Thread by @peterwsinger

But we are at real risk of a Turkey style authoritarian “democracy.”

It happens not in a night but in years.
Each of the key bulwarks against it is under siege.

And then, you look around, and everything you thought would prevent it is gone.

Judiciary-check
professional civil service -check
transfer of power at national level-check
use of state power to target opponents -check
mix of political/personal/business interests -check
Blatant nepotism, but accepted due to son in law's power -check

Use of state/extra state power to reward/punish media, at both individual reporter and business level -check
Use of state power to reward/punish corporate loyalty -check

Even bulwark of military under siege in way alien to our history, but recognizable in other states, from the purge of professional civil servants to "loyalty" officials placed in each major Pentagon office to "my generals" to flag and promotions scuttled due to not 'on the team'

IE, to be clear, I don't worry about military now. But what about after years of a SecDef Tata, followed by say years of SecDef Allen West (to give examples of officers lauded by Trump), generational effect of wrong career incentives, perverse political leadership messaging etc

Each of these factors happens seemingly independently, but each matters greatly. IE, we can't trick ourselves into thinking 'X would never happen,' without asking about 1,2,3 that are what keep X from happening.

And then ensuring to protect them, regardless of party.

For me this Turkey parallel became evident, ironically enough, from a censored picture. When Trump + Erdogan first met, the official White House photographer edited the photo to take out the image of each's son in law attending the meeting.

It was the kind of thing that wasn't supposed to happen in the US and then it just did.

And then, what was noteworthy back in 2017, became just accepted by 2020.