Donald Trump has made it clear that if he becomes president he will attempt to end democracy as we know it and institute an authoritarian system instead.
A rising tide of voices have been issuing warnings about this for a while now, but what if an autocracy is exactly what Trump’s supporters want? A one-man rule, with him as dictator?
And what if that only alarms half of the population, or less?
If the recent debate between the California and Florida governors accomplished anything of value, it was to illustrate just how deep the divide between the world view of people in the blue and red states actually is.
That fissure has grown in intensity to the point where it resembles the North-South split 163 years ago on the eve of the Civil War.
Joe Biden came into office promising to try and heal the divide, but he has been utterly incapable of doing so. In fact, inside the echo chamber on the right, Biden is the one destroying democracy, though that is objectively and demonstrably not the case.
If our current system of governance is to prevail through next year’s elections, assuming Trump is the GOP nominee, it will be only because one tiny sliver of the population — moderates in six swing states — choose to vote Democratic over Republican.
In this case, it doesn’t really matter who the Democratic candidate is — none of them will dismantle the institutions that preserve our freedoms and rights like Trump promises to do.
I’d like to be hopeful about this but I sense a very dark cloud approaching that would stretch over the entire expanse of our nation. I hope I am wrong but what if I am right?
For historical context, see today’s first link.
HEADLINES:
What Happened When the U.S. Failed to Prosecute an Insurrectionist Ex-President (New Yorker)
Israel declares major city in southern Gaza a ‘dangerous combat zone’ (PBS)
UK condemns attacks on commercial shipping in Red Sea (Reuters)
Young Palestinian prisoners describe harsh treatment in Israeli jails (WP)
Israeli forces push into southern Gaza, as humanitarian crisis worsens (NPR)
Who will run Gaza after the war? U.S. searches for best of bad options. (WP)
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Israel risked a “strategic defeat” if it fails to protect civilian lives in Gaza during its war with the Hamas militant group, adding he has "repeatedly" explained that to Israeli leaders. [HuffPost]
‘We are out of money': White House pushes to pass stalled Ukraine aid (Politico)
Newsom’s Wife Reportedly Put an End to Fiery Fox News Debate (Daily Beast)
DeSantis Says He Would Pass a Bill to ‘Supersede’ Obamacare (NYT)
Three senior members of a super PAC backing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in the race for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination left the group this weekend as his campaign's struggles show no signs of easing. [AP]
A Warning — America survived the first Trump term, though not without sustaining serious damage. A second term, if there is one, will be much worse. (Atlantic)
A second Trump term will be far more autocratic than the first. He’s telling us (Guardian)
Recordings show the Mormon church’s playbook for protecting itself from child sex abuse claims (AP)
China says U.S. warship ‘illegally’ entered waters in the South China Sea (NBC)
Temperatures in parts of Siberia plummeted to minus 50 degrees Celsius (minus 58 degrees Fahrenheit) while blizzards blanketed Moscow in record snowfall and disrupted flights as winter weather swept across Russia. (Reuters)
Ancient redwoods recover from fire by sprouting 1000-year-old buds (Science)
How millennials learned to dread motherhood (Vox)
Google is reportedly pushing the launch of its Gemini AI to 2024 (Engadget)
OpenAI’s Q* Is Alarming for a Different Reason (Bloomberg)
How generative AI will create a developer talent shortage (InfoWorld)
Ex Boyfriends Of Taylor Swift Give Advice To Travis Kelce (The Onion)
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