I told my girl the other day that yes, this country can fall, and yes it can become an authoritarian nightmare, when she asked if I thought it was possible after we were watching some WW2 history about the rise of Nazi Germany.
Thank you for posting a section of the book, I made it through about half of it, don't have time to finish right now but I will.
I found some things interesting in the book. The first being that the writers are obviously only looking at Trump, because they are looking at political outsiders being the death of democracy. That is good, and understandable, and I have to agree that Trump certainly checks that box. I would imagine if I looked into the authors that they would probably be somewhere on the left politically, not saying far left whackos, but I would say they probably had a bias.
Another thing that caught my attention was the Table for key indicators of authoritarian behavior. I'm going to post some of it here, not all exactly verbatim, but with my thoughts attached to it as well.
Rejection of rules of the game: I would argue that the very left leaning SC Justices view that the Constitution is a living breathing document would check that box. Restricting basic civil rights like freedom of speech has been a hallmark of the left for awhile now. I know you will check the box of insurrection for Trump, I'm not sold on it being an insurrection, but I'm also not happy with any of those asshats that marched on 1/6. Attempting to undermine the legitimacy of elections was started by Gore, continued by Hillary, and yes, has been done by Trump. You have to admit that he learned it from your side though. This also goes with my point I made earlier that the folks on the left want to get rid of the Electoral College and go only with popular vote. That is, in my opinion, far more dangerous than anything that Trump can do.
Denial of legitimacy: The left checks every single one of these boxes right now. Do they describe rivals as subversive or opposed to existing constitutional order? Yes. Do they claim their rival constitutes and existential threat to either national security or prevailing way of life? Yes. Do they baselessly describe their rival as a criminal whose violation should disqualify them? Yes. Do they baselessly suggest their rival is a foreign asset, working in alliance with or the employ of a foreign government, usually an enemy? Yes, Russia, Russia, Russia.
Toleration or encouragement of violence: The Dems have ties to organizations that engage in illicit violence, they have sponsored and encouraged mob attacks, they have tacitly endoresed violence by refusing to unambiguously condemn it and punish it, and they have praised significant acts of violence both in the past and elsewhere in the world.
Readiness to curtail civil liberties of opponents, including media: The left has taken legal action against Trump and his allies. Most of the media is left leaning, they don't really have to do much against it, but I guess they didn't mind the lawsuit against Fox that Ty loves to remind everyone about.
Again, I appreciate you posting the portion of the book, and look forward to finishing it. I would also enjoy your thoughts on the key indicators of authoritarian behavior that I shared.