Friday 12 February 2021

"Democracy" Saved

Image courtesy New Yorker magazine.

 This comprehensively researched article from Time magazine makes chilling reading.

It describes in detail how a loose coalition of concerned individuals saved the USA from what could have been the greatest threat to democracy across the Pacific since the Civil War.

It reminds me of Abraham Lincoln's prediction in his Lyceum address in 1838. 

Lincoln said -

"At what point is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer, if it ever reach us, it must spring up amongst us. It cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freeman, we must live for all time, or die by suicide".

The "danger amongst us" was Trump's campaign to win at all costs, aided and abetted by a cluster of violent extremists who were prepared to stop at nothing. The closest historical equivalent were groups like the Blackshirts in Italy in the thirties.

The article begins by explaining why there was comparatively little reaction to Biden's win, except for the assault on the Capitol by the very extremists who were Trump's acolytes. That reaction turned out to be seriously counterproductive for the Republicans.

"A weird thing happened right after the Nov 3 election: nothing.

The nation was braced for chaos. Liberal groups had vowed to take to the streets, planning hundreds of protests across the country. Right-wing militias were girding for battle. In a poll before election day, 75% of Americans voiced concerns about violence.

instead, an eerie quiet descended. As President Trump refused to concede, the reaction was not mass action, but crickets. When media organisations called the race for Jow Biden on November 7, jubilation broke out instead, as people thronged cities across the US to celebrate the democratic process that resulted in Trump's ouster".

It describes how efforts to suppress votes, inject doubt into institutional trust, and use misinformation to muddy the waters, was countered by quiet and consistent work at street level by this informal, bi-partisan campaign.

Read the whole thing. 

It is, at the same time comforting, and chilling.

The USA has dodged a bullet. 

By the way, the quotation marks in the title are a reminder that, as any knowledgeable American will tell you, the USA is a constitutional republic, not a democracy.


Comments closed.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

It seems that there are knowledgeable people out there that disagree with your last quip.
https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/is-the-united-states-a-republic-or-a-democracy.html

1735099 said...

There are knowledgeable people who disagree with each other -https://www.aei.org/articles/democracy-or-republic/?gclid=CjwKCAiA65iBBhB-EiwAW253W_yWFsYXg7m59K-0CCWch_pJKCAGISxH_tGGW68leG46rT-Slj06YBoCNA4QAvD_BwE
My take on the issue is that the USA is a flawed democracy, overdue for reform. The current partisanship is a symptom of that.

Anonymous said...

I take it then that your last quip was an opinion and not a statement intended to look like a fact.

Anonymous said...

The blogger is either brainwashed or stupid.
Or Both.
the Time article is an exercise in 'We stole the election and here's how."

Anonymous said...

I wonder if the blogger actually rads his own soures.
Time magazine, in bragging about stealing the election, uses worrying terms like:
Secret History
Shadow Campaign
a conspiracy unfolding behind the scenes
informal alliance
the forces of labor came together with the forces of capital
a vast, cross-partisan campaign
the inside story of the conspiracy
a well-funded cabal of powerful people

Yep, a stolen election indeed, catalogued by Time for posterity.
John Grey

1735099 said...

I wonder if the blogger actually rads his own soures.
This is gibberish, but I think you're trying to say that I haven't read the article. I have indeed, but if you have, you haven't understood it. The Time writers describe in detail a campaign (completely legal) to make sure the election wasn't undermined. All kinds of efforts had been made to do so, and when they failed, all that was left for Trump and his mob to do, was to lie about the outcome.
When that also failed, because his Vice President completed his constitutional duty, Trump engineered violence, which also failed, but killed people as a consequence.

1735099 said...

the Time article is an exercise in 'We stole the election and here's how."

Read it again, and explain how it describes that the election was stolen.

Anonymous said...

Left wing news outlets in the USA have recently paid $70,000 to a left wing agitator for his role in the Capitol riots.
Just happened to be there eh? Or was he one of many who incited the riots with malice aforethought.
Definitely the latter.
John Grey.

1735099 said...

Left wing news outlets in the USA have recently paid $70,000 to a left wing agitator for his role in the Capitol riots.

No they haven't.
More misinformation.
Not on my blog...
https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2021/jan/07/instagram-posts/no-storming-capitol-wasnt-false-flag/

Anonymous said...

Not on my blog....
https://nworeport.me/2021/02/17/why-did-cnn-nbc-both-pay-leftist-capital-rioter-35000/
https://capitalresearch.org/article/dishonest-fact-checkers/
https://medium.com/@BWWzfc/fact-check-this-bill-adair-d9b1fb12d961

Anonymous said...

"Not on my blog..."
No facts on your blog, that's for sure.
Your link takes us to a January 7 article about "false flag" operations.
My post clearly says the money was paid RECENTLY.
Don't let evidence get in the way of your biases.
John Grey.

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