(Tuesday PO) New charges against Trump focus on lies. Scholars see an authoritarian playbook

[GuideToACrazyWorld]

The latest federal case against Donald Trump is putting a spotlight on the role of false and baseless claims in his presidency. The indictment alleges that the former president and his co-conspirators used lies for the criminal purpose of overturning the 2020 election. For some scholars of history, its forensic look at how speech underpinned an alleged conspiracy to illegally retain power helps to situate Trump into larger historical patterns.

"All authoritarian leaders have cults of personality," said Ruth Ben-Ghiat, professor of history at New York University and author of Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present. "Meaning, they propose themselves as all-powerful, as the only solution possible to the nation's ills. 'I alone can fix it.' "
Trump is calling for support for his court appearance. The far right may stay away

At times, the drumbeat of false assertions during Trump's candidacy and presidency perplexed the American press and public. So did Trump's invocation of baseless conspiracy theories, which invariably situated him as a persecuted victim of a "deep state." But Ben-Ghiat said in her studies of authoritarian leaders such as Benito Mussolini, Adolf Hitler, Silvio Berlusconi and Jair Bolsonaro, there was precedent for this.

"The use of lies takes place in a larger effort to turn the public against alternate sources of authority," she said. Those sources might include independent courts, legislative bodies and law enforcement agencies. Or — it may be the fourth estate.
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"If you're looking to see if somebody's going to be a strongman, what you find is even when they start campaigning, they immediately start trying to turn the public against the press, saying [the press is] biased and that they are the truth teller against the establishment," said Ben-Ghiat. As that leader's supporters increasingly come to believe that he is the only source of truth, she said, they will be primed to believe his claims of a stolen election.

"What Trump is doing is, he's asking for personal loyalty to him to outweigh the rule of law," said Jason Stanley, professor of philosophy at Yale University and author of How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them. "We see this in any authoritarian takeover of a system. We see the authoritarian say, 'Devotion to me is more important than the rule of law.' "

The case will likely focus on statements that Trump and co-conspirators allegedly made in the weeks between the 2020 election and the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Nonetheless, Stanley said it may illuminate some of the mechanics that have contributed to a profound shift in American culture and society.

"What jumped out to me is that we finally have a structural understanding of the way lies can undermine democracy, of the way trust is central for our democracy," he said. "Democracy relies on faith in its institutions and laws. Otherwise, there's no stability."

[GuideToACrazyWorld]

I think the biggest issue with Trump is one that is not often discussed. Trump really doesn't understand how our government works.

[Tarmaque]

I think the biggest issue with Trump is one that is not often discussed. Trump really doesn't understand how our government works.

Even worse, he is so obsessed with himself that he has no interest in learning how government works. He doesn't want to govern; he wants to rule. And he doesn't know the difference.

Of course we're also talking about a guy who's dumber than a post.

[Slip Shod]

The next BIG DEAL, Africa.
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The Biden administration is being out maneuvered on every side. Russia is three steps ahead of them. Ukraine is in shambles and a generation of their young men have been slaughtered. All the while behind the scenes for the past couple decades Russia has quietly been maneuvering into a place of dominance in Africa. You idiot Mr President, while you suck on an ice cream cone & focus on a 'woke' military, & indoctrinating school children in being good 'global' citizens - f*_k borders.
piss on the Biden regime
And for the most part the American public are a bunch of dumbass, blind sheeple

[Slip Shod]

GOLD, U.S bonds, where's this heading - your paycheck, inflation, housing and food (war)… usually pushed by economics
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Alongside world food shortages and natural disasters.. floods, droughts. I'm telling you craziness is just around the corner
Sometime soon Israel and Iran are going to light up the Middle East, this year / next year - that in itself will send gas prices soaring while idiot President sells off our petroleum reserves. I believe they're half of what we had

[Slip Shod]

2009 the oil reserve was approximately at a high of 727 million barrels, full capacity. This July it was 347 million. Roughly 55% left.
Congress now thinking we outta start refilling that thing