A very long yet timely and exceptional article-interview from
Business Insider here with this headline:
“Yale history professor
Timothy Snyder told Insider he fears American democracy may not survive another
Trump campaign”
· Timothy Snyder is a history professor at Yale
University and an expert on the rise of authoritarianism.
· Snyder is the author of “The Road to Unfreedom:
Russia, Europe, America,” among his other books.
· He spoke to Business Insider about what he sees
as grave threats to democracy in the United States.
Introduction: Timothy Snyder does not want to be a downer, he says, but he is not feeling too optimistic about America these days.
A history professor at Yale University, and the author of a series of books on authoritarianism and the road to tyranny, he looks at the United States these days and wonders if the country as we know it will still exist in a few years.
In a recent article — marking one year since a former president, who lost an election, sought to thwart the peaceful transfer of power — Snyder painted a grim scenario where something like the January 6 insurrection had succeeded. How would the country, and the rest of the world, react to the installation of a leader who clearly did not win?
In an interview
with Insider, Snyder discussed Trump, democracy, and what he fears could happen
come 2024.
Q&A format from
Business Insider followed by Snyder’s response and everything since the
2020 election, the ongoing election reform steps at the state levels right now,
Trump’s current rallies and speeches and such, and what that portends for the
midterm elections in 2022 and then the big one in 2024:
Insider: “It's been a year now since the January 6th insurrection. What do you
think the state of American democracy is? Are we on firmer ground now, a year out?”
Snyder: “Well,
I mean, obviously things could be worse. The January 6th insurrection a year
ago could have succeeded. We could be living in a country that is wracked by
civil and indeed violent conflict after Donald Trump succeeds in, at least
temporarily, staying in power, thanks to some kind of conspiracy of his
supporters, the Department of Justice, supporters in Congress, and so on,
right? So things could be worse. And I wouldn't wanna deny that.”
“Unfortunately, that scenario is not one that is just in the
rearview mirror. It's also one that is right in front of us. The problem with a
failed coup, which is what January 6, 2021, is, is that it is practice for a
successful coup. So what we're looking at now is a kind of slow-motion practice
for a repetition of all of that, but this time with the legal parts of it more
fully prepared.”
“What I'm afraid of is that now, in
the shadow of a “Big Lie” — namely, that Trump actually won in 2020 (Inserted:
Trump’s January 12 interview on NPR by host Steve Inskeep) — the states are
preparing the legal steps that will enable Trump to be installed as president
the next time around. And that in turn will lead to a terrible sort of
conflict, the kind that we haven't seen before.”
My 2 Cents: As I said this
a rather long article and excellent interview, so I will pause here and refer you back to the
full piece from Business Insider here with my brief statement about
professor Snyder’s main concern which also is mine: That all the state steps ongoing
right now to change election laws and rules are geared for one thing and that it’s
not “election integrity” that Trump and the GOP-run states profess is the
purpose.
Those GOP-run state changes are set in place for one thing and one
thing only: To ensure that Trump wins in 2024 and from then on to ensure that
the GOP will never lose again on the national level.
That is the GOP’s main goal
100%. That is not just the expert view of Professor Snyder or other election experts.
The statement about the
GOP’s real purpose is clear for any open-minded person: “We will never lose
again no matter the outcome – we control the process, we count the results, and
we will control any challenges for the outcome we want.”
That is what we have seen since the 2020 cycle with Trump’s every “Big Lie” court challenges and that he has as lost to date: some 62 cases – and includes two Supreme Court rejections.
Nevertheless, stay tuned. Just as the late great Yogi Berra once said: “It’s ain’t over till it’s over.”
Just look at Trump’s speeches even still today. He
simply cannot accept defeat of any kind.
Thanks for stopping by.
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