(Note: When I wrote the following essay a year ago, it was meant as a wakeup call. A year later, the danger remains, but resistance to Trump is growing. I am hopeful that in the end, democracy will prevail.)
There won’t be a press conference announcing that democracy has ended in America and there won’t be tanks rolling through the streets or foreign invaders telling us to shelter in place over loudspeakers.
It won’t be that dramatic when our democracy slips away.
And in fact it’s already doing so, week by week under the Trump regime. As Steven Levitsky, Lucan Way and Daniel Ziblatt explain in a guest essay in The New York Times: “today’s autocrats convert public institutions into political weapons, using law enforcement, tax and regulatory agencies to punish opponents and bully the media and civil society onto the sidelines.”
The authors point out that a fundamental right in a democracy is the right to oppose the government.
“Under authoritarianism, by contrast, opposition comes with a price. Citizens and organizations that run afoul of the government become targets of a range of punitive measures: Politicians may be investigated and prosecuted on baseless or petty charges, media outlets may be hit with frivolous defamation suits or adverse regulatory rulings, businesses may face tax audits or be denied critical contracts or licenses, universities and other civic institutions may lose essential funding or tax-exempt status, and journalists, activists and other critics may be harassed, threatened or physically attacked by government supporters.”
The authors go on to document that all of these things are happening under the Trump administration.
“The administration’s authoritarian offensive has had a clear impact. It has changed how Americans behave, forcing them to think twice about engaging in what should be constitutionally protected opposition. Consequently, many of the politicians and societal organizations that should serve as watchdogs and checks on the executive are silencing themselves or retreating to the sidelines.”
The authors continue:
“So far, American society’s response to this authoritarian offensive has been underwhelming — alarmingly so….The acquiescence of our most prominent civic leaders sends a profoundly demoralizing message to society. It tells Americans that democracy is not worth defending — or that resistance is futile. If America’s most privileged individuals and organizations are unwilling or unable to defend democracy, what are ordinary citizens supposed to do?”
But the authors end on a hopeful note.
“There are signs of an awakening. Harvard has refused to acquiesce to administration demands that would undermine academic freedom, Microsoft dropped a law firm that settled with the administration and hired one that defied it, and a new law firm based in Washington, D.C., announced plans to represent those wrongfully targeted by the government. When the most influential members of civil society fight back, it provides political cover for others. It also galvanizes ordinary citizens to join the fight.”
Finally, there is this:
“America’s slide into authoritarianism is reversible. But no one has ever defeated autocracy from the sidelines.”
HEADLINES:
U.S. attempt to open Strait of Hormuz tests fragile Iran war ceasefire (NPR)
Iran opened fire on US warships; 6 small boats destroyed in retaliation: Centcom (The Hill)
What to know as the US tries to open the Strait of Hormuz and a ceasefire wavers (AP)
Hezbollah has paid a heavy price for going to war with Israel on March 2: Israel has occupied a chunk of southern Lebanon, displaced hundreds of thousands of its Shi’ite Muslim constituents and killed as many as several thousand of its fighters. (Reuters)
Trump Faces the Complicated Reality of a Costly, Unpopular War in Iran (NYT)
Supreme Court temporarily restores ability to receive abortion drug mifepristone by mail (CNN)
Pentagon Firings Have Nothing to Do With ‘Culture’ (Bulwark)
China thinks America is declining but still uniquely dangerous (Economist)
Unsettled Kremlin tightens security around Putin amid assassinations and coup fears, intel report says (CNN)
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party was on course to wintwo of four crucial state elections, expanding its influence and weakening its key rival half-way into his third term in office. (Reuters)
What is, and isn’t, worrying about 100% debt to GDP (Axios)
Meta’s public nuisance case in New Mexico has billion-dollar consequences (CNBC)
Internal ICE records reveal widespread use of force in detention centers (WP)
Jerome Powell Just Threw President Donald Trump Under the Bus One Last Time Before His Term as Fed Chair Ends (Motley Fool)
Redistricting war accelerates winner-take-all political combat that’s straining American democracy (AP)
Trump’s influence in Republican primary elections is about to get stress-tested. A series of primaries in early May across deep-red territory in Indiana, Kentucky and Louisiana all feature entrenched GOP officials fighting back against Trump-backed challengers, and early signs indicate Trump’s preferred candidates may not always have the upper hand. The results of the primaries could provide a stark indication of whether the president’s legendary sway over the GOP is fading as his popularity sinks. [HuffPost]
Mass shooting at Arcadia Lake in Oklahoma sends at least 23 to hospital; suspect search continues (ABC)
The End of Cigarettes Is Coming (Atlantic)
‘Point of no return’: New Orleans relocation must start now due to sea level, study finds (Guardian)
The quest to save these Outer Banks homes from falling into the sea (WP)
Mexico City is sinking so quickly, it can be seen from space (AP)
Astronomers believe they've detected an atmosphere around a tiny, icy world beyond Pluto (AP)
Musk wanted to settle with OpenAI just days before their courtroom showdown, new filing says (CNN)
White House Considers Vetting A.I. Models Before They Are Released (NYT)
Foreign Exchange Student Doesn’t Realize He’s Being Bullied (Onion)
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