Tag: authoritarian

Undemocratic, Closeminded Efforts By Republicans Threaten US Democracy

by inmanb17cedcb09, posted in Bi+/LGBTQ Issues, Current Events, Social Issues

October 30, 2022
   I’m going to begin this by telling you that I’m an Independent politically. I don’t belong to any political party.  That said, I’m also going to tell you that this country cannot afford Republican control over governments at any level. Why, you ask? Well, let me tell you.
   In many ways, the Republican Party is now the party of Trump, a party that is willingly following a narcissistic, lying authoritarian figure. Despite the fact that overwhelming evidence shows the 2020 election was fair and that Joe Biden legitimately won, the majority of Republicans believe Trump’s lies instead. And a significant percentage are actively promoting those lies. Many Republicans have gone so far as to push for laws and policies that are clearly undemocratic. Want some examples? Here you go: In several states, Republicans have proposed bills that would allow state legislatures to overturn election results and allot electoral votes themselves, literally ignoring the will of the voters. There are also proposals by Republicans that would make it very difficult for election officials to deal with partisan poll watchers who are intimidating and interfering with voters and election workers. Republicans in numerous states are also trying to get Trump following election deniers into positions (like secretary of state) where they would oversee future elections, thus increasing their ability to interfere with (and possibly overturn) legitimate election results they don’t like. These are not exaggerations. Republicans around the nation are also trying to make voting more difficult because they are afraid high voter turnout may increase the chances of Democrats winning. Tactics include things like making voter registration much more difficult, enacting stricter voter ID laws, and trying to limit or eliminate early voting as well as mail in voting. What’s especially disturbing is how these efforts are particularly targeting people (such as African Americans) who are more likely to vote for Democrats. Again, I’m not exaggerating here. I wish I was, but I’m not. This is really happening.
   Also consider this. The Jan 6th, 2021 assault on the US Capitol Building was a terrible event that was caused by outrageous, dangerous, false rhetoric being spread by numerous people. Whatever one’s political beliefs, understanding what happened and why it happened is vitally important. Yet most Republicans oppose Congress investigating the events and are continuing to blindly follow the dangerous rhetoric that led to the assault in the first place.
   Want some more examples of why we can’t afford Republican control over governments these days? Here you go. Republicans are actively attacking female reproductive rights despite the fact that most Americans are pro choice. Some Republicans even want to ban abortion nationwide. Around the country, Republicans are also pushing for very anti-LGBTQ policies and laws that blatantly discriminate against Queer people. The “don’t say gay” laws being promoted in states around the country are examples of this. Such laws are targeting LGBTQ youth, individuals who already have to deal with far too much intolerance and prejudice from others. Many LGBTQ minors live in homes where they face discrimination from their own parents. This is why it’s common for many Queer students to turn to teachers and school counselors for support and help. But this important resource is being taken away from many due to “don’t say gay” laws. With these laws, many teachers and counselors will be unable or too afraid to help. This in turn will increase the suicide rates of LGBTQ youth.
   The behavior of much of the Republican Party is the sort of thing that leads to authoritarianism and even full blown dictatorships. History is full of examples. Look at what happened in Germany during the 1920s and 30s when people chose to ignore facts, evidence, and even decency in order to blindly follow a brutal, narcissistic dictator instead.
   Whatever your political beliefs or party affiliation, people need to speak out against the lies spread by Trump and others. It’s time to stand up for democracy, honesty, decency, tolerance, kindness, open-mindedness, and the United States Constitution. We must vote in elected officials who do the same because if people don’t, future historians may look back on this time as the beginning of the end of American democracy.

Much Of The Republican Party Is Heading Down A Dangerous Path

by inmanb17cedcb09, posted in Current Events

Feb 7, 2022
   A significant amount of the Republican Party is heading down a dangerous, undemocratic, authoritarian style, and potentially violent path that is absolutely threatening American democracy. This may sound like an outrageous statement, but it is still unfortunately true. Quite scary indeed. But we cannot and should not ignore the dangers. Instead, we need to educate ourselves about what is happening and speak out. We should stand up for truth, justice, open-mindedness, kindness, thoughtfulness, fairness, and democracy.
   We have seen over and over how so many Republicans have followed Donald Trump no matter what, even when he is clearly in the wrong. The evidence is overwhelming that the 2020 election was free and fair and that Trump’s claims of widespread fraud are false. Every election will have isolated issues or problems. That is normal in a big election, but there was no widespread fraud here. Ballot counting rooms in every state had Republican, Democrat, and Independent observers monitoring the process and responding to questions that arose. There were also international observers from multiple countries watching things, and every state certified the election, because it was fair. The Trump campaign lost over 60 court cases where it tried to claim widespread fraud, and many of the judges who ruled against it were conservatives. The Trump campaign lost all these cases because it did not have the evidence to back up its outrageous claims. In other words, the 2020 election was free and fair with Biden legitimately winning and Trump legitimately losing. Yet Trump and others have continued spreading their false claims and lies about it, and what is disturbingly frightening is how millions of Americans believe these lies. The spreading of these false claims led to the violent Jan 6 assault on the US Capitol Building by Trump followers. But the danger to American democracy doesn’t end there.
   Donald Trump uses the willingness of millions of Americans to blindly follow him to enhance his power and control over much of the Republican Party in an authoritarian style way. He has many Republicans in elected positions bowing to him, even when a number of them know he is wrong, because they fear he will turn his followers against them and vote them out of office. A scary number of Republicans in elected positions appear willing to undermine democratic values in order to keep their jobs, and another disturbing facet is how some of these officials are true believers. Republicans in numerous states are fighting to pass laws that would make voting much more difficult for millions of Americans. They appear to be doing this to make Trump happy and to increase their chances of defeating Democrats in future elections because it’s no coincidence that these new laws often target people who are more likely to vote for Democrats.
   Recently, we saw how the Republican National Committee (RNC) officially censured Republican Representatives Cheney and Kinzinger just because of their participation in the Congressional Investigation of the violent Jan 6 attack on the Capitol Building. In this censure, they actually referred to the Jan 6 events as “legitimate political discourse.” Think about that for a minute. We all saw the violence of that day as Trump supporters literally assaulted the US Capitol Building. We could see members of Congress fearing for their lives and Capitol police being physically attacked because of lies being spread by Trump and others. The events of that day were not “legitimate political discourse,” yet that is how the RNC referred to it. At the same time, we have seen elected Republicans such as Marjorie Taylor Greene make numerous hateful, false, cruel statements without being censured by the Republican Party.
   Think about this. And these are just a few examples of the dangerous trend many Republicans are going down. 
   This is why we must educate ourselves and speak up. We should stand up for truth, open-mindedness, tolerance, kindness, thoughtfulness, fairness, justice, and democracy. And we have to get out there and vote for individuals who also have the courage to truly stand up and fight for these ideals as well.

This Is A Dangerous Time For American Democracy

by inmanb17cedcb09, posted in Current Events

Jan 3, 2022
   It’s really frustrating and disheartening that people are still arguing about the legitimacy of the 2020 presidential election. And when you think about it, it’s downright scary.
   Here are the facts: there was no widespread fraud in the 2020 election. Let me say that again: there was no widespread fraud in the 2020 election. Donald Trump legitimately lost, and Joe Biden legitimately won. That is the truth. How do I know that is the truth? Well, consider the following.
   Every single state (including those controlled by Republicans) certified the election. There were Republican, Democrat, and Independent observers in all the ballot counting rooms in all the states. On top of this, there were international observers from multiple countries monitoring the election. Now consider that Trump and his people lost over 60 court cases where they were trying to challenge the election results with their false claims of fraud, and many of the judges who ruled against Trump were Republicans themselves. The reason they ruled against Trump is because Trump and his people had no evidence to back up their false claims of widespread fraud. When you consider all of this, it is clear that the election was free and fair and that there was no widespread fraud.
   Yet Trump, his allies, and many of his devout followers continue promoting their false claims of fraud with regards to the election. And what is further concerning is how polls are showing that the majority of Republicans feel that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump despite the fact they don’t have legitimate evidence to back up these claims. Many Republicans are saying they currently don’t trust the election process in the United States.
   This state of affairs is truly frightening and extremely dangerous because it is undermining our democracy and could lead to authoritarianism especially when one considers the authoritarian style power Trump is currently wielding over the Republican Party and how millions of Republicans continue to devotedly follow him no matter what (even when is lying outrageously to them). Trump is spreading his false claims about the election over and over with the idea that if he says them enough, people will believe him even though the claims are totally untrue. And it’s scary that millions and millions of Americans are believing these lies. Trump is essentially demanding that all Republicans, especially those in elected positions, bow to his will and demands. There are some Republicans in elected positions who secretly disagree with Trump, even strongly disagree with him, but are so afraid of him that they go along with his demands even when those demands are wrong.
   The events of January 6th, 2021 were horrifying and unprecedented in American history. Of course Congress needed to investigate what happened to try and prevent it from ever occurring again, yet the majority of Republicans in Congress voted against a bipartisan 9/11 style commission to look into the events that occurred. I think secretly, numerous Republicans wanted such a commission, but they voted against it because Trump demanded they do so. And many were likely also afraid that the legitimate results of such a commission would be at the very least embarrassing and possibly hurt them politically in the future.
   When you look at what is going on these days, especially with regards to Trump’s lies and hold over the Republican Party, one can see how our democracy is in serious danger. There are retired military leaders who are genuinely concerned that in 2024 we may see violence worse than the January 6th riot (or insurrection) and that there is a chance that members of the US military might join in. Such a possibility is beyond horrifying because that is what leads to authoritarianism and full-blown dictatorship. The cold hard truth is that in many ways, a significant portion of the Republican Party is now going in the direction of authoritarianism and away from true democracy.
   Whatever political persuasion you may be, we all need to be vigilant and speak up for truth and democracy. We need to be smart about what we say and how we say it and make sure that we can back up our positions with evidence. We need to stand against the lies and authoritarian trends that Trump and his allies are pushing.
   Democracy is a wonderful thing, but as history has shown, it can be easily lost. So let’s stand up for democracy and be sure that it lives on for many years into the future.