged look
for a leader to lead them from the wilderness.
These totalitarian dictators like Hitler and Mussolini seized the reins
of government by manipulating existing democracies. They then began
consolidating power, little by little, often under the public' radar or with majority’s approval. The fascists gained control of media by destroying the opposition press. They demanded total loyalty to them
personally instead of to the rule of law
Theirs were the only truth and facts.
.I would wish none of this on anyone, but it is beginning again. Dictators and autocrats like Putin of Russia and Erdogan of Turkey cloak themselves with words and sham elections which are neither free nor do they allow serious opposition, jailing or killing them or denying them access to media. Donald . Trump admires both of them publicly and is trying to copy their methods. Trump is promoting TV and other media outlets that suppress negative news and data, calling critics "enemies of the people", .dishonest their news 'fake". His racist oratory gins up fear and loathing of immigrants with lies about their crime rate, increases in migrant border crossings, and the cost to the treasury which, if based on his own government's data, are the exact opposite of his rhetoric. Like modern autocrats, he contends he can act above the law, claiming he cannot be prosecuted for certain actions, and he has the power to pardon himself and his administration’s loyalists.
.
Free and secure elections are the foundation of American democracy. Destroy our faith in their outcome, and we have dealt our democracy a fundamental blow. Russian meddling in 2016 set about to do just that While there is no provable evidence Russians changed the 2016 election's outcome, Special Counsel Robert Mueller documented in his recent indictments that Russians have demonstrated they have the capability to penetrate our election systems to wreak havoc on the outcome .and to turn elections into shams we cannot trust.
.I would wish none of this on anyone, but it is beginning again. Dictators and autocrats like Putin of Russia and Erdogan of Turkey cloak themselves with words and sham elections which are neither free nor do they allow serious opposition, jailing or killing them or denying them access to media. Donald . Trump admires both of them publicly and is trying to copy their methods. Trump is promoting TV and other media outlets that suppress negative news and data, calling critics "enemies of the people", .dishonest their news 'fake". His racist oratory gins up fear and loathing of immigrants with lies about their crime rate, increases in migrant border crossings, and the cost to the treasury which, if based on his own government's data, are the exact opposite of his rhetoric. Like modern autocrats, he contends he can act above the law, claiming he cannot be prosecuted for certain actions, and he has the power to pardon himself and his administration’s loyalists.
.
Free and secure elections are the foundation of American democracy. Destroy our faith in their outcome, and we have dealt our democracy a fundamental blow. Russian meddling in 2016 set about to do just that While there is no provable evidence Russians changed the 2016 election's outcome, Special Counsel Robert Mueller documented in his recent indictments that Russians have demonstrated they have the capability to penetrate our election systems to wreak havoc on the outcome .and to turn elections into shams we cannot trust.
So why am I worried about American democracy's future? So many do not care. Per a July 19, CBS poll found 61% of Republicans are little or not at all concerned about Russian election meddling, while Trump maintains 44% job approval by all voters polled, according to a YouGov/Economist poll July 15-17. The GOP House just voted to turn down funding state elections systems to enhance their cybersecurity defense measures. Democracy is fragile, and its survival depends upon the strong support of the governed. That support is teetering on the edge in a closely divided nation.
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Last week GOP House members even refused to fund state election systems' enhanced cyber security, claiming voter ID laws would keep Russians out. Voter ID has nothing to do with the control Russia can have over your vote. Stupid is as stupid does.
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https://www.harpercollins.com/9780062802187/fascism-a-warning
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benito_Mussolini
https://www.npr.org/2018/04/03/599120190/madeleine-albright-warns-dont-let-fascism-go-unnoticed-until-its-too-late?fbclid=IwAR35fL5KyaCKmm12Y1TFgdMsNGQstMobekUoHIp0xqCAFdrkb4oM2jT2GZA
https://www.brookings.edu/blog/techtank/2018/04/12/on-local-broadcasting-trump-federal-communications-commission-cant-be-serious/http://www.philly.com/philly/news/politics/presidential/donald-trump-vfw-speech-kansas-city-what-youre-seeing-reading-not-whats-happening-20180724.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/vote-against-the-gop-this-november/2018/06/22/a6378306-7575-11e8-b4b7-308400242c2e_story.html?utm_term=.2a87056b3dd7
https://www.facebook.com/PoliticusUSA/videos/2309068392443831/
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