By Stephanie Newbold | – A day after President Donald Trump incited supporters to attack the U.S. Capitol, Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer called on Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment and remove Trump from office, saying “This president should not hold office one day longer.” The 25th Amendment, ratified by the states […]
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Authoritarianism
Why Trump’s Senate supporters can’t overturn Electoral College results they don’t like – here’s how the law actually works
By Donald Brand | – On Jan. 6, the United States Congress will gather in a joint session to tally the votes of the Electoral College, which cast its ballots in state capitols last month. In his role as president of the Senate, Vice President Mike Pence is slated to officially announce Joe Biden as […]
Democracy’s Night of the Living Dead: Trump’s GOP Zombies Lost by a Landslide, but they’re back to eat our Brains
By Dan Dinello | – Like a political remake of Night of the Living Dead, the Republican Party — put to death by the Lame Duck’s poisonous presidency — has reanimated as the Zombie Party. This hollowed out duplicate looks the same, but has been implanted with the traitorous delusions of the demented ex-President. Denying […]
Trump’s ‘smoking gun’ tape is worse than Nixon’s, but congressional Republicans have less incentive to do anything about it
By Ken Hughes | – At least Donald Trump’s “smoking gun” tape is simpler than Richard Nixon’s. Schoolchildren can easily grasp Trump’s high crime, in contrast to the complex, Machiavellian plot immortalized on the tape that led to Nixon’s downfall. It will be harder to explain to them why congressional Republicans decided to hold Nixon […]
Turkey: Bill on ‘Preventing Terrorism’ actually Targets Freedom of Association, Civil Society
( Human Rights Watch ) – (Istanbul) – The Turkish government should withdraw provisions in a draft law that would arbitrarily curtail nongovernmental organizations’ activities and have the potential to violate the right to freedom of association, Human Rights Watch said today. Parliament was due to vote on the law on December 24, 2020. The […]
Tragedies, Farces and Trump’s Coup d’état: The History of an Idea
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Amy Gardner at the Washington Post got the scoop. In an hour-long telephone call to Georgia officials, including the the secretary of state, Trump browbeat them and hinted around that he could arrange jail time for them or foment unrest or spoil the January 5 senatorial run-off unless they found […]
From biblical times to Trump, false messiahs have doomed societies
By Kimberly Stratton | – The prophet Jeremiah records in excruciating detail the catastrophic events leading to the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar in 587 BCE. Jeremiah describes the devastating famine, escalating sense of fear and ominous foreboding that permeated the city despite optimistic oracles issued in the royal court by prophets, who promised divine […]
Trump aping Mideast Tinpot Dictators and raving about declaring Martial Law, which even Iran Prohibits
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – With Trump raving in White House meetings, prompted by the equally certifiable Michael Flynn, about declaring martial law, it sets an old Middle East hand like me thinking. In my part of the world, leaders declare martial law or a “state of emergency” at the drop of a helmet. And […]
How Trump’s Authoritarian Playbook will Turn America into a Banana Republic
By Lena Surzhko Harned and Luis Jimenez | – Six weeks after the U.S. election, President Donald Trump had still not accepted defeat. This behavior is not typical in mature democracies. And it’s reminiscent of countries with what political scientists call “hybrid regimes” – nations that have elements of democracy but in practice are not […]