Twitter Crowd-sources Trump's Authoritarian Behavior

I think it never really dawned on me before how sloppy and stupid the rise of authoritarianism can be. It makes sense, of course. If brute force is the strategy, smarts aren't essential. But to see it up close is to appreciate that I missed an important theme in history books.

— Walter Shaub (@waltshaub) October 6, 2019

Walter Shaub @waltshaub said...

"I think it never really dawned on me before how sloppy and stupid the rise of authoritarianism can be. It makes sense, of course. If brute force is the strategy, smarts aren't essential. But to see it up close is to appreciate that I missed an important theme in history books."

Irina and others reply:

>  You guys keep not understanding that average voters don't understand how government works. They don't understand laws. They see no difference between Hunter Biden got cushy job for 50k a month because his last name is Biden and Pentagon planes were diverted to Trump Hotel. Anyone who canvas and registers voters in non urban non college college educated areas will tell you. You want to find out. Go volunteer for a month in purple/red areas of your state. The thing is we Liberals/Progressive/Dem feel guilty and condescending if we admit the truth.
>  I’ve done this for years in Oklahoma. You are 100% right. Furthermore many people have almost no concept of evidence, of one statement’s supporting another. Reasoning and facts and truth count for nothing. This isn’t acceptable to say but I’ve been there and I’m old so I’ll say it
>  Lack of critical thinking skills

>  There’s no reason to assume that the majority of humans would possess these skills, especially if they’re valued and trained as party of society/family/education. We are very smart animals.
That’s a relative status, not an absolute.

>  Look at films of Mussolini - he's a clownish figure, strutting around with his chest pumped out. He looks ridiculous.People don't take it seriously, while the takeover consolidates power.
Look at cowardly Rubio, and Roy Blunt today: "He was just joking"

>  Look at Trump and Boris Johnson. Two repulsive & clownish characters chosen for the death of Democracy.

>  The incident with the journalist who was coming back to the US and was confronted by a Customs official who insisted he "admit he wrote propaganda" before he could get his passport back was disgusting to the core. I hope that "official" loses his/her job.
>  That's actually what got me thinking about this. A dumb thug taking the reporter's passport and mocking him is like a big dumb kid in 7th grade grabbing someone's lunch. In normal times, that customs agent might've been afraid of losing his job. But dumb thugs are unleashed now.

>  I just read the story, which I wouldn't have if not for your post, so the question really is...have these bad actors always been in our society but largely un-noticed until social media? The far-right lost their minds over Obama. What was happening then? Was I just unplugged?

>  I think that 45 has given them "permission" to show their true selves. He sets the example and it's not a good one for democracy.

>  As the article in Defense One says, there have been other incidents of this jackboot behavior. When the rank and file see Trump denigrating the free press, they think it's acceptable behavior. We're about 5 minutes from, " Your papers are not in order."

>  These days, we are all getting a bit of an education.

>  You think the flood of lies is educational?

>  Yes. We have been blind to the brutality going on under our noses and it has now metastasized.

>  Just think about how Adolf Hitler persuaded normal good Christian Germans to turn on their Jewish neighbors to torture and kill them in the Holocaust.
History is repeating this to some degree ...in America

>  A long term commitment to allow somebody else to do all your thinking begins with a commitment to do none of your own. When we’re ready to let all this corruption slide, we’re halfway there.