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A couple of years ago, when there was still hope that America might not send a corrupt felon back to the White House, I wrote a book called, The Conspiracy To End America: Five Ways My Old Party Is Driving Democracy to Autocracy. I wrote it because I was struck by the pattern of democratic collapse that had emerged within my old party.
Whenever a democracy slides into autocracy, five critical elements are at work. All of these are active in American politics today. The tendency is to examine each as if it is an isolated phenomenon, troubling perhaps, but manageable by the American system. This illusion is the hope of the autocrats and a potentially fatal mistake. Each of these is part of a greater whole that together threatens the existence of the American experiment. The five autocratic building blocks are:
• Propagandists
• Support of a major party
• Financiers
• Legal theories to legitimize actions
• Shock troops
Since Trump reemerged, all of these factors have been in motion at an ever-accelerating pace. Fox News is only the tip of a massive ecosystem that spreads lies. The social media company owned by a reported heavy illegal drug abuser from South Africa is far more dangerous. The Republican Party has completely collapsed as a normal American political party. There is unlimited money available to further Trumpism, as the above-mentioned reported heavy drug user proved with a $275 million contribution to a man he now says should be impeached. The Supreme Court has ruled that it is legal for the President of the United States to order the execution of other judges if it is part of his official duties.
Which brings us to the use of shock troops.
When Trump told the Proud Boys in a 2020 debate with Joe Biden to "stand back and stand by," he was following the long-established pattern of dictators from Adolf Hitler to Fidel Castro to Vladimir Putin, who rely on non-official civilian thugs to enforce the will of the leader. A few months later, he summoned the Proud Boys as part of an unofficial militia intent on overthrowing the election.
When a Director of Homeland Security stands by while armed agents of the State assault a United States Senator, it's just the next step in a very predictable pattern. ...

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