Trump Has The 4 Warning Signs Of A Budding Tyrant

(This image of Donald Trump is by DonkeyHotey.)

The following is just a small part of an excellent article by Nicholas Kristof in the New York Times. It should scare the hell out of you (and make you determined to vote blue this November).

Two political scientists specializing in how democracies decay and die have compiled four warning signs to determine if a political leader is a dangerous authoritarian:

1. The leader shows only a weak commitment to democratic rules. 

2. He or she denies the legitimacy of opponents. 

3. He or she tolerates violence. 

4. He or she shows some willingness to curb civil liberties or the media.

“A politician who meets even one of these criteria is cause for concern,” Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt, both professors at Harvard, write in their important new book, “How Democracies Die,” which will be released next week.

“With the exception of Richard Nixon, no major-party presidential candidate met even one of these four criteria over the last century,” they say, which sounds reassuring. Unfortunately, they have one update: “Donald Trump met them all.”

We tend to assume that the threat to democracies comes from coups or violent revolutions, but the authors say that in modern times, democracies are more likely to wither at the hands of insiders who gain power initially through elections. That’s what happened, to one degree or another, in Russia, the Philippines, Turkey, Venezuela, Ecuador, Hungary, Nicaragua, Sri Lanka, Ukraine, Poland and Peru.

The Seven Signs That You're Ruled By A Tyrant

(This caricature of our wannabe tyrant is by DonkeyHotey.)

Robert Reich (pictured) tells us the seven signs of a tyrant. Unfortunately for Americans, our new president displays all of them. Mr. Reich writes:

As tyrants take control of democracies, they typically do 7 things: 

1. They exaggerate their mandate to govern – claiming, for example, that they won an election by a “landslide” even after losing the popular vote. They criticize any finding that they or co-conspirators stole the election. And they repeatedly claim “massive voter fraud” in the absence of any evidence, in order to have an excuse to restrict voting by opponents in subsequent elections.

2. They turn the public against journalists or media outlets that criticize them, calling them “deceitful” and “scum,” and telling the public that the press is a “public enemy.” They hold few, if any, press conferences, and prefer to communicate with the public directly through mass rallies and unfiltered statements (or what we might now call “tweets”). 

3. They repeatedly lie to the public, even when confronted with the facts.  Repeated enough, these lies cause some of the public to doubt the truth, and to believe fictions that support the tyrants’ goals.

4. They blame economic stresses on immigrants or racial or religious minorities, and foment public bias or even violence against them. They threaten mass deportations, “registries” of religious minorities, and the banning of refugees.

5. They attack the motives of anyone who opposes them, including judges. They attribute acts of domestic violence to “enemies within,” and use such events as excuses to beef up internal security and limit civil liberties.

6. They appoint family members to high positions of authority. They ppoint their own personal security force rather than a security detail accountable to the public. And they put generals into top civilian posts.

7.They keep their personal finances secret, and draw no distinction between personal property and public property – profiteering from their public office.

Consider yourself warned.

The Warning Signs Of Impending Tyranny

The following warning signs of an impending tyranny are from the blog of former Labor Secretary Robert Reich:

As tyrants take control of democracies, they typically:

1.  Exaggerate their mandate to govern – claiming, for example, that they won an election by a landslide even after losing the popular vote.

2.  Repeatedly claim massive voter fraud in the absence of any evidence, in order to restrict voting in subsequent elections.

3.  Call anyone who opposes them “enemies.”

4.  Turn the public against journalists or media outlets that criticize them, calling them “deceitful” and “scum.” 

5.  Hold few if any press conferences, preferring to communicate with the public directly through mass rallies and unfiltered statements. 

6.  Tell the public big lies, causing them to doubt the truth and to believe fictions that support the tyrants’ goals.

7.  Blame economic stresses on immigrants or racial or religious minorities, and foment public bias and even violence against them.

8.  Attribute acts of domestic violence to “enemies within,” and use such events as excuses to beef up internal security and limit civil liberties.

9.  Threaten mass deportations, registries of religious minorities, and the banning of refugees.

10. Seek to eliminate or reduce the influence of competing centers of power, such as labor unions and opposition parties.

11. Appoint family members to high positions of authority

12. Surround themselves with their own personal security force rather than a security detail accountable to the public.

13. Put generals into top civilian posts                

14. Make personal alliances with foreign dictators.

15. Draw no distinction between personal property and public property, profiteering from their public office.

Consider yourself warned.

TxDOT Apologizes To Senator

Wendy Davis won her seat in the Texas Legislature last November, and is currently serving her first term. A couple of weeks ago, the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) finally got around to putting up signs directing the public to her office on West Seventh in Fort Worth. The signs directed citizens to the office of State Rep. Wendy Davis.

The signs looked good, but Ms. Davis is not a state representative -- she's a senator. Yesterday, TxDOT finally got the signs corrected. A spokeswoman from TxDOT apologized to Ms. Davis for the error, and said, "It was purely an accident. We are aware she’s a senator, and we appreciate her service."

Fortunately for TxDOT, Senator Davis has a sense of humor. She said she's just glad she doesn't have two jobs in the legislature. She told Politex blog, "I’ve got my agenda full enough on the Senate side."