Two key lies launched Trump into politics: Birtherism and "I am a successful businessman." It worked! He lied. People repeated the lies. Then enough people believed them.
He literally has no other way to "govern" or campaign.
This is nothing new. It's as old as written history.
In the middle ages, one of the lies was Jewish blood libel.
Want to go farther back? Let's talk about Darius I of Persia (522 BCE to 486 BCE)
He had his "life story" chiseled into a cliff. If we believe Darius’s account of his own life, he never suffered a single defeat or setback. He singlehandedly killed each of his enemies.
Moreover, the gods declared themselves on his side. (Of course)
Destroyers of democracy know how to weaponize (and distort) the institutions of democracy in order to destroy democracy.
The (totally bogus) argument goes like this.
#1: Democracy = freedom
#2: Freedom = free speech
My freedom to lie is therefore protected.
🛎️Ding. Wrong
The argument goes off the rails at the start. Unchecked personal liberty is at odds with democracy, which seeks fairness and equality, and therefore requires regulations.
That's why the same people who say ⤵️also say "America is not a democracy. It's a republic."
The way he spends his time makes perfect sense when you understand that his idea of "governing" is to control the flow of information.
He never had the desire (or ability) to control the pandemic.
Leaders like Trump manufacture fake crises (like invaders at the border or Antifa or the latest Qanon nonsense) because they can't (and don't want to) solve real problems.
That's why Oceania had always been at war with Eastasia.
That depends on what kind of president you want.
If you want the president of a liberal democracy interested in creating equality and fairness, he's the worst.
If you're looking for a hierarchy-creating fascist leader, he's pretty good at it.
I couldn't resist. I'm listening to the 60 Minutes segment Trump posted.
Goodness. Stahl asks Trump if he is ready for tough questions. He fusses about wanting her to be fair. He says, “You don’t ask Biden tough questions.”
My teenager: “He sounds like a three-year-old.”
He's in his own made-up world.
"We had the best economy. Things were coming together. . .there was going to be unity. Then we got hit with the plague. . . we closed it up and I saved millions of lives."
Unity? Before the virus was his impeachment trial.
I started a new thing on my blog. I added an “Ask Teri” button. Back when I had 200 followers on Twitter, I answered every question. Now I can’t. (I can't even see everything) I’ll see if this works better.
Question #1 ⤵️
1/ A lot is being written about how to strengthen our battered institutions. I plan to devote full blog posts to particular reforms that can help.
But here’s the thing about democracy: At any given time, a majority of voters can decide it’s time to end democracy.
2/ In 2016, Trump ran as a “disruptor" and norm breaker. He promised to dismantle agencies, do away with regulations.
People who voted for him didn't care if he lied and cheated and broke rules. That's what they wanted.
When Hitler’s followers learned he lied, “instead of deserting the leaders who had lied to them, they would protest that they had known all along that the statement was a lie and would admire the leaders for their superior tactical cleverness.” Arendt
It reminds me of this passage from @stuartpstevens's book, It Was All A Lie⤵️
The passage rings true for me. It's one reason I never believed the "GOP elected officials are conspiring to cheat and throw the election to Trump even if he loses the election" theory.
We can never stop. Democracy means government by the people.
Example: The long term solution to the problem with how elections are conducted in Georgia is to elect people who are competent and care about well-run elections.
Maryland GOP Governor Larry Hogan is not showing courage, leadership, or love of democracy in throwing away a vote.
The kind of courage required by conservatives when confronted with an extremist is described by Levitsky & Ziblatt (How Democracies Die) washingtonpost.com/politics/larry…
Correct. (I forgot to tag @GovLarryHogan in the first tweet.)
Hogan's gesture is not only a cowardly and weak (and pointless), he is also perpetuating a false narrative.