Theda Skopcol came to U of T today to talk about America’s ongoing election, and it was a bit encouraging and quite frightening.
On the shreds of sanity side, she said that Clinton will probably win, and the Democrats may even gain control of the senate, which would be vital for supreme court appointments and international treaties.
In terms of never-ending madness and the ongoing tragic decline of the U.S., she said it was likely that Trump supporters will threaten or shoot minority voters on election day, and that the Trumpist ideology of pseudo-fascism will be taken up by many American conservatives who don’t have Trump’s overwhelming personality flaws.
What authoritarianism experts think of Trump’s decision to pardon Joe Arpaio
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How valid are these concerns? We surveyed a handful of professors who study authoritarianism in other countries on what they see in Trump’s decision, and whether it makes them nervous
“The most contentious, and remarkable, part of the pardon is not the person pardoned — ‘Sheriff’ Arpaio is a hero to the Trump base and therefore makes a perfect candidate (it’s often heroes of the base or donors of the party/president) — but the timing of the pardoning. First of all, it is very early in the presidency and, second, it is before Arpaio has been sentenced. I think the latter is a clear reflection of President Trump’s complete disregard for the rule of law. He believes in the rule of power, in part because he has experienced throughout his lifetime that this is how U.S. justice works. However, the timing is probably, as several others have also noted, more linked to the issue that predominates President Trump’s mind: the Russia investigation. There are several key people in his former entourage who are at the point of caving to pressure to working with the [Robert S.] Mueller investigation. Trump has shown them that they have nothing to fear, because he can and will pardon them, irrespective of the circumstances. This, of course, is a fundamentally undemocratic position, but not so much informed by ideology but by naked self-interest.”
Homer-Dixon even believes that using the “F word” — fascism — to describe the state of the GOP is accurate, citing the perspective of Canadian-American conservative David Frum: “Trumpism increasingly resembles European fascism in its contempt for the rule of law and glorification of violence.” I couldn’t agree more.
https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/09/opinions/canadians-fear-us-democracy-collapse-obeidallah/index.html