In Central America there is a role model of bad governance we have tagged as banana republics, led by dictators and their cronies, enriching themselves while ignoring the needs of their citizens. Those countries continue in power with inept, corrupt autocratic governance. . Military coups and violent revolutions are how regime change usually happens in such dictatorships, We ourselves came closer to becoming a banana republic within the past year in retrospect as more and more evidence of what happened emerges. Attempts by Donald Trump to execute a coup, overturn 2020 election results and stay in power a second term, may have failed, but they are characteristic of a wannabe dictator and there is no reason to believe that given the chance to be president again, he could become closer to achieving the power of the rule of a person instead of the rule of law. He would have the time and opportunity to replace the federal courts and the Justice Department with those willing to make judgment calls he favors. If he controls both houses of Congress as well, the end of democracy as we know it, rule by the majority with rights protecting the minority, and any checks and balances on executive power, is dead. Unfortunately for democracy, a sizeable amount of Republicans are happy to give him that chance.
A House Bi-partisan hearings on the January 6 riot have revealed much, as well as startling revelations in recent books by those in the know presenting strong evidence (Woodward-Costa amount them)'Peril' Review: Bob Woodward's New Book Uncovers The Trump Era's Final Moments : NPR. For now, subpoenas of those in the room where it happened will likely go to court. Trump tells 4 former aides to defy Jan. 6 committee's subpoena - POLITICO While we wait for this to play out, we already know quite a bit to be alarmed. The red flags are flying that democracy is in peril.
Here is what we have learned so far:
. A president attempted to overturn an election with a coup using whatever means he could, from abuse of his power to outright lies to fomenting violence and terror. It was not a one event coup, it was a rolling attack with a variety of weapons. ..The battle cry he used to reverse the results of the 2020 election, "stop the steal,", was based on what he had been told was a lie.. The thief was him who tried to overturn the election results. He was told by his own attorney general their own investigations found no proof of widespread fraud that would have changed the election outcome, Trump persisted knowing this. First, he tried with lawsuits. All such suits were thrown out of courts by 60 judges of all political stripes for lack of evidence. Update 10/8/21 Next, he tried to put in a loyalist to head the Justice Department to make it look like the allegations of voter fraud by investigating them look credible, but the entire brass of the DOJ threatened to resign. Failing that, an attorney, John Eastman, then laid out a blueprint for how Trump could get his second term in spite of the election results, including conspiring with Vice President Pence to decertify the electoral vote count and throw the election into the House that gave one state one vote,and upholding Trump's second term.READ Trump lawyer's memo on a six-step plan for Pence to overturn the election - CNNPolitics. Pence, after considering that, told the president on January 5 he could not do it, even when Trump called him "no longer his friend".Pence Said to Have Told Trump He Lacks Power to Change Election Result - The New York Times (nytimes.com) The riot was supposed to give Pence the guts to make the decertifying call. . , Trump in a "stop the steal rally" in advance of the riot at the Capitol, inspired a mob to terrify legislators into not certifying the election of his opponent. The attempt, too, failed. The election of Joe Biden was certified the night of January 6. Other efforts to upend the democratic process were tried and failed, including threatening state election officials "to go out and find" more votes for him..That conversation was recorded on tape.. We are hearing allegations by witnesses Trump tried to enlist the active military to put down opposition demonstrators, a plan thwarted by the Joint Chiefs.
Trump's denials and lies have gained traction with a sizeable number of Republicans. The violent overthrow of democratically elected governments is against the laws of all democracies because the right to protest and to change leaders with the ballot box is the peaceful alternative that is provided to dissidents as their civil rights are protected. The violent takeover of governments,, however, is being openly supported by a sizeable number of the GOP.. Now, fully one-half of those who identify themselves as Republicans approve or do not care if tools are used to defy constitutional law and use violence to achieve their political goals. Most Republicans Say Force May Be Required to Save 'Traditional' America: Poll (businessinsider.com. Fortunately for American democracy, these banana Republicans, approving of autocracy also, are currently about 26% of the total electorate per a recent Morning Consult poll.26% of Americans Are Highly 'Right-Wing Authoritarian,' New Poll Finds (businessinsider.com)
Trump pressure campaign: Durbin report details DOJ, White House meeting - The Washington Post MUFTIC FORUM BLOG: Why General Milley is emerging as a hero who saved democracy
https://mufticforumblog.blogspot.com/2021/07/why-general-milley-is-emerging-as-hero.h
How Democracies Die is a 2018 comparative politics book by Harvard University political scientists Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt about how elected leaders can gradually subvert the democratic process to increase their power.
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