Tim, I have been looking, watching, hoping to hear from you.
This is a perfect salutation the day after marking American independence from Britain, a mere 250 years ago. I do canvass for a party, but I knock every door and engage every neighbor for my grandchildren’s future — that we/they should not revisit the history of my family in 1930s Germany and 1950’s McCarthy America.
Thank you, Leslie, for your terrific work! I've just started--I'll be writing out 200 postcards to send to the swing state of Michigan, thanks to the examples set by people just like you. We can all spur each other onward to action of some sort. I admire you for getting out there and knocking on doors, engaging your neighbors in conversation about the importance of this election.
Truth be told, our days of activism are numbered. In the 1960’s Harry and l were civil rights advocates, traveling into Black neighborhoods for voter registration campaigns before we were eligible to vote. We joined organizations, signed and carried petitions and went out of state to protest.
Of course, there no retirement plan, because so much critical work must be done. But there’s a sense of futility, when after all these years we are back to square one.
Let’s go little darlings, no time to waste. We’re approaching the point of diminishing returns. Must l report that our grandchildren live in Canada and Australia?!? You see, our own grandparents fled Poland and Ukraine in 1910, before all hell broke loose! But we’re here for the duration. American needs us more than ever! An informed electorate is the bulwark of a democratic society. We learned that the hard way, one vote at a time!
Alas, Babette, we're here for the duration too, both for the election and likely for the rest of our lives. However, we're in our 70s and, for various family reasons, moving out of the country is a greater and greater receding option, though I would otherwise go in a heartbeat and never look back. You are right that "America needs us more than ever!" I'm heartened by your post and by those of everyone here. So happy to see so many people engaged in doing something.
When Professor Snyder was struggling with health and hospitalization issues a few years ago he published a small book entitled “Our Malady”, which l devoured. Then my daughter was stricken with a similar condition resulting from an appendectomy.
I was able to visit her virtually during her hospitalization in Toronto from my home in NYC.
Not everything about the future is frightening. Some things are quite thrilling!
I’m writing postcards with Seniors Taking Action.I’ve also decided to create a list of resources, including this newsletter, that I can give to people I talk with. I’m surprised how few people know about the many alternative news sources and grass roots organizations there are out there. I think handing someone a list they can refer to later will help. What won’t help anyone is hysteria. People need tangible things to do now.
You are most welcome. I've learned so much from the Wednesday Speaker Series. They find some very interesting people who are doing good work. It's inspiring!
Thank you for the info about Seniors Taking Action. I looked at the website; I'm sending postcards through Progressive Turnout Project, but I picked up some excellent tips from Seniors Taking Action! ;) I hope you will somehow post your list of resources--it would be infinitely helpful for many of us. You are entirely right about hysteria--it is definitely not helpful.
Thank you, Linda. I'm so glad this helped. You have inspired me to put my list together sooner rather than later. There are so many resources and groups out there that many of us haven't heard about and we need to work together to defeat this threat to our country.
I have heard the opposite - my dear friend Steve just told me last Sunday night his sense of hope and connection when canvassing to Democrats who feel unheard and have not voted in the last several elections. "I would go to the door and they would be defensive at first but when I told them Adam Grey who is running for the House (in CA 13) just wants to hear what they want and their top three concerns, they visibly relax and begin to have long conversations. This method is called Deep Listening.
He said that that the group he goes with ( Bay Area Coalition https://bayareacoalition.org/ and the local Indivisible group (https://indivisible.org/) are well organized and provides a supportive experience including a "concerigie" who organizes car pooling. I will join them next Saturday and have just been contacted by the organizer of the canvass and told that they will have "cooling cars" to help canvassers withstand the heat - and have ice chests filled with frozen water bottles, frozen fruit and frozen towels! And these cooling cars can drive canvassers from block to block or house to house or just deliver the frozen products! We are a massive team that will work hard in our own way and in community to claim our Republic for all - yes we dissent and we will take action!
It probably depends on where you are. I have a friend who has worked for the post office here for years. He said that even before Christmas, when people are expecting packages, they will sometimes pull guns on postal workers delivering those packages. For some people, including Democrats, any person on their porch is a huge threat.
I didn't mean that they get aggressive when you start talking about politics: in my area, most people just close the door when that happens. I mean they get aggressive the minute they see somebody whom they don't recognize in their driveway and especially on their porch. It is VERY important to be aware of this! Even very progressive people have told me that they don't want anybody except pizza delivery people showing up at their door! I find this awful and a sign of deep social decline, but I'm not willing to get shot to contest it.
In my own neighborhood, a "strange" car parked on the road can cause a flurry of panicky texts among the moms. (Once it was my new car. They had forgotten that I got a new car. I had to park it on the road because my driveway was blocked.) They sent one of their husbands to investigate...with a gun. I know it sounds crazy, but with more guns than people in this country, you have to be extremely cautious. People of color should be especially careful just showing up at somebody's door. And they know it.
I have canvassed in Houston and here in rural TN, for Obama in Houston and then for a local candidate here, and then for Elizabeth Warren. I find it to be about the least time-effective way to reach voters. We spent enormous amounts of time riding around in cars, looking at our apps, which told us where there might be voters who are Democrats or interested in our candidate. They were few and far between. In Houston, nobody came to the door. I simply left little flyers at their doors. Sometimes it was hard to find the door because all that faced the street was a garage door. Altogether dispiriting.
I am sorry to hear about your experiences. There are some precincts at times, especially when light fades early, that we always go in pairs. Otherwise, I have taken on doors myself. Never had a problem when canvassing. I get more freaked out by the Ring doorbells telling me that I am now being videoed. I wave and leave the material at the door.
As someone who grew up in the shadow of WWII, I'm always amazed at how ignorant so many Americans are about fascism and the rise of Hitler. The first paragraph ("Voting") demonstrates that we are truly skating on thin ice. Thanks so much for this opinion piece. We needed to hear it.
If you bring up the Hitler analogy or the fascism argument in the comments of Bari Weiss’s The Free Press, you will get laughed off the planet and ridiculed beyond measure. It’s hard to tell if those people really don’t understand or are just pretending.
I was a lot more ignorant about it myself until I read Prof. Snyder's book, Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin. Actually, I listened to the audio version of the book twice. There is so much depth to it, I could easily listen a few more times and continue absorbing new (for me) and vital information and insights.
Brilliant analysis, and terrifying. This is the time to speak plainly in America, and this article does so. Trump is blunt with his lies. Let us be blunt with the truth.
Please also include the pernicious & spreading effect of media. We've known ab initio that Murdoch is neo-fascist, but how to explain & resist the NYT, which as "newspaper of record" influences all, and yet clearly has lost any historical memory. I've seen its accelerating degeneration over my lifetime.
2. Coalitions are necessary.- This past week has raised my BP 15 points as the pundits work to tear the Democrats apart- pitting Dems against Dems- Ripping everything apart every hour. We need to pull back together and coalesce around President Biden. OK a bad day. I jumped ahead in time and I am reading S.M. Plokhy, "Yalta, The Price of Peace" , this after "Ivan Franko and His Community," by Yaroslav Hrytsak. Working together is key. Your Thoughts on "Freedom" can't arrive quickly enough. How we share your ideas with the general public is the bigger problem. I think 'people' are disengaged with the threats ahead and are mostly concerned with the price of their happy meal or shopping cart- the day to day. The job of learning what we are facing feels outside their realm. My family started arriving here in the 1890's first from "Russland" then Hungary,, St Peterburg from a note on a census, in 1899 my Great grandfather wrote Markova on this ship manifest,his parents lived in Zydaczow 1878-1880 and another Grandmother from Minsk in 1914. The descendants of any family who stayed in general perished during the Holocaust. With your help - reading history trying to understand the past I see too clearly the parallels with Nazi Germany very clearly. The latest decision by the Supreme Court a Blast to kill our Democracy and enable Fascism . I think I am ready for a class.
I have road signs up supporting, Ukraine, Womens Rights to Choose, my local Congresswoman, President Biden. No one has tried to drive over them, etc. This gives me hope that if we can find a way to educate people there is a chance to save our nation. Best regards
The problem with this argument is that 80% of voters believe Biden is too old and unfit to be president anymore. And now they are even angrier because Biden’s courtiers hid the truth of his condition from the public for years. You can’t be the party or candidate of truth if you lie about that basic fact, nor of democracy if you won’t listen to 80% of the people.
The best thing now is for Biden to withdraw and resign from office, have an open convention that’s democratic and dramatic, and then build the coalition around a stronger ticket. They can absolutely do this in the remaining weeks.
The key is to remain united during that process, with everyone pledging to support the eventual candidate, and Biden’s team acting with grace. If he does, he’ll be hailed as a hero who knew what had to be done to defeat fascism. If he doesn’t, he will go down as America’s Paul von Hindenburg.
Nick — the lesson here is understanding that this election is not about either man. It is about the essence of living life with the scales balancing individual freedoms and state responsibilities (our responsibility to each other) and the autocratic ideal that resources and commodities are generated to support masters, divine or deranged.
Resignation from office?? A delusion borne of no history lesson.
Leslie, I as an individual understand that. But sadly many voters do not. It is too abstract an argument. Elections are fundamentally popularity contests. And in our visual age, many people pick a candidate based on feeling and gut reaction in response to the physical/emotional impression they make.
That’s why elections in the end are a terrible way to pick leaders—they reward the biases of our tribal brains, our emotions, and not our reasoning. Study after study proves they candidates who are more charismatic, over-confident taller, deeper-voiced, and male win much more than those who are not. Nuance? Humility? Short and squeaky voice? Women? Tend to lose.
If I had all power, I would institute democracy by lottery based on the classical Athenian system (minus their slavery, xenophobia, and sexism). But we don’t have time to do that. Right now we have to beat Trump within the limits and flaws and conditions of media-centric elections. The split screen between him and Biden during the debate was devastating—most people will base their vote on that. You can lecture at them all you want, but it’s like the Pope’s Bull Against the Comet.
The least worst option now, in that case, is to change the candidate who is on the non-Trump side of that split screen. A young, energetic, hopeful and coherent person who exudes self-control, optimism, competence, and humble self-confidence and delivers a pro-labor message of faith, family, and freedom can flip the visceral response and vibes of voters. They are begging for a fresh, better alternative than either one of the octogenarians in front of them. Democrats have time and ability to actually do that. I don’t like Nikki Haley at all, but she was right when she said earlier that the first party to nominate someone under 60 in this election will win easily. Sometimes you should just give the voters what they want.
I would encourage everyone to read Anne Applebaum’s recent piece in The Atlantic, “Time to Roll the Dice.” The Democrats need to win the three Great Lakes states of Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. All three are led by popular, younger, effective Democratic governors. The party should act strategically and put forward all three at the convention, along with Harris and maybe one or two other strong contenders who would play well with working class voters in the rural and small towns in those states. Maybe Andy Beshear of Kentucky or Jared Polis of Colorado or the governor of Arizona or North Carolina.
Then you spend weeks and days having public events and debates and town halls with them in a spirit of friendly competition. Media would scramble to cover it. The convention would be must-see television. The top two vote getters from the delegates could be the ticket. Everyone rallies ‘round it on a show of solidarity, with Biden giving his blessing. The tickets launches out of the convention with energy and media buzz and momentum. They barnstorm those three states for 10 weeks. The Republicans would have little time to react and all this would take away attention from their convention. It may not work, but it’s the best option at this late hour.
Anne’s piece is great reading. But it is not at all clear to me that the last paragraph you’ve written delivers that scenario… not least for having abrogated the millions of votes that have already been cast by Dems FOR Biden. Democrats need to win a few other battlegrounds which have seen similar shifting tectonic plates (AZ, NV, NC) as well as the three you mention. The point I was trying to make is that the party apparatuses and organizing c(4)’s and c(3)’s in those states have coalesced to keep democracy alive and that remains the number one issue in 2024. On Monday, the Republican Supreme Court justices ensured the superseding issue for 2024 IS DEMOCRACY and your and my freedoms to have this conversation.
Leslie, look at the Electoral College map and count the Electoral votes. The Democrats do not need to win Arizona, North Carolina, or Nevada to win. It would be good if they did and Biden is being crushed in those states now (much worse than other Democrats in those states). But they do not NEED to win them to prevail in the Electoral College.
The three they MUST win are Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. They also need to work on New Hampshire and Maine, which are showing signs of flipping to Trump right now as well because of Biden’s unpopularity. They are losing among working class voters in the rural and small town areas of those states. The smartest strategic move then is to nominate a ticket that’s most attractive to those voters. Liberals in the cities will vote for any Democrat.
Of course I cannot guarantee that this is what will happen. If the Democrats act selfishly and not strategically—or if they nominate a coastal liberal or identity-celebrity candidate—they will probably still lose, or at least make it much harder for themselves to win (this is why Newsom and Buttigieg and Harris are poor choices). But at this point Biden is so behind (he has a 1-in-4 chance now) any alternative would have better odds. Maybe not a lot better, but better.
As for the idea of “nullifying” the votes of primary voters, those primaries were not true contests in any meaningful sense. The Biden team made sure there were no serious contenders and they rearranged the schedule to put South Carolina first, a conservative state they knew they’d win over any more progressive challenger. Releasing the delegates and having an open convention would be much more democratic than what happened with the primaries.
And because the delegates would have a much closer observation of the candidates and could deliberate together, they’d be better informed in making a decision than voters, who are often uninformed. It would be an exciting experiment with deliberative democracy, like juries. Not every experiment succeeds. But some do. And better to take those odds than stick with guaranteed failure.
So- let us assume Biden stays in despite folks like you not agreeing - will u fight for Biden? Or not? Because the point the professor is making is we must come together to beat back fascism.
I would also argue that if Democrats rally around Biden despite his obvious problems, it would send a terrible message to younger Democrats. They won't trust the party in the future: it will be even more tarnished in their eyes than it already is.
The party did not really give us much of a choice in the primaries. Did it? I voted in the primary, but I knew it was silly. It seems that the party went along with Biden's desire to run again, despite the fact that he had said in 2020 that he would only serve one term. I think the party leaders should have held him to his word.
Agree. I have to admit that although I am very grateful to Joe Biden for what he has done in the last four years, my honest opinion is that he is too old to be president for a second term. I didn't realize how impaired he was until the debate on Thursday night. This impairment may be fairly recent, and it may not be anybody's fault: there may not have been an actual cover-up, although it does seem as if his aides have limited his press conferences and interviews, in which he would have to speak unscripted.
Other countries manage to hold elections in much shorter time frames than Americans do. Four months is enough time. Biden should withdraw from the race and allow younger Democrats to come forward as candidates. Then the delegates can vote until one is chose. Ezra Klein has mapped out how all this would work in his excellent podcast.
Joe Biden should not tarnish his reputation by refusing to withdraw when it is clear that he needs to. I really don't understand why he is still in the race, unless he is too impaired to understand how impaired he is. His family should not be in charge of making this decision. Nor should the so-called "wealthy donors." Democratic party leaders should do an intervention, and soon.
I agree. My people came from Lithuania(Vilnius), Belarus(Minsk), and Czarist Russia (Ukraine) about the same time or a little after, running from pogroms, seeking a new life and hope, tolerance and freedom. What is happening in Ukraine is very upsetting... for the world.
The Supreme Court here I think is very misguided, hopelessly so. They have an agenda. We need to balance it by adding more liberal justices. That can only happen with a majority in both houses and a president all willing and able. In the meantime it's depressing. But Democrats have been newly awakened to the reality of having a leader that is not 100% up to the tremendous and heavy job of leading us at this point with this threat. Many fear, as I, that he is not going to be up to winning against Trump and what comes even after should Biden pull out a win. This is a difficult time and the discussion and arguments are necessary within the party. But we must come together soon making a way forward..
Thanks very much for this, Tim. I've read your "On Tyranny" and "The Road to Unfreedom: Russia, Europe, America" and am impatiently awaiting your new book, "On Freedom," which will be released on September 17th. I advise everyone who hasn't read "On Tyranny" to pick up a copy--it's short and succinct and urgently important.
Well, LInda, it is true that On Tyranny was published in 2017 as a chap book, perfect for slipping in a purse or back pocket and keeping close for pithy, germane reminders and prods for quotidian encounters in the first Trump-era iteration.
BUT the juiciest option is the 2021 re-issue as a graphic edition by Ten Speed Press. The incomparable Nora Krug has illustrated and elevated the reach of Tim’s words for broadest reach and deepest connection. Viscerally as well as intellectually bracing.
The graphic edition is quite invigorating and animating. I was very impressed with the combination of illustrations and text in the long sample I read on Amz. Should I give "On Tyranny" as a gift in the future, I will prefer the graphic edition, unless my budget constrains me to the less expensive 2017 edition. Thank you for pointing me to this, Leslie. ### I've just ordered a very good used copy to reread and to lend to friends. Thanks again!
You are my favorite historian and thinker and I too have been waiting for your response to July 1. And I’m just a legally nerdy retired musicologist but I would welcome further attention from you and your Substack followers to my July 4 Substack essay, “Independence Day Task: Stop SCOTUS.” Thanks for your work and your consideration!
A network of Russia-based websites masquerading as local American newspapers is pumping out fake stories as part of an AI-powered operation that is increasingly targeting the US election, a BBC investigation can reveal.
John Mark Dougan, an American ex-cop, now lives in Moscow and runs a network of AI-powered fake news sites.
A former Florida police officer who fled to Russia is one of the key figures behind it. Russia will be involved in the US 2024 election, as will others,” said Chris Krebs, who as the director of the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency was responsible for ensuring the integrity of the 2020 presidential election.
“We're already seeing them - from a broader information operations perspective on social media and elsewhere - enter the fray, pushing against already contentious points in US politics,” he said.
A Bugatti, a first lady and the fake stories aimed at Americans.
The MAGA crime family’s "Chosen One" is a convicted felon, coup plotter & an enemy of freedom; a rapist channeling Hitler; supporting America’s enemies, taking away a woman’s right to health care. Trump is a sociopath, an aspiring dictator & a fascist. Now coup & assassin plotting presidents can reign their terror or worse on adversaries with immunity.
The one crucial difference I see is that the Weimar Republic was Germany’s first democracy created after the Treaty of Versailles which many Germans felt was unfair. Hitler exploited that and was lucky that Hindenburg appointed him Chancellor so that he came to power legally.
But the popularity of the NSDAP (Nazi Party) had decreased dramatically in the years after 1924, so that its share of the seats in the Reichstag in the 1928 elections was only 2.6% (In the 5/4/1924 elections it won 6.5%, and its share only decreased with each election through 1928). There were no elections in 1929, but it won 18.3% in the 9/14/1930 elections, about 10.5 months after the 1929 stock market crash. In the 7/31/1932 elections (the one to which I assume Prof. Snyder refers above; there were two elections that year), 37.3%, which gave it a plurality in the Reichstag. And *that* was the opening Hitler needed to start negotiating with the people around Hindenburg.
Yes, Imperial Germany's loss of the war and the Treaty of Versailles were infuriating for Germany, especially for those who'd fought on the eastern front. Germany had won the war on the eastern front, and there was mass confusion on the part of those soldiers when they returned to Germany after the war was over. But Hitler quite successfully used that treaty as propaganda, so that the propaganda *about* the treaty fed Germans' sense of loss, but only in large numbers *after* the 1929 crash. It was the 1929 stock market crash that caused the rise of the NSDAP.
Also, we should not forget the enormous reparations that Imperial Germany imposed on Lenin after he sued for peace in late 1917, in the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk of March 1918. Nor should we forget the reparations that Germany had planned to impose on a defeated Europe as a whole. Finally, the Treaty of Versailles was the mildest of the post war treaties. The Treaties of Saint-Germain-en-Laye and Trianon dismembered Austria-Hungary. The Kingdom of Hungary was reduced by about 73%. Austria lost its manufacturing base, which was handed to the new nation-state of Czechoslovakia (That arms manufacturing base in Czechia, BTW, was what Hitler really wanted when he complained about the treatment of German speakers in the Sudetenland). The Treaty of Neuilly forced Bulgaria to give up its strategically important access to the Aegean Sea and hence, the Mediterranean. And then there were the treaties that governed the dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire.
The Republic was proclaimed on Nov. 9, 1918, two days before the official end of the war.
All figures cited are from Eberhard Kolb, ''The Weimar Republic,'' 2nd ed. pp. 224-5.
TS I always like what you have to say and think about it. Today I am complaining about comments that are using the word fascist to describe the Supreme Court majority. I think this moves into using that word for the purposes of venting, anger. It's name calling and has the danger of diluting or negating the meaning of it and the reality at hand. We don't have a fascist SCOTUS-- or do we? Are we ready to say we are already a country that is of fascist mentality? I think we need to educate as well as warn. We should be afraid of what is looming. But name calling gets into us and them, the very thing we need to work against. We need vigilance, discussion. Venting anger and grouping into us against them is not going to work. One thing Biden has been insistent on and it's very admirable, is being a president of all the people, speaking and acting it. He may be old and we are ready to exchange him for a better warrior but he was a consensus candidate and decidely not "fascist". I don't know if he has used the word lately. And I don't read that you are name calling in this warning piece above either. Thank you.
I hear you on that, Potter. One of the reasons I try to avoid using that word is precisely because, although some people have a vague idea of what fascism is, they haven't really studied it in depth and for that reason, would be lost for words if they were asked to define it.
Late last month Prof. Snyder, in one of his tweets, provided a link to a Substack article on fascism by Thomas Zimmer, ''Fascism in America?'' In it he writes, ''Fascism, as contemporaneous observers often remarked, always had an idiosyncratic quality to it.'' And that is one of the problems. Another problem for those of us who live in the internet age is that when people use it incorrectly, their incorrect usage intermingles with correct usage, which only confuses those who don't know what it means.
Based on my reading, what unifies different fascisms is the identification of an enemy or enemies, and the will to purge these enemies by violence, or in other words, purgative violence. Fascism, at least some forms of it, seems--at least to me--to be a form of utopianism: If we can just get rid of all the immigrants, liberals, communists, Jews, etc., the thinking goes, we can all live happily ever after. For this reason, fascism encourages infantilism. Now to be sure, Stalin identified enemies and purged them, but his ideology was fundamentally different from fascism.
I would say that the courts--the entire legal system, really--are essential for the success of a fascist government. The reason for this is that fascists tend to work under the color of law. They use the legal system for their own ends; that is how Hitler came to power. Or as I've noted for years, the Republican Party uses the rule of law to destroy the rule of law.
Yes. Well it is understandable then when the court is being used or seen as being used ("Trump's justices") then that is one more symptom to check in the box. So I read "Fascist Supreme Court"... I agree totally that the correct use is used and mixed with those who need it to grab for their anger. Trump is Hitler.
I'm not trying to be pedantic, Potter, really, I'm not. But Hitler and Trump are quite different. Hitler had thought through his ideas for years before implementing them. There is actually a logic to them, vile though they are. Trump isn't capable of that kind of thinking. For the very best short summary of Hitler's ideas I've ever read, see Timothy Snyder, ''Black Earth: The Holocaust as History and Warning,'' 2015, pp. 1-10, 'Introduction: Hitler's World.' I'll never forget my reaction when I read there for the first time Hitler's interpretation of the Myth of the Fall in the book of Genesis. I was so taken aback by it that I set the book aside for a little while so I could think about it before moving on.
Years ago Prof. Snyder said that he'd read Mein Kampf in the original German, not once, but twice.
Rose, I hope I did not give the impression I thought you are being pedantic such that you have to defend yourself. I think you made a good point. But it's useful that Trump is being compared to Hitler in some ways: his use of negative superlatives, gathering his vetted costumed crowds, the hate mongering, us vs. them, words like vermin, they are evil people. He will and has broken the law. Hitler grew into the monster he became: I think Trump is too old and mentally off to the point of unable to appeal beyond his base. I don't know if the base is growing I admit. Who are we? Not the Germans then.
We have too much under our belt as a country, too much in place, that should serve at a barrier to someone like Trump proceeding very far. .. at the moment.
This may be a naive opinion as Lewis's "It can't Happen Here" when it can. But I still believe it cannot or will not.. if we wake up. So the fear mongering is necessary.
I hadn't seen that article before, no. But it's unlikely Biden would do such a thing, at least, it seems to me, not at this moment. Perhaps things will change later. I do wish Americans, though, would stop referring to Trump as a king. The monarchs of England had been stripped of most of their powers in 1689 by the English Bill of Rights, which transferred most of the monarch's powers to parliament. After that, monarchs were subject to parliament, that is, *the law.* The reason Thomas Jefferson addressed the Declaration of Independence to the king is because monarchs of England were and still are, heads of state. It was the parliament that was writing the laws the American colonists so disliked. Because the monarchs of England were subject to the law after 1689, the moniker ''King'' does not apply to Trump. He and his people want to be *above* the law. Trump himself used the appropriate word: dictator.
Oh, yes, Trump uses all the words that Hitler used about his enemies--vermin, as you mentioned. But *all* fascists talk like that, not just Hitler. In some ways, France's Third Republic is the better comparison to the current US. For the current House, the best comparison is the nobility who sat in the Sejm of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the members of which regularly took bribes from foreign powers. What a corrupt bunch they were!
The reason I worried about sounding pedantic is because when we talk to each other in writing, tones of voice are absent, so that we miss all the signals that are conveyed by it. I'm actually pretty soft spoken, so much so that people often have to tell me to speak up so they can hear me. In other words, the soft tone can't be conveyed in writing.
I always enjoy talking to you, Potter. Take the very best care of yourself.
Re the New Republic article it made the point: they go low, we go high as you say. I wish we went low at times. We have to be very very careful about who we put in power until we can restore the checks, fix the SC.. Which gets back to the current dilemma. We need both houses plus the presidency and then to act. Long road....
Yes, me too re you...we are always pushing to learn more
I am reading & checking Corey Robin's take, who I know more, a degree of separation closer. I have not read his take on what is happening lately. And this was from your link to Zimmer who argues with him. One thing leads to another. I am still apprehensive about throwing around the word fascist when it is now being used as a pejorative. I'll stay away from that but maybe think it. I have Snyder's "Black Earth" to read as well- those pages you recommend. We must keep the mind going. This is a tough one upon us and the way forward is either not clear or not doable. Still I have faith ( or is it hope?) that we won't "go pear shaped". Be well.
If fascism is a form of utopianism,( let's think about that) then here it soon becomes patriotism; the need to make over the country ( from scratch) into what it should be. I really think we have to understand these people: Trump Bannon Miller the Federalist Soc. and the RNC now. etc etc.
Timothy, your teachings are always so clear. Yesterday I expressed my reaction to the current situation with the following statement:
Where are the alarm bells? We are in an apocalyptic danger. The mass majority of Americans are taking care of their families, worrying about the daily struggles of their personal lives, and making sure their children are getting what they need. As the average German citizen did when their country was very slowly and unrecognizably at first, and then unstoppably bursting into fascism, Americans are operating in what they think is a normal world. It is not normal. If we do not wake up, the youth of today, as well as all of us, will be trapped in an unrecognizable nightmare of living in a fascist country—a country in which we will lose most of our freedoms to chose how we live, what we can say, what we can learn, who we can love, what our children can learn, where we can travel, and so on. And our fascist leader will be a corrupt, mentally ill, unprincipled, narcissistic, immoral, and uncaring man.
The mass majority of citizens have no idea what terrors lie ahead for themselves, their children, their families, and their friends.
How do we wake them up before it’s too late?
Gayle Donsky
Producer of the recent award-winning documentary, “The Broken Promise.” The film is about genocide and warning signs that countries are moving toward authoritarian rule and genocidal policies.
"We are in the process of the second American Revolution, which will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be." Kevin Roberts, president of the Heritage Foundation and architect of Project 2025.
After reading these frightening words (thanks to Joyce Vance in her July 4, 2024 "Civil Discourse," link below) and the Supreme Court's insidious rulings w/r/t presidential immunity, abortion and the Chevron rule, I renewed my vow to do all I can to defeat Trumpism.
Project 2025 is quite alarming, however it seems no one read the part that says it is Heritage's agenda for the next Republican president. Not much is said about Trump being that president.
If Trump loses, I suspect they will rename it Plan 2029 and wait for their day. They seem to have quite a lot of patience in that way.
It was a thing in 2015, too. It was in its infancy, but a few far-right folks told me about it. Then one of them threatened my life if I told anyone. Now, I'll be looking over my shoulder for a while. Strange times then and even stranger now.
The installation of a dictator is not the beginning of a fascist state; that is the culmination. The political infrastructure to do this takes years if not decades and it must be in place for a dictator to rise to power.
The end of democracy was SCOTUS 2010 decision in Citizens United v FEC. The beginning of this movement was SCOTUS 1869 decision Santa Clara County v Southern Pacific Railroad where corporations gained the legal status as persons under the 14th amendment equal protection clause. There have been dozens of federal and state laws in the intervening decades that have brought us to this point.
We incarcerate over 2 million people, more than any nation in the world, we spend more on defense than the next top spending eleven countries combined even though there is no existential threat, we gave police immunity during the Civil Rights era, we've lost complete control in our ability to manage corporations which the state legislatures used to revoke charters all the time for bad behavior and it goes on and on.
We are a fascist warfare state and have been for quite a while and mass medias job which is 95% controlled by a mere 15 people, anesthetize the American public to the socioeconomic and political realities of our true nature as a nation.
"After fascism is victorious, finance capital directly and immediately gathers into its hands, as in a vise of steel, all the organs and institutions of sovereignty, the executive administrative, and educational powers of the state: the entire state apparatus together with the army, the municipalities, the universities, the schools, the press, the trade unions, and the co-operatives. When a state turns fascist, it does not mean only that the forms and methods of government are changed in accordance the patterns set by Mussolini -- the changes in this sphere ultimately play a minor role -- but it means first of all for the most part that the workers' organizations are annihilated; that the proletariat is reduced to an amorphous state; and that a system of administration is created which penetrates deeply into the masses and which serves to frustrate the independent crystallization of the proletariat. Therein precisely is the gist of fascism...." - Trotsky
A mutually beneficial parasitic relationship between private interests and the legislatures happens by which the tax coffers are pilfered and government becomes the proxy of private interests
Studying the fascist regimes of Hitler (Germany), Mussolini (Italy), Franco (Spain), Suharto (Indonesia), and Pinochet (Chile), they have all these 14 elements in common. Lawrence Britt calls these the identifying characteristics of fascism. The 14 characteristics are:
1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism
Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, songs, and other paraphernalia. Flags are seen everywhere, as are flag symbols on clothing and in public displays.
2. Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights
Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of "need." The people tend to look the other way or even approve of torture, summary executions, assassinations, long incarcerations of prisoners, etc.
3. Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause
The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: racial , ethnic or religious minorities; liberals; communists; socialists, terrorists, etc.
4. Supremacy of the Military
Even when there are widespread domestic problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military service are glamorized.
5. Rampant Sexism
The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional gender roles are made more rigid. Opposition to abortion is high, as is homophobia and anti-gay legislation and national policy.
6. Controlled Mass Media
Sometimes to media is directly controlled by the government, but in other cases, the media is indirectly controlled by government regulation, or sympathetic media spokespeople and executives. Censorship, especially in war time, is very common.
7. Obsession with National Security
Fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses.
8. Religion and Government are Intertwined
Governments in fascist nations tend to use the most common religion in the nation as a tool to manipulate public opinion. Religious rhetoric and terminology is common from government leaders, even when the major tenets of the religion are diametrically opposed to the government's policies or actions.
9. Corporate Power is Protected
The industrial and business aristocracy of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite.
10. Labor Power is Suppressed
Because the organizing power of labor is the only real threat to a fascist government, labor unions are either eliminated entirely, or are severely suppressed .
11. Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts
Fascist nations tend to promote and tolerate open hostility to higher education, and academia. It is not uncommon for professors and other academics to be censored or even arrested. Free expression in the arts is openly attacked, and governments often refuse to fund the arts.
12. Obsession with Crime and Punishment
Under fascist regimes, the police are given almost limitless power to enforce laws. The people are often willing to overlook police abuses and even forego civil liberties in the name of patriotism. There is often a national police force with virtually unlimited power in fascist nations.
13. Rampant Cronyism and Corruption
Fascist regimes almost always are governed by groups of friends and associates who appoint each other to government positions and use governmental power and authority to protect their friends from accountability. It is not uncommon in fascist regimes for national resources and even treasures to be appropriated or even outright stolen by government leaders.
14. Fraudulent Elections
Sometimes elections in fascist nations are a complete sham. Other times elections are manipulated by smear campaigns against or even assassination of opposition candidates, use of legislation to control voting numbers or political district boundaries, and manipulation of the media. Fascist nations also typically use their judiciaries to manipulate or control elections.
Books to read, Kochland, Dark Money, Shock Doctrine, True Believer the Nature of Mass Movements, Manufacturing Consent.
This list reads very similarly to Dr. Snyder's "On Tyranny". I also think this country has been spiraling towards authoritarianism since the 70's. And then the media and internet really blew it up.
It also reminds me of the oppressive culture I grew up in: White Evangelical Christianity. Not identical, but it smells of it. Luckily, even as a teen I knew it was sick and I ran at the first opportunity.
Tim, I have been looking, watching, hoping to hear from you.
This is a perfect salutation the day after marking American independence from Britain, a mere 250 years ago. I do canvass for a party, but I knock every door and engage every neighbor for my grandchildren’s future — that we/they should not revisit the history of my family in 1930s Germany and 1950’s McCarthy America.
Thank you
Thank you, Leslie, for your terrific work! I've just started--I'll be writing out 200 postcards to send to the swing state of Michigan, thanks to the examples set by people just like you. We can all spur each other onward to action of some sort. I admire you for getting out there and knocking on doors, engaging your neighbors in conversation about the importance of this election.
Truth be told, our days of activism are numbered. In the 1960’s Harry and l were civil rights advocates, traveling into Black neighborhoods for voter registration campaigns before we were eligible to vote. We joined organizations, signed and carried petitions and went out of state to protest.
Of course, there no retirement plan, because so much critical work must be done. But there’s a sense of futility, when after all these years we are back to square one.
Let’s go little darlings, no time to waste. We’re approaching the point of diminishing returns. Must l report that our grandchildren live in Canada and Australia?!? You see, our own grandparents fled Poland and Ukraine in 1910, before all hell broke loose! But we’re here for the duration. American needs us more than ever! An informed electorate is the bulwark of a democratic society. We learned that the hard way, one vote at a time!
Babette
Alas, Babette, we're here for the duration too, both for the election and likely for the rest of our lives. However, we're in our 70s and, for various family reasons, moving out of the country is a greater and greater receding option, though I would otherwise go in a heartbeat and never look back. You are right that "America needs us more than ever!" I'm heartened by your post and by those of everyone here. So happy to see so many people engaged in doing something.
The problems we face in the public arena are akin to those we must confront privately.
Aging and health issues, financial challenges, family feuds and the like.
Reaching out inline is one of the unintended consequences that modernity has produced.
The community of individuals who have found emotional and intellectual support is astonishing.
You’re welcome to read my substack. To me writing is a necessary biological function and reading also nourishes our minds and sustains our hearts.
Looking forward to further correspondence!
During Covid isolation l was sustained by online zoom meetings! The wonders never cease!!
When Professor Snyder was struggling with health and hospitalization issues a few years ago he published a small book entitled “Our Malady”, which l devoured. Then my daughter was stricken with a similar condition resulting from an appendectomy.
I was able to visit her virtually during her hospitalization in Toronto from my home in NYC.
Not everything about the future is frightening. Some things are quite thrilling!
I’m writing postcards with Seniors Taking Action.I’ve also decided to create a list of resources, including this newsletter, that I can give to people I talk with. I’m surprised how few people know about the many alternative news sources and grass roots organizations there are out there. I think handing someone a list they can refer to later will help. What won’t help anyone is hysteria. People need tangible things to do now.
TY for the tip to https://seniorstakingaction.org/about-us/
You are most welcome. I've learned so much from the Wednesday Speaker Series. They find some very interesting people who are doing good work. It's inspiring!
Thank you for the info about Seniors Taking Action. I looked at the website; I'm sending postcards through Progressive Turnout Project, but I picked up some excellent tips from Seniors Taking Action! ;) I hope you will somehow post your list of resources--it would be infinitely helpful for many of us. You are entirely right about hysteria--it is definitely not helpful.
Thank you, Linda. I'm so glad this helped. You have inspired me to put my list together sooner rather than later. There are so many resources and groups out there that many of us haven't heard about and we need to work together to defeat this threat to our country.
Just ordered more post cards at American Democracy Matters: Join our Work in 2024 to Inform, Educate and Empower Voters!
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeELTatPk5g4U9GVObntNJD6aJcuwJ9k_qKFifz-mnIduXrAQ/viewform
Thank you!
Be careful knocking on doors. Some people get very aggressive when you do that.
I have heard the opposite - my dear friend Steve just told me last Sunday night his sense of hope and connection when canvassing to Democrats who feel unheard and have not voted in the last several elections. "I would go to the door and they would be defensive at first but when I told them Adam Grey who is running for the House (in CA 13) just wants to hear what they want and their top three concerns, they visibly relax and begin to have long conversations. This method is called Deep Listening.
He said that that the group he goes with ( Bay Area Coalition https://bayareacoalition.org/ and the local Indivisible group (https://indivisible.org/) are well organized and provides a supportive experience including a "concerigie" who organizes car pooling. I will join them next Saturday and have just been contacted by the organizer of the canvass and told that they will have "cooling cars" to help canvassers withstand the heat - and have ice chests filled with frozen water bottles, frozen fruit and frozen towels! And these cooling cars can drive canvassers from block to block or house to house or just deliver the frozen products! We are a massive team that will work hard in our own way and in community to claim our Republic for all - yes we dissent and we will take action!
It probably depends on where you are. I have a friend who has worked for the post office here for years. He said that even before Christmas, when people are expecting packages, they will sometimes pull guns on postal workers delivering those packages. For some people, including Democrats, any person on their porch is a huge threat.
I didn't mean that they get aggressive when you start talking about politics: in my area, most people just close the door when that happens. I mean they get aggressive the minute they see somebody whom they don't recognize in their driveway and especially on their porch. It is VERY important to be aware of this! Even very progressive people have told me that they don't want anybody except pizza delivery people showing up at their door! I find this awful and a sign of deep social decline, but I'm not willing to get shot to contest it.
In my own neighborhood, a "strange" car parked on the road can cause a flurry of panicky texts among the moms. (Once it was my new car. They had forgotten that I got a new car. I had to park it on the road because my driveway was blocked.) They sent one of their husbands to investigate...with a gun. I know it sounds crazy, but with more guns than people in this country, you have to be extremely cautious. People of color should be especially careful just showing up at somebody's door. And they know it.
I have canvassed in Houston and here in rural TN, for Obama in Houston and then for a local candidate here, and then for Elizabeth Warren. I find it to be about the least time-effective way to reach voters. We spent enormous amounts of time riding around in cars, looking at our apps, which told us where there might be voters who are Democrats or interested in our candidate. They were few and far between. In Houston, nobody came to the door. I simply left little flyers at their doors. Sometimes it was hard to find the door because all that faced the street was a garage door. Altogether dispiriting.
Do you mean Deep Canvassing?
I am sorry to hear about your experiences. There are some precincts at times, especially when light fades early, that we always go in pairs. Otherwise, I have taken on doors myself. Never had a problem when canvassing. I get more freaked out by the Ring doorbells telling me that I am now being videoed. I wave and leave the material at the door.
As someone who grew up in the shadow of WWII, I'm always amazed at how ignorant so many Americans are about fascism and the rise of Hitler. The first paragraph ("Voting") demonstrates that we are truly skating on thin ice. Thanks so much for this opinion piece. We needed to hear it.
If you bring up the Hitler analogy or the fascism argument in the comments of Bari Weiss’s The Free Press, you will get laughed off the planet and ridiculed beyond measure. It’s hard to tell if those people really don’t understand or are just pretending.
I was a lot more ignorant about it myself until I read Prof. Snyder's book, Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin. Actually, I listened to the audio version of the book twice. There is so much depth to it, I could easily listen a few more times and continue absorbing new (for me) and vital information and insights.
Perhaps, let us quiz the public on:
Who was Max Erwin von Scheubner-Richter?
Who was he?
Brilliant analysis, and terrifying. This is the time to speak plainly in America, and this article does so. Trump is blunt with his lies. Let us be blunt with the truth.
Excellent! "Let us be blunt with the truth." Amen.
Please also include the pernicious & spreading effect of media. We've known ab initio that Murdoch is neo-fascist, but how to explain & resist the NYT, which as "newspaper of record" influences all, and yet clearly has lost any historical memory. I've seen its accelerating degeneration over my lifetime.
Support local papers!! And invest in the States Newsroom project out of NC. https://statesnewsroom.com/
2. Coalitions are necessary.- This past week has raised my BP 15 points as the pundits work to tear the Democrats apart- pitting Dems against Dems- Ripping everything apart every hour. We need to pull back together and coalesce around President Biden. OK a bad day. I jumped ahead in time and I am reading S.M. Plokhy, "Yalta, The Price of Peace" , this after "Ivan Franko and His Community," by Yaroslav Hrytsak. Working together is key. Your Thoughts on "Freedom" can't arrive quickly enough. How we share your ideas with the general public is the bigger problem. I think 'people' are disengaged with the threats ahead and are mostly concerned with the price of their happy meal or shopping cart- the day to day. The job of learning what we are facing feels outside their realm. My family started arriving here in the 1890's first from "Russland" then Hungary,, St Peterburg from a note on a census, in 1899 my Great grandfather wrote Markova on this ship manifest,his parents lived in Zydaczow 1878-1880 and another Grandmother from Minsk in 1914. The descendants of any family who stayed in general perished during the Holocaust. With your help - reading history trying to understand the past I see too clearly the parallels with Nazi Germany very clearly. The latest decision by the Supreme Court a Blast to kill our Democracy and enable Fascism . I think I am ready for a class.
I have road signs up supporting, Ukraine, Womens Rights to Choose, my local Congresswoman, President Biden. No one has tried to drive over them, etc. This gives me hope that if we can find a way to educate people there is a chance to save our nation. Best regards
The problem with this argument is that 80% of voters believe Biden is too old and unfit to be president anymore. And now they are even angrier because Biden’s courtiers hid the truth of his condition from the public for years. You can’t be the party or candidate of truth if you lie about that basic fact, nor of democracy if you won’t listen to 80% of the people.
The best thing now is for Biden to withdraw and resign from office, have an open convention that’s democratic and dramatic, and then build the coalition around a stronger ticket. They can absolutely do this in the remaining weeks.
The key is to remain united during that process, with everyone pledging to support the eventual candidate, and Biden’s team acting with grace. If he does, he’ll be hailed as a hero who knew what had to be done to defeat fascism. If he doesn’t, he will go down as America’s Paul von Hindenburg.
Nick — the lesson here is understanding that this election is not about either man. It is about the essence of living life with the scales balancing individual freedoms and state responsibilities (our responsibility to each other) and the autocratic ideal that resources and commodities are generated to support masters, divine or deranged.
Resignation from office?? A delusion borne of no history lesson.
Leslie, I as an individual understand that. But sadly many voters do not. It is too abstract an argument. Elections are fundamentally popularity contests. And in our visual age, many people pick a candidate based on feeling and gut reaction in response to the physical/emotional impression they make.
That’s why elections in the end are a terrible way to pick leaders—they reward the biases of our tribal brains, our emotions, and not our reasoning. Study after study proves they candidates who are more charismatic, over-confident taller, deeper-voiced, and male win much more than those who are not. Nuance? Humility? Short and squeaky voice? Women? Tend to lose.
If I had all power, I would institute democracy by lottery based on the classical Athenian system (minus their slavery, xenophobia, and sexism). But we don’t have time to do that. Right now we have to beat Trump within the limits and flaws and conditions of media-centric elections. The split screen between him and Biden during the debate was devastating—most people will base their vote on that. You can lecture at them all you want, but it’s like the Pope’s Bull Against the Comet.
The least worst option now, in that case, is to change the candidate who is on the non-Trump side of that split screen. A young, energetic, hopeful and coherent person who exudes self-control, optimism, competence, and humble self-confidence and delivers a pro-labor message of faith, family, and freedom can flip the visceral response and vibes of voters. They are begging for a fresh, better alternative than either one of the octogenarians in front of them. Democrats have time and ability to actually do that. I don’t like Nikki Haley at all, but she was right when she said earlier that the first party to nominate someone under 60 in this election will win easily. Sometimes you should just give the voters what they want.
I would encourage everyone to read Anne Applebaum’s recent piece in The Atlantic, “Time to Roll the Dice.” The Democrats need to win the three Great Lakes states of Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. All three are led by popular, younger, effective Democratic governors. The party should act strategically and put forward all three at the convention, along with Harris and maybe one or two other strong contenders who would play well with working class voters in the rural and small towns in those states. Maybe Andy Beshear of Kentucky or Jared Polis of Colorado or the governor of Arizona or North Carolina.
Then you spend weeks and days having public events and debates and town halls with them in a spirit of friendly competition. Media would scramble to cover it. The convention would be must-see television. The top two vote getters from the delegates could be the ticket. Everyone rallies ‘round it on a show of solidarity, with Biden giving his blessing. The tickets launches out of the convention with energy and media buzz and momentum. They barnstorm those three states for 10 weeks. The Republicans would have little time to react and all this would take away attention from their convention. It may not work, but it’s the best option at this late hour.
Anne’s piece is great reading. But it is not at all clear to me that the last paragraph you’ve written delivers that scenario… not least for having abrogated the millions of votes that have already been cast by Dems FOR Biden. Democrats need to win a few other battlegrounds which have seen similar shifting tectonic plates (AZ, NV, NC) as well as the three you mention. The point I was trying to make is that the party apparatuses and organizing c(4)’s and c(3)’s in those states have coalesced to keep democracy alive and that remains the number one issue in 2024. On Monday, the Republican Supreme Court justices ensured the superseding issue for 2024 IS DEMOCRACY and your and my freedoms to have this conversation.
Leslie, look at the Electoral College map and count the Electoral votes. The Democrats do not need to win Arizona, North Carolina, or Nevada to win. It would be good if they did and Biden is being crushed in those states now (much worse than other Democrats in those states). But they do not NEED to win them to prevail in the Electoral College.
The three they MUST win are Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. They also need to work on New Hampshire and Maine, which are showing signs of flipping to Trump right now as well because of Biden’s unpopularity. They are losing among working class voters in the rural and small town areas of those states. The smartest strategic move then is to nominate a ticket that’s most attractive to those voters. Liberals in the cities will vote for any Democrat.
Of course I cannot guarantee that this is what will happen. If the Democrats act selfishly and not strategically—or if they nominate a coastal liberal or identity-celebrity candidate—they will probably still lose, or at least make it much harder for themselves to win (this is why Newsom and Buttigieg and Harris are poor choices). But at this point Biden is so behind (he has a 1-in-4 chance now) any alternative would have better odds. Maybe not a lot better, but better.
As for the idea of “nullifying” the votes of primary voters, those primaries were not true contests in any meaningful sense. The Biden team made sure there were no serious contenders and they rearranged the schedule to put South Carolina first, a conservative state they knew they’d win over any more progressive challenger. Releasing the delegates and having an open convention would be much more democratic than what happened with the primaries.
And because the delegates would have a much closer observation of the candidates and could deliberate together, they’d be better informed in making a decision than voters, who are often uninformed. It would be an exciting experiment with deliberative democracy, like juries. Not every experiment succeeds. But some do. And better to take those odds than stick with guaranteed failure.
So- let us assume Biden stays in despite folks like you not agreeing - will u fight for Biden? Or not? Because the point the professor is making is we must come together to beat back fascism.
I would also argue that if Democrats rally around Biden despite his obvious problems, it would send a terrible message to younger Democrats. They won't trust the party in the future: it will be even more tarnished in their eyes than it already is.
The party did not really give us much of a choice in the primaries. Did it? I voted in the primary, but I knew it was silly. It seems that the party went along with Biden's desire to run again, despite the fact that he had said in 2020 that he would only serve one term. I think the party leaders should have held him to his word.
Agree. I have to admit that although I am very grateful to Joe Biden for what he has done in the last four years, my honest opinion is that he is too old to be president for a second term. I didn't realize how impaired he was until the debate on Thursday night. This impairment may be fairly recent, and it may not be anybody's fault: there may not have been an actual cover-up, although it does seem as if his aides have limited his press conferences and interviews, in which he would have to speak unscripted.
Other countries manage to hold elections in much shorter time frames than Americans do. Four months is enough time. Biden should withdraw from the race and allow younger Democrats to come forward as candidates. Then the delegates can vote until one is chose. Ezra Klein has mapped out how all this would work in his excellent podcast.
Joe Biden should not tarnish his reputation by refusing to withdraw when it is clear that he needs to. I really don't understand why he is still in the race, unless he is too impaired to understand how impaired he is. His family should not be in charge of making this decision. Nor should the so-called "wealthy donors." Democratic party leaders should do an intervention, and soon.
Thank you for mentioning Anne Applebaum's piece in The Atlantic. It was excellent.
Yes to the rest but not your last two sentences.
I think this messy period of disunity is necessary. I hope it resolves quickly though.
80%..? Check your numbers or put up your source. A faulty premise always leads to a flawed argument.
I agree. My people came from Lithuania(Vilnius), Belarus(Minsk), and Czarist Russia (Ukraine) about the same time or a little after, running from pogroms, seeking a new life and hope, tolerance and freedom. What is happening in Ukraine is very upsetting... for the world.
The Supreme Court here I think is very misguided, hopelessly so. They have an agenda. We need to balance it by adding more liberal justices. That can only happen with a majority in both houses and a president all willing and able. In the meantime it's depressing. But Democrats have been newly awakened to the reality of having a leader that is not 100% up to the tremendous and heavy job of leading us at this point with this threat. Many fear, as I, that he is not going to be up to winning against Trump and what comes even after should Biden pull out a win. This is a difficult time and the discussion and arguments are necessary within the party. But we must come together soon making a way forward..
Thanks very much for this, Tim. I've read your "On Tyranny" and "The Road to Unfreedom: Russia, Europe, America" and am impatiently awaiting your new book, "On Freedom," which will be released on September 17th. I advise everyone who hasn't read "On Tyranny" to pick up a copy--it's short and succinct and urgently important.
Well, LInda, it is true that On Tyranny was published in 2017 as a chap book, perfect for slipping in a purse or back pocket and keeping close for pithy, germane reminders and prods for quotidian encounters in the first Trump-era iteration.
BUT the juiciest option is the 2021 re-issue as a graphic edition by Ten Speed Press. The incomparable Nora Krug has illustrated and elevated the reach of Tim’s words for broadest reach and deepest connection. Viscerally as well as intellectually bracing.
The graphic edition is quite invigorating and animating. I was very impressed with the combination of illustrations and text in the long sample I read on Amz. Should I give "On Tyranny" as a gift in the future, I will prefer the graphic edition, unless my budget constrains me to the less expensive 2017 edition. Thank you for pointing me to this, Leslie. ### I've just ordered a very good used copy to reread and to lend to friends. Thanks again!
It’s a wonderful brand I got several copies for my friends and family.
You are my favorite historian and thinker and I too have been waiting for your response to July 1. And I’m just a legally nerdy retired musicologist but I would welcome further attention from you and your Substack followers to my July 4 Substack essay, “Independence Day Task: Stop SCOTUS.” Thanks for your work and your consideration!
A network of Russia-based websites masquerading as local American newspapers is pumping out fake stories as part of an AI-powered operation that is increasingly targeting the US election, a BBC investigation can reveal.
John Mark Dougan, an American ex-cop, now lives in Moscow and runs a network of AI-powered fake news sites.
A former Florida police officer who fled to Russia is one of the key figures behind it. Russia will be involved in the US 2024 election, as will others,” said Chris Krebs, who as the director of the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency was responsible for ensuring the integrity of the 2020 presidential election.
“We're already seeing them - from a broader information operations perspective on social media and elsewhere - enter the fray, pushing against already contentious points in US politics,” he said.
A Bugatti, a first lady and the fake stories aimed at Americans.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c72ver6172do
The MAGA crime family’s "Chosen One" is a convicted felon, coup plotter & an enemy of freedom; a rapist channeling Hitler; supporting America’s enemies, taking away a woman’s right to health care. Trump is a sociopath, an aspiring dictator & a fascist. Now coup & assassin plotting presidents can reign their terror or worse on adversaries with immunity.
Toughen up & #VoteBlue!
https://x.com/TheRickWilson/status/1806537585054925284
https://open.substack.com/pub/deanobeidallah/p/gops-supreme-courts-immunity-ruling?r=aexlz&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&comments=true
Trump calls for military tribunals against Liz Cheney:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjFkdmjF84E
The one crucial difference I see is that the Weimar Republic was Germany’s first democracy created after the Treaty of Versailles which many Germans felt was unfair. Hitler exploited that and was lucky that Hindenburg appointed him Chancellor so that he came to power legally.
Gabrielle Robinson
But the popularity of the NSDAP (Nazi Party) had decreased dramatically in the years after 1924, so that its share of the seats in the Reichstag in the 1928 elections was only 2.6% (In the 5/4/1924 elections it won 6.5%, and its share only decreased with each election through 1928). There were no elections in 1929, but it won 18.3% in the 9/14/1930 elections, about 10.5 months after the 1929 stock market crash. In the 7/31/1932 elections (the one to which I assume Prof. Snyder refers above; there were two elections that year), 37.3%, which gave it a plurality in the Reichstag. And *that* was the opening Hitler needed to start negotiating with the people around Hindenburg.
Yes, Imperial Germany's loss of the war and the Treaty of Versailles were infuriating for Germany, especially for those who'd fought on the eastern front. Germany had won the war on the eastern front, and there was mass confusion on the part of those soldiers when they returned to Germany after the war was over. But Hitler quite successfully used that treaty as propaganda, so that the propaganda *about* the treaty fed Germans' sense of loss, but only in large numbers *after* the 1929 crash. It was the 1929 stock market crash that caused the rise of the NSDAP.
Also, we should not forget the enormous reparations that Imperial Germany imposed on Lenin after he sued for peace in late 1917, in the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk of March 1918. Nor should we forget the reparations that Germany had planned to impose on a defeated Europe as a whole. Finally, the Treaty of Versailles was the mildest of the post war treaties. The Treaties of Saint-Germain-en-Laye and Trianon dismembered Austria-Hungary. The Kingdom of Hungary was reduced by about 73%. Austria lost its manufacturing base, which was handed to the new nation-state of Czechoslovakia (That arms manufacturing base in Czechia, BTW, was what Hitler really wanted when he complained about the treatment of German speakers in the Sudetenland). The Treaty of Neuilly forced Bulgaria to give up its strategically important access to the Aegean Sea and hence, the Mediterranean. And then there were the treaties that governed the dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire.
The Republic was proclaimed on Nov. 9, 1918, two days before the official end of the war.
All figures cited are from Eberhard Kolb, ''The Weimar Republic,'' 2nd ed. pp. 224-5.
TS I always like what you have to say and think about it. Today I am complaining about comments that are using the word fascist to describe the Supreme Court majority. I think this moves into using that word for the purposes of venting, anger. It's name calling and has the danger of diluting or negating the meaning of it and the reality at hand. We don't have a fascist SCOTUS-- or do we? Are we ready to say we are already a country that is of fascist mentality? I think we need to educate as well as warn. We should be afraid of what is looming. But name calling gets into us and them, the very thing we need to work against. We need vigilance, discussion. Venting anger and grouping into us against them is not going to work. One thing Biden has been insistent on and it's very admirable, is being a president of all the people, speaking and acting it. He may be old and we are ready to exchange him for a better warrior but he was a consensus candidate and decidely not "fascist". I don't know if he has used the word lately. And I don't read that you are name calling in this warning piece above either. Thank you.
I hear you on that, Potter. One of the reasons I try to avoid using that word is precisely because, although some people have a vague idea of what fascism is, they haven't really studied it in depth and for that reason, would be lost for words if they were asked to define it.
Late last month Prof. Snyder, in one of his tweets, provided a link to a Substack article on fascism by Thomas Zimmer, ''Fascism in America?'' In it he writes, ''Fascism, as contemporaneous observers often remarked, always had an idiosyncratic quality to it.'' And that is one of the problems. Another problem for those of us who live in the internet age is that when people use it incorrectly, their incorrect usage intermingles with correct usage, which only confuses those who don't know what it means.
Based on my reading, what unifies different fascisms is the identification of an enemy or enemies, and the will to purge these enemies by violence, or in other words, purgative violence. Fascism, at least some forms of it, seems--at least to me--to be a form of utopianism: If we can just get rid of all the immigrants, liberals, communists, Jews, etc., the thinking goes, we can all live happily ever after. For this reason, fascism encourages infantilism. Now to be sure, Stalin identified enemies and purged them, but his ideology was fundamentally different from fascism.
I would say that the courts--the entire legal system, really--are essential for the success of a fascist government. The reason for this is that fascists tend to work under the color of law. They use the legal system for their own ends; that is how Hitler came to power. Or as I've noted for years, the Republican Party uses the rule of law to destroy the rule of law.
https://thomaszimmer.substack.com/p/fascism-in-america?r=f9j4c&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&triedRedirect=true
Yes. Well it is understandable then when the court is being used or seen as being used ("Trump's justices") then that is one more symptom to check in the box. So I read "Fascist Supreme Court"... I agree totally that the correct use is used and mixed with those who need it to grab for their anger. Trump is Hitler.
I'm not trying to be pedantic, Potter, really, I'm not. But Hitler and Trump are quite different. Hitler had thought through his ideas for years before implementing them. There is actually a logic to them, vile though they are. Trump isn't capable of that kind of thinking. For the very best short summary of Hitler's ideas I've ever read, see Timothy Snyder, ''Black Earth: The Holocaust as History and Warning,'' 2015, pp. 1-10, 'Introduction: Hitler's World.' I'll never forget my reaction when I read there for the first time Hitler's interpretation of the Myth of the Fall in the book of Genesis. I was so taken aback by it that I set the book aside for a little while so I could think about it before moving on.
Years ago Prof. Snyder said that he'd read Mein Kampf in the original German, not once, but twice.
Rose, I hope I did not give the impression I thought you are being pedantic such that you have to defend yourself. I think you made a good point. But it's useful that Trump is being compared to Hitler in some ways: his use of negative superlatives, gathering his vetted costumed crowds, the hate mongering, us vs. them, words like vermin, they are evil people. He will and has broken the law. Hitler grew into the monster he became: I think Trump is too old and mentally off to the point of unable to appeal beyond his base. I don't know if the base is growing I admit. Who are we? Not the Germans then.
We have too much under our belt as a country, too much in place, that should serve at a barrier to someone like Trump proceeding very far. .. at the moment.
This may be a naive opinion as Lewis's "It can't Happen Here" when it can. But I still believe it cannot or will not.. if we wake up. So the fear mongering is necessary.
Did you catch this? :https://newrepublic.com/article/183422/joe-biden-ruthless-immunity-donald-trump
I hadn't seen that article before, no. But it's unlikely Biden would do such a thing, at least, it seems to me, not at this moment. Perhaps things will change later. I do wish Americans, though, would stop referring to Trump as a king. The monarchs of England had been stripped of most of their powers in 1689 by the English Bill of Rights, which transferred most of the monarch's powers to parliament. After that, monarchs were subject to parliament, that is, *the law.* The reason Thomas Jefferson addressed the Declaration of Independence to the king is because monarchs of England were and still are, heads of state. It was the parliament that was writing the laws the American colonists so disliked. Because the monarchs of England were subject to the law after 1689, the moniker ''King'' does not apply to Trump. He and his people want to be *above* the law. Trump himself used the appropriate word: dictator.
Oh, yes, Trump uses all the words that Hitler used about his enemies--vermin, as you mentioned. But *all* fascists talk like that, not just Hitler. In some ways, France's Third Republic is the better comparison to the current US. For the current House, the best comparison is the nobility who sat in the Sejm of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the members of which regularly took bribes from foreign powers. What a corrupt bunch they were!
The reason I worried about sounding pedantic is because when we talk to each other in writing, tones of voice are absent, so that we miss all the signals that are conveyed by it. I'm actually pretty soft spoken, so much so that people often have to tell me to speak up so they can hear me. In other words, the soft tone can't be conveyed in writing.
I always enjoy talking to you, Potter. Take the very best care of yourself.
Re the New Republic article it made the point: they go low, we go high as you say. I wish we went low at times. We have to be very very careful about who we put in power until we can restore the checks, fix the SC.. Which gets back to the current dilemma. We need both houses plus the presidency and then to act. Long road....
Yes, me too re you...we are always pushing to learn more
I am reading & checking Corey Robin's take, who I know more, a degree of separation closer. I have not read his take on what is happening lately. And this was from your link to Zimmer who argues with him. One thing leads to another. I am still apprehensive about throwing around the word fascist when it is now being used as a pejorative. I'll stay away from that but maybe think it. I have Snyder's "Black Earth" to read as well- those pages you recommend. We must keep the mind going. This is a tough one upon us and the way forward is either not clear or not doable. Still I have faith ( or is it hope?) that we won't "go pear shaped". Be well.
If fascism is a form of utopianism,( let's think about that) then here it soon becomes patriotism; the need to make over the country ( from scratch) into what it should be. I really think we have to understand these people: Trump Bannon Miller the Federalist Soc. and the RNC now. etc etc.
Thank you for laying this out so clearly.
Timothy, your teachings are always so clear. Yesterday I expressed my reaction to the current situation with the following statement:
Where are the alarm bells? We are in an apocalyptic danger. The mass majority of Americans are taking care of their families, worrying about the daily struggles of their personal lives, and making sure their children are getting what they need. As the average German citizen did when their country was very slowly and unrecognizably at first, and then unstoppably bursting into fascism, Americans are operating in what they think is a normal world. It is not normal. If we do not wake up, the youth of today, as well as all of us, will be trapped in an unrecognizable nightmare of living in a fascist country—a country in which we will lose most of our freedoms to chose how we live, what we can say, what we can learn, who we can love, what our children can learn, where we can travel, and so on. And our fascist leader will be a corrupt, mentally ill, unprincipled, narcissistic, immoral, and uncaring man.
The mass majority of citizens have no idea what terrors lie ahead for themselves, their children, their families, and their friends.
How do we wake them up before it’s too late?
Gayle Donsky
Producer of the recent award-winning documentary, “The Broken Promise.” The film is about genocide and warning signs that countries are moving toward authoritarian rule and genocidal policies.
“Project 2025 will not be stopped...."
"We are in the process of the second American Revolution, which will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be." Kevin Roberts, president of the Heritage Foundation and architect of Project 2025.
After reading these frightening words (thanks to Joyce Vance in her July 4, 2024 "Civil Discourse," link below) and the Supreme Court's insidious rulings w/r/t presidential immunity, abortion and the Chevron rule, I renewed my vow to do all I can to defeat Trumpism.
Thank you, Timothy, for the stark reminder.
https://open.substack.com/pub/joycevance/p/bloodless-if-the-left-allows-it-to?r=flasu&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Project 2025 is quite alarming, however it seems no one read the part that says it is Heritage's agenda for the next Republican president. Not much is said about Trump being that president.
If Trump loses, I suspect they will rename it Plan 2029 and wait for their day. They seem to have quite a lot of patience in that way.
It was a thing in 2015, too. It was in its infancy, but a few far-right folks told me about it. Then one of them threatened my life if I told anyone. Now, I'll be looking over my shoulder for a while. Strange times then and even stranger now.
Thanks, Mr Bermant.
The Vance article in her Civil Discourse is another article well worth reading and well worth citing and discussing with others.
The installation of a dictator is not the beginning of a fascist state; that is the culmination. The political infrastructure to do this takes years if not decades and it must be in place for a dictator to rise to power.
The end of democracy was SCOTUS 2010 decision in Citizens United v FEC. The beginning of this movement was SCOTUS 1869 decision Santa Clara County v Southern Pacific Railroad where corporations gained the legal status as persons under the 14th amendment equal protection clause. There have been dozens of federal and state laws in the intervening decades that have brought us to this point.
We incarcerate over 2 million people, more than any nation in the world, we spend more on defense than the next top spending eleven countries combined even though there is no existential threat, we gave police immunity during the Civil Rights era, we've lost complete control in our ability to manage corporations which the state legislatures used to revoke charters all the time for bad behavior and it goes on and on.
We are a fascist warfare state and have been for quite a while and mass medias job which is 95% controlled by a mere 15 people, anesthetize the American public to the socioeconomic and political realities of our true nature as a nation.
"After fascism is victorious, finance capital directly and immediately gathers into its hands, as in a vise of steel, all the organs and institutions of sovereignty, the executive administrative, and educational powers of the state: the entire state apparatus together with the army, the municipalities, the universities, the schools, the press, the trade unions, and the co-operatives. When a state turns fascist, it does not mean only that the forms and methods of government are changed in accordance the patterns set by Mussolini -- the changes in this sphere ultimately play a minor role -- but it means first of all for the most part that the workers' organizations are annihilated; that the proletariat is reduced to an amorphous state; and that a system of administration is created which penetrates deeply into the masses and which serves to frustrate the independent crystallization of the proletariat. Therein precisely is the gist of fascism...." - Trotsky
A mutually beneficial parasitic relationship between private interests and the legislatures happens by which the tax coffers are pilfered and government becomes the proxy of private interests
Studying the fascist regimes of Hitler (Germany), Mussolini (Italy), Franco (Spain), Suharto (Indonesia), and Pinochet (Chile), they have all these 14 elements in common. Lawrence Britt calls these the identifying characteristics of fascism. The 14 characteristics are:
1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism
Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, songs, and other paraphernalia. Flags are seen everywhere, as are flag symbols on clothing and in public displays.
2. Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights
Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of "need." The people tend to look the other way or even approve of torture, summary executions, assassinations, long incarcerations of prisoners, etc.
3. Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause
The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: racial , ethnic or religious minorities; liberals; communists; socialists, terrorists, etc.
4. Supremacy of the Military
Even when there are widespread domestic problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military service are glamorized.
5. Rampant Sexism
The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional gender roles are made more rigid. Opposition to abortion is high, as is homophobia and anti-gay legislation and national policy.
6. Controlled Mass Media
Sometimes to media is directly controlled by the government, but in other cases, the media is indirectly controlled by government regulation, or sympathetic media spokespeople and executives. Censorship, especially in war time, is very common.
7. Obsession with National Security
Fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses.
8. Religion and Government are Intertwined
Governments in fascist nations tend to use the most common religion in the nation as a tool to manipulate public opinion. Religious rhetoric and terminology is common from government leaders, even when the major tenets of the religion are diametrically opposed to the government's policies or actions.
9. Corporate Power is Protected
The industrial and business aristocracy of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite.
10. Labor Power is Suppressed
Because the organizing power of labor is the only real threat to a fascist government, labor unions are either eliminated entirely, or are severely suppressed .
11. Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts
Fascist nations tend to promote and tolerate open hostility to higher education, and academia. It is not uncommon for professors and other academics to be censored or even arrested. Free expression in the arts is openly attacked, and governments often refuse to fund the arts.
12. Obsession with Crime and Punishment
Under fascist regimes, the police are given almost limitless power to enforce laws. The people are often willing to overlook police abuses and even forego civil liberties in the name of patriotism. There is often a national police force with virtually unlimited power in fascist nations.
13. Rampant Cronyism and Corruption
Fascist regimes almost always are governed by groups of friends and associates who appoint each other to government positions and use governmental power and authority to protect their friends from accountability. It is not uncommon in fascist regimes for national resources and even treasures to be appropriated or even outright stolen by government leaders.
14. Fraudulent Elections
Sometimes elections in fascist nations are a complete sham. Other times elections are manipulated by smear campaigns against or even assassination of opposition candidates, use of legislation to control voting numbers or political district boundaries, and manipulation of the media. Fascist nations also typically use their judiciaries to manipulate or control elections.
Books to read, Kochland, Dark Money, Shock Doctrine, True Believer the Nature of Mass Movements, Manufacturing Consent.
This list reads very similarly to Dr. Snyder's "On Tyranny". I also think this country has been spiraling towards authoritarianism since the 70's. And then the media and internet really blew it up.
It also reminds me of the oppressive culture I grew up in: White Evangelical Christianity. Not identical, but it smells of it. Luckily, even as a teen I knew it was sick and I ran at the first opportunity.
Brilliant and useful! "It’s simple: recalling history, we act in the present, for a future that can and will be much better."