'We can fight this thing back': Autocracy expert reveals unique tool that 'can harm Trump'



One Russian-born journalist is warning that President Donald Trump is consolidating power far quicker than even Russian President Vladimir Putin, but says Americans have one particular advantage that citizens of his home country didn't that can be used strategically.

During a Friday interview with MSNBC host Nicolle Wallace, New York Times columnist M. Gessen – who authored the book "Surviving Autocracy" — gave a frank assessment of the state of American opposition to the Trump administration. According to Gessen (who uses they/them pronouns) two bright spots in the current American political landscape are the multiple legal defeats Trump has suffered in the federal judiciary, and the prevalence of protests. But they observed that neither the courts nor protests alone can put a stop to the administration's actions, and that Americans can be misled into thinking things aren't as bad as they are amidst the busy nature of their day-to-day lives.

"Life goes on. And it's sort of a beautiful thing about human nature that we figure out our how to get our footing in any situation," Gessen said. "But it also misleads us into a kind of complacency like, oh, well, this is livable."

READ MORE: Busted: Major investigation catches Trump administration in a massive lie

"We don't have a robust resistance," they continued. "Why doesn't it feel like we're really trying to stand up to something? Probably because we're not. Probably because there isn't a cohesive message. There isn't a sense that we're united by a mission to do something. And frankly, 'protect our institutions' is a great goal, but it's not a very inspiring mission."

Gessen went on to say that may Russians looking 20 years into the past have noticed windows of opportunity to act in which they failed to seize the moment to stop Putin's rise to power. But they said Americans have a particularly strong advantage given its history and founding ideals. Gessen suggested Americans contrast Trump's promise to bring America back to an "imaginary past" can be countered by a proposal for a "glorious future," delivered by leaders using the power of the bully pulpit to rally the people.

"It can harm Trump because there are plenty of people who see what's happening and have a negative reaction," they said. "... We shouldn't entirely give up on American exceptionalism. And I don't mean we should sit back and say, 'oh, this country is special, nothing like that can happen here' because it can. But this country is special."

"This country is founded on a set of ideas. This country does hold ideals of freedom and justice as sort of the core of its national identity. And this country does have the most robust media — hobbled but still robust — and the most robust civil society that's ever existed in the history of the world," they added. "So if we can mobilize, we can fight this thing back."

READ MORE: 'Nothing can stop what's coming': MAGA staff fueling Trump's belief 'he is a tool of God'

Watch the segment below, or by clicking this link.

- YouTube www.youtube.com



from Alternet.org https://ift.tt/zPguYBR
via sinceretalk

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PA GOP Senate candidate who says he 'started with nothing' actually grew up in a mansion

Image
David McCormick, who is Pennsylvania's presumptive Republican U.S. Senate nominee, has often suggested he grew up poor in a rural community. But a new report finds that his upbringing was far more affluent than he's suggested. The New York Times reported Friday that McCormick — a former hedge fund executive who lived in Connecticut as recently as 2022 — has been cagey with voters about his childhood. McCormick has tweeted that he was "raised in Bloomsburg working on his family's farm," said on a 2022 podcast that he " started with nothing " and told CBS News that same year that he " didn't have anything " growing up as the son of two schoolteachers. But according to the Times , McCormick's father, Dr. James H. McCormick , was appointed president of what is now Bloomsburg University by Gov. Milton Schapp (D) in 1973. He moved his family into Buckalew Place — the official mansion for presidents of the school that currently spans 5...
Read more

'It all falls apart': Trump aide admits Republicans 'don't have the votes' to pass bill

Image
In a rare admission of uncertainty, Republican senators are privately conceding that President Donald Trump’s "Big, Beautiful Bill" may “fall apart” before the self-imposed July 4 deadline, Semafor reported Thursday. Trump is reportedly banking on his signature hardball tactics in trying to secure passage of the legislation by Independence Day. However, GOP lawmakers say that strategy is faltering in the Senate amid mounting procedural hurdles and internal dissent, per the report. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.) told Semafor: “I like the president, I respect him, I certainly respect how difficult his job is. I don’t want to make it more difficult. But we can’t keep mortgaging our kids’ future. And he understands that about me." READ MORE: (Opinion) Trump's reckless boast has just been thoroughly debunked Sen. Johnson is currently against the bill and is said to have banded with two fellow conservative senators as a bloc: “We all have to be a yes before any of us ar...
Read more

'Uniquely egregious': Judge orders newspaper to delete editorial criticizing government

Image
Without even conducting a hearing, a Mississippi judge ordered a local newspaper to remove an editorial criticizing local officials over a lack of transparency. The Independent reported Wednesday that the Clarksdale Press-Register in Clarksdale, Mississippi has since deleted the editorial in question following an order handed down by Hinds County Chancery Court Judge Crystal Wise Martin. The editorial called out municipal leaders in Clarksdale for not properly notifying the public about a hearing on proposed tax increases. Judge Martin's order accused the paper of "reckless disregard of the truth," and asserted that the editorial disrupts the local government's "legitimate function to advocate for legislation they believe would help their municipality during this current legislative cycle." "The notice was posted at city hall as required by law and said stated the city would 'give appropriate notice thereof to the media,'" the editori...
Read more