Arrogance to Suppression

When I was a boy I was told that anybody could become President. I'm beginning to believe it.

Clarence Darrow

Have you noticed the arrogance of the Trump administration? It seems there is no validity to the opinions of those who actually have the experience and expertise to deal with the situations and kinds of problems we are dealing with today. I think it's because Trump can never be wrong. His fragile mental state can't handle criticism or correction. And if he thinks he's always right, he is delusional.

Unfortunately, if his goal is disruption and chaos, it's working.

I Read the News Today

I get a newsletter from the Bulwark. this is what greeted me this morning. "In the news since Friday: Donald Trump is openly floating the possibility of running for a third term. Elon Musk is distributing corrupt prizes for voting in Wisconsin Supreme Court elections. And we’ve learned one of the Venezuelans the administration imprisoned in El Salvador is a legal migrant who was detained purely because an ICE officer thought his tattoos of the words “Mom” and “Dad” looked like gang signs."

"You can’t take a single weekend off with these clowns. Happy Monday."

Buying the Vote

The Wisconsin AG tried to block the attempt to buy votes in Wisconsin. His bid was turned down by the State Supreme Court. According to the AP, the state Supreme Court, which is currently controlled 4-3 by liberal justices, declined to take the case as an original action. The court gave no rationale for its decision.

No Due Process

How many gang members were rounded up and deported? That's unclear. ICE admits that many of the deportees did not have criminal records, but explained they might do something bad later on. ABC news reports, "The admission that many of the men lacked criminal records – and were deported on the assumption that they might be terrorists – comes as top Trump administration officials insist that the men were violent criminals, with President Donald Trump labeling them monsters."

The Constitution Is Inconvenient

And what about the third term? Think about this, most of us thought he would never try to forcefully overthrow the results of an election. A lot of people thought he didn't have a chance to get re- elected. Many think he is bound by the rulings of the courts, or that congress would hold onto its constitutional powers. The party in power wants to dismantle the federal courts and Republicans in congress are encouraging the dismantling of the courts, and the Trump administration is ignoring courts rulings with no consequences.

What To Do

Speak Out!

Being silent means we're willing to let this stand. I take encouragement from many sources, and that includes the Bible. If you're wondering, this comes from the part of the Bible that White Christian Nationalist ignore. This is two of the 4,000 passages that deal with dignity and justice. It's a part of the Bible that the slave holders edited out to prevent slaves from reading passages they deemed dangerous. And yeah, that's part of our history too.

Proverbs 31 verse 8 and verse 9

Open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all who are destitute.
Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.

Dealing with Racism at the Table

 You're gathered around the table. Then, somebody says something racist. Perhaps it was meant as a joke. It's mean, not humor. Unfortunately, confronting the commenter head on may not work. 

The hard part is the comment is a personal affront to your values. A response that attacks the racist won't deescalate the issue. Their reaction will be defensive, and the confrontation could easily spiral out of control. Instead focus on the issue. 

I found some replies on WebMD that don't let the offensive remark slide, but offer some space before dealing with the issue more directly.

Health & Balance/Feature Stories

What to Say When Someone Says Something Racist

Medically Reviewed by Melinda Ratini, MS, DO on July 23, 2021Written by Candina Jordan

Listen

It can be hard to know how to respond when someone makes a racist comment, especially if they are close to you or in a position of power over you. There are several different responses to racist remarks that you can use. The response you choose when talking with family members or friends may be different from that you choose when talking with a work colleague. 

Plan Ahead

It can take courage to stand up to someone who makes a racist comment or joke. Resolving to be someone who speaks up for others might help you overcome any awkwardness you feel about confronting racism. It can also help if you decide ahead of time that you won't tolerate racial slurs or derogatory remarks. ‌

It's easy to get caught off guard when you hear a derogatory remark in a situation where you aren't expecting it. You may not be able to think of an appropriate thing to say quickly enough. Memorizing some responses may help you prepare for the next time you find yourself in that situation. Pick a few phrases, and practice saying them until it feels comfortable. ‌

Here are some simple phrases you can use as responses to racist remarks: 

That's not how we do things here. 

That's not funny to me.

That sounds racist. 

That was not necessary. 

Is the person’s race relevant to your story? 

I'm sorry, what?

I need a moment to process that. 

Let's be careful that our words are respectful of everyone. 

Racial jokes are not okay. 

That comment makes me uncomfortable. 

Maybe you don't realize the impact of your words. 

If these don't work, maybe a pie fight?

Just to be clear, all that racist rhetoric used by Trump and his surrogates was not okay. It still isn't.

Must We Fear the Other?

Hate

 Lack of Love is Indifference

"paradise is a world where everything / is sanctuary & nothing is a gun."

- Danez Smith, "summer, somewhere"

I looked at postings from the supporters of Donald Trump, and I understand they will never find sanctuary as long as they hold onto hate. Is it hyperbole, sometimes.

At other times, the hate and rage easily lapses into violence.

At a Trump rally in 2022, a Trump supporter explained that in the coming civil war he would murder his Sister, a Democrat, without hesitation. In 2020 there was the incident when a Trump caravan intentionally harassed a Biden/Harris campaign bus. Tailgating with the intent to harass is a crime. Ramming is overt, and involves reckless endangerment.  The January 6th attack on the Capitol demonstrates how easily hate can result in violence. Trump called them patriots.

Going Deeper

Strong emotions can make it impossible to think, reason and make decisions. And the opposite of love is not hate, it is indifference. Hate is not about indifference. Hate is intense and unremitting and can easily motivate violence. Hate usually stems from fear, insecurity, or mistrust. (MedicineNet)

Hate has a very strong pull. Psychology today provided insight. Aristotle says, “hate rises without previous offense, is remorseless for the person experiencing it, incurable by time, and strives for the annihilation of its target.”

Darwin, in 1872, described hate as a feeling that lacks a distinct facial expression and manifests itself as rage.

Typically, hate is viewed as an extreme form of dislike, an amplified version of anger, disgust, or contempt and a readiness to do harm.

Psychologists believe that hate is most likely to emerge in the presence of moral violations particularly when the targets of hatred are perceived as bad, immoral, and dangerous. It is not surprising, therefore, that politicians frequently vilify their opponents using negative terms.

If you are consumed with hate it will make you crazy and old before your time. (cs&n)

According to the Psych Matters website, It’s important to note that all these reactions affect only the hater, and not the hated, breaking down your nervous – immune – and endocrine system, and your mental well-being.

Manipulated by an algorithm

Letting go of hate takes a realization that you are consumed by hate and a willingness to change. The fires that feed hate and rage on social media are unremitting. Stepping back, taking a breath is hard when all you see and hear reinforces the hatred. It is evil and it could consume all of us.

"Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil." "But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness." "Whoever is slow to anger has great understanding, but he who has a hasty temper exalts folly." (Psalm 37)

Trump's Intention: Misdirection

 

Send (someone or something) to the wrong place or in the wrong direction.

Elected Republicans have wavered at times — whether it was Trump’s condemnation of John McCain’s war record, his racist attack against a Mexican-American judge, his sexually predatory language caught on video, his alleged extramarital affairs, his decision to side with Russian President Vladimir Putin over U.S. intelligence, his promotion of false allegations of election fraud and his incitement of a violent mob that threatened the lives of lawmakers in both parties.

But after almost eight years of near-constant scandal, Republicans have ultimately rallied behind Trump over and over and over again. -Associated Press

Why?

Certainly, Trump is feeding into this frenzy. 

First, he set up a false narrative of impending arrest. Republicans rushed to Trump's aid, threatening an illegal investigation into a legal investigation, tarring District Attorney Alvin Bragg as a partisan hack. The idea was to cast doubt on the motivations of a legally assembled grand jury.

The idea was to misdirect. Lamont and Wiseman define misdirection as “that which directs the audience toward the effect and away from the method”, extending its scope beyond the simple manipulation of attentional processes.

And then there's the constant need to be the center of attention as evidenced by Trump's claim of his impending arrest. He needed to reenergize his flagging political momentum. He called for mass protest. What he got was something else. There were few protests. The protesters were far outnumbered by counter protesters. 

The BBC delved into this. Some of his supporters believed the protest were a setup by the deep state. Among them, Marjorie Taylor Greene. 

The same sentiments were rife in pro-Trump Facebook groups, on Telegram channels, on sites like 4chan, and on Truth Social.

Fear of being set up has not put an end to threats of violence. But there are indications that talk of violence against Trump's opponents is rising. "Advance Democracy, a non-partisan research group, found a spike in mentions of violence trebled on Truth Social after Mr Trump declared on Saturday that he would be arrested and urged his supporters to "PROTEST, TAKE OUR NATION BACK!"  -BBC

House Republicans understand their base is tied to Trump's base. They seem unwilling to stand with the facts. Yet, the lessons of 2016 and beyond are hard to ignore. Those who stood against Trump found themselves on the outside looking in. Because there are no consequences for Trump, the threat of violence increases. 

Things that Work / Negative Political Advertising

Brian Worthheim
 

Negative Ads

Not all things that work are good for us

I'm sure you've noticed all the negative ads as we get closer to the election Tuesday. But are they working?

They are in Wisconsin, and some heavy hitters in conservative circles are behind Ron Johnson and his campaign.

Up until recently, Mandela Barnes had a sizeable lead on Ron Johnson. That lead has evaporated as Johnson and an advertising campaign, largely funded by two billionaires who the Democrat’s campaign say are rewarding Johnson for his support of tax cuts that benefited them by hundreds of millions of dollars. The campaign is loaded with false hoods and racists dog whistles.

The Guardian and PBS reports Diane Hendricks, a rightwing billionaire businesswoman and Wisconsin native closely tied to Donald Trump, and Richard and Elizabeth Uihlein, founders of the Wisconsin-based Uline packaging company who have a long history of funding far-right candidates, are the main donors to a political action committee, Wisconsin Truth, which until recently was heavily outspending the Barnes campaign.

Their campaign may not be fair, but there's no law against it. NPR reports The federal government does regulate truth in advertising, but that only applies to commercial ads, not political ones. In fact, local broadcast channels - think your local NBC, CBS or ABC news stations - are required to air candidates' ads unfiltered.

After months of flinging mud, Senator Ron Johnson was finally obliged to admit that his Democratic opponent in the upper midwestern state of Wisconsin had never actually made a call to “defund the police”.

But that did not stop the Trumpist senator’s re-election drive from continuing to broadcast racially charged advertisements falsely claiming that Mandela Barnes, the lieutenant governor of Wisconsin, “rationalized violence” against the police and tying him to the most controversial positions of Black Lives Matter. -The Guardian

In a report on PBS NewsHour, Senator Tommy Tuberville in a campaign rally in Nevada with Donald Trump made racist claims. 

Some people say, well, they're soft on crime.

No, they're not soft on crime. They're pro-crime. They want crime. They want crime because they want to take over what you got. They want to control what you have.

They want reparation because they think the people that do the crime are owed that.

Bull (EXPLETIVE DELETED)!

And there's really no getting around the fact that that is a racist statement, the idea that only Black people commit crime or something, which is just patently untrue, and — yes, and just very much untrue.

But what I will say is that the Republican effort to tie Democrats to crime, to say that Democrats want crime or our, like, soft on crime, or want lenience on criminals, that is very much on message with the Republican campaigns.

There is a huge amount of spending on crime-related advertising. You mentioned Wisconsin. -Tamara Keith

The sad part is, standing with the facts may not be enough to offset big money and big lies that resonate with people's fears. It's not ethical, but it will continue to work, unless enough people who care, vote. 

Facing the Truth

Dissent

Is it okay to dissent, to hold an opposing view? Not in some circles. To have a dissenting view in Trump's America is disloyal, even treasonous. In places like China or Russia, a dissenting view leads to a re-education camp. In some countries, you might just disappear. 

To some people in this country, if you speak of systemic racism, or critical race theory, you run up against their views of our republic's history. And today, you become the enemy. Don't believe it. What just happened to Nancy Pelosi's husband? Threats against our political leaders are spiking. 

According to data provided by the United States Capitol Police, a law enforcement agency charged with protecting members of Congress, cases related to "concerning statements and threats" jumped from 3,939 in 2017 to 9,625 in 2021.

But our history isn't just about our successes or our failures. It isn't all this or all that. And to ask questions makes our democracy stronger. To question is not unpatriotic. To question uncovers the facts.

"A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots." -Marcus Garvey

Denial will not protect us from the inevitable when the truth is discovered.

And they'll jerk from their beds and think they're dreamin'
But they'll pinch themselves and squeal
And know that it's for real
The hour when the ship comes in… -Bob Dylan

Racism Is a Festering Abscess

Picture credit, Rod Long

 Is racism over?

If we don't teach the lessons of the past, will they just go away. 

Two quotes that tell us that the fight against hate is hardly over...

The function, the very serious function of racism is distraction. It keeps you from doing your work. It keeps you explaining, over and over again, your reason for being. Somebody says you have no language and you spend twenty years proving that you do. Somebody says your head isn’t shaped properly so you have scientists working on the fact that it is. Somebody says you have no art, so you dredge that up. Somebody says you have no kingdoms, so you dredge that up. None of this is necessary. There will always be one more thing.

Toni Morrison

As you grow older, you’ll see white men cheat black men every day of your life, but let me tell you something and don’t you forget it—whenever a white man does that to a black man, no matter who he is, how rich he is, or how fine a family he comes from, that white man is trash

Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird

The MAGAs have been picking at this wound since before they became associated with the name MAGA and Donald Trump. It is now open and festering. The healing begins in each of us. We need to learn how to love one another no matter their skin color, their faith, their sexual orientation, their age, or their disability. Are we capable of this? Can we set aside our prejudices? Will we be allowed to learn from our past? 

I think we can. It starts with awareness. Dare I say, woke? Then we must teach our children well. 

Prejudice for political gain

 

What divides us? Is it our prejudices?

The Verywellmind defines prejudice. Prejudice is an assumption or an opinion about someone simply based on that person's membership to a particular group. For example, people can be prejudiced against someone else of a different ethnicity, gender, or religion.

Some of the most well-known types of prejudice include the following:

• Racism.
• Sexism.
• Ageism.
• Classism.
• Homophobia.
• Nationalism.
• Religious prejudice.
• Xenophobia.

Whats the big deal? 

Don't we all have prejudices?

According to AnneFrank.org Prejudice can become dangerous if it is spread on a large scale. In media such as newspapers, tv, or radio, for instance. Or on social media. If negative things about a specific group are repeated over and over, then we have to be careful. Especially if no one counters these ideas, more and more people may end up believing the prejudice. 

It gets worse. 

The people at AnneFrank.org warn, "History has taught us what can happen when prejudice is spread by ‘the powers that be’. For instance, when politicians use it to win votes. Or when a government takes measures against a certain group on the basis of prejudice. That is when people are excluded and persecuted. And that is when prejudice becomes extremely dangerous."

Trump took the lid off some dark places.

 Those that follow him let their prejudices take them into the darkness. 

A series of 13 studies with over 10,000 participants tested the change in Americans’ prejudice following the presidency of Donald Trump. The researchers found that explicit racial and religious prejudice increased amongst Trump’s supporters, while prejudice decreased among those who opposed him. This research was published in Nature Human Behavior.

Psypost.com shared this information. Researchers found, Trump supporters perceived that expressing prejudice had become more acceptable since his election, and this perception predicted greater personal prejudice among them. As well, “experimentally leading participants to feel that Trump supporters approved of his controversial rhetoric significantly increased Trump supporters’ personal expressions of prejudice .”

Equalityhumanright.com further defines the danger of unchecked prejudice.

Prejudice motivates hate

The consequences lead to harm. Regardless of its form and intention, prejudice always has the potential to cause harm because it reduces the value, status or importance attached to people from ‘the other group’.

Some people try to justify prejudice or discrimination by arguing that a particular ‘outgroup’ poses a threat to their own (sometimes dominant or majority) ‘ingroup’ in society. This perceived threat can be realistic (dominant group feels their safety and health is threatened), symbolic (values or way of life is threatened) or economic (jobs or property is threatened).

Can prejudice be changed?

The change can be facilitated. The prejudiced person can be exposed to different groups, ideas and cultures. The scales may fall if the individual has an increased awareness. The Verywellmind came up four ideas.

How to Reduce Prejudice

1. Gaining public support and awareness for anti-prejudice social norms.
2. Increasing contact with members of other social groups.
3. Making people aware of the inconsistencies in their own beliefs.
4. Passing laws and regulations that require fair and equal treatment for all people.

In the end, it is up to the individual to change, but the opportunity to change should be present. Speaking truth to power can facilitate that change. 

Though his hatred be covered with deception, his wickedness will be exposed in the assembly. Whoever digs a pit will fall into it, and a stone will come back on him who starts it rolling. A lying tongue hates its victims, and a flattering mouth works ruin. Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring. Let another praise you, and not your own mouth; a stranger, and not your own lips. Proverbs 26

Put The Hearings in Perspective

 

One Hearing Won't Be the End of This

I remember thinking after the publication of Woodward and Bernstein's Watergate story, that this would change the outcome of the 1972 election. I also remember how disappointed I was when the public ignored the direct link between President Nixon and the Watergate break in. Nixon won 49 states. And it wasn't just the break in, it was the coverup. 

The Election Didn't Kill This Story

There was much more, including the Saturday Massacre.  According to sources cited in Wikipedia, the Saturday Night Massacre marked the turning point of the Watergate scandal as the public, while increasingly uncertain about Nixon's actions in Watergate, were incensed by Nixon's seemingly blatant attempt to end the Watergate probe, while Congress, having largely taken a wait-and-see policy regarding Nixon's role in the scandal, quickly turned on Nixon and initiated impeachment proceedings that would end in Nixon's resignation.

The Saturday Night Massacre was a series of events that took place in the United States on the evening of Saturday, October 20, 1973, during the Watergate scandal.^[1] U.S. President Richard Nixon ordered Attorney General Elliot Richardson to fire Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox; Richardson refused and resigned effective immediately. Nixon then ordered Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus to fire Cox; Ruckelshaus refused, and also resigned. Nixon then ordered the third-most-senior official at the Justice Department, Solicitor General Robert Bork, to fire Cox. Bork carried out the dismissal as Nixon asked.^[2] Bork stated that he intended to resign afterward, but was persuaded by Richardson and Ruckelshaus to stay on for the good of the Justice Department .^[3][4]

Then there were Nixon Tapes. At first he refused to release all the tapes. Later he was compelled. The tapes blew the lid off the case. A particular recording from June 23, 1972, became known as the “Smoking Gun” tape. This conversation between the president and his advisor H.R. Haldeman revealed that the president began actively participating in a cover-up of his campaign’s illegal activities less than a week after the Watergate burglary. Nixon was accused of obstruction of justice by the use of hush money and because he instructed various government officials to order other departments to thwart the investigation. Nixon never faced a formal impeachment or other legal proceedings because he resigned from the presidency and was pardoned by his vice president and successor, Gerald Ford. billofrightsinstitute.org  Nixon Tapes: The “Smoking Gun” Tape, 1972

There are issues and events that should go beyond the regular news cycle. The point is, the January Sixth investigation is only a part of a complex series of events meant to overturn the election and create a constitutional crisis. There's a lot more to the story. Public Media has the resources to follow this story over the long haul with it's news reporting, talk programming, round tables, public events, author interviews, blogs and podcasts. The facts matter. Our audience isn't willing to cast this story aside. We should not disappoint them.

1.  Andrews, Evan. "What Was the Saturday Night Massacre?". HISTORY. Retrieved May 13, 2020.
2. ^ "A Brief History Of Nixon's 'Saturday Night Massacre'". NPR.org. Retrieved May 13, 2020.
3. ^ "Bork: Nixon Offered Next High Court Vacancy in '73". Yahoo News. ABC News. February 25, 2013. Archived from the original on March 1, 2013.
4. ^ Jump up to:^a b Noble, Kenneth B.; Times, Special To the New York (July 2, 1987). "Bork Irked by Emphasis on His Role in Watergate". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 13, 2020.

Agents of Hope

 

QAnon and the Faithful

Commentary by Khari Brown and Ronald Brown in Sojourners examines the increasing connection between religion and support for QAnon. In a report release in May 2021 by the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI), 15 percent of Americans agree with QAnon allegations "that government, media, and financial worlds in the US are controlled by a group of Satan-worshiping pedophiles who run a global sex trafficking operation." There's a statistic from the study that's hopeful,  82 percent of Americans disagree. What is disturbing is 23 percent of white evangelical Protestants, core Republican Party constituents, are QAnon believers. 

To paraphrase Mr. Rodgers, can you say False Prophet?

Baptist churchgoers in Missouri shared Facebook posts that claim Democratic party leaders are sexually trafficking and eating children.

Pew research went over data from 2020 and 2021. There is considerable evidence that most individuals are more likely to challenge the conspiracy theories  when they attend places of worship where clergy emphasize racial justice, democracy, , and scientific reasoning. Worship attendees who heard sermons supporting Black Lives Matter, 83 percent said QAnon is bad for the nation. Of those who heard preaching that identified Donald Trump's claims about election fraud as false, 64 percent held an unfavorable view of QAnon.

The commentary concludes, clergy and their pulpits have a critical role in encouraging Americans to think critically about conspiracy theories that damage our democracy and cloud our understanding that we all are created in God's image.

Extremist Violence: A Right Wing Thing

Don't confuse anger with hatred

What happened in Buffalo was all about hate and rage fed by politicians who feed off fear and prejudice. Their power depends on it. So far, it's working. Some 35 percent of Americans—including 68 percent of Republicans—believe the Big Lie, pushed relentlessly by former President Donald Trump and amplified by conservative media, that the 2020 presidential election was stolen. They think that Trump was the true victor and that he should still be in the White House today. Sarah Longwell/The Atlantic April 2022.

The lies about the election are only the surface. Dig a little deeper and you will find bigotry and hatred fueled by Trump's rhetoric. The outcome is violence. 

The NYTimes says over the past decade, the Anti-Defamation League has counted about 450 U.S. murders committed by political extremists.

Of these 450 killings, right-wing extremists committed about 75 percent. Islamic extremists were responsible for about 20 percent, and left-wing extremists were responsible for 4 percent.

Nearly half of the murders were specifically tied to white supremacists.

Replacement Theory

During his Ohio speech, Salon reports Trump amplified his white supremacist race-war fantasies, which are clearly derived from the "Great Replacement" conspiracy theory and fears that white people somehow face extinction at the hands of Black or brown invaders. Trump has now fully mated the Big Lie claim that he is still the "real" president of the United States with white identity politics and grievance mongering:

"The very same people who piously claimed to be defending democracy are the ones throwing open your borders, surrendering your sovereignty, defunding your police, prosecuting your politicians — like nobody's ever seen before, by the way… desecrating your laws, crushing your wages, diluting your vote, and handing your country over millions and millions of illegal foreign nationals — illegal aliens, I would call them — all without your consent.

You haven't consented to that. On top of that you, had a fake, phony election….

But no matter how big or powerful these corrupt radicals may be, you must never forget this nation does not belong to them. This nation belongs to you. This is your home. This is your heritage, and your great American liberty is your God-given right."  Donald Trump

Anger is an emotion characterized by antagonism toward someone or something you feel has deliberately done you wrong. Anger can be a good thing. It can give you a way to express negative feelings, for example, or motivate you to find solutions to problems. But excessive anger can cause problems.
https://www.apa.org › topics › anger

Hate a hostile emotion combining intense feelings of detestation, anger, and often a desire to do harm. Also called hatred.

Hate crimes are any felony or violent crime based on prejudice against a particular group. They are prejudice's most extreme expression. Compared to other crimes, hate crimes have a broader impact on victims and communities because they target core aspects of identity.
https://www.apa.org › topics › hate

Stoking the fires of hatred is the main focus of Trump's rallies, where he espouses the replacement theories spewed by the gunman in Buffalo. His hatred resulted in the slaughter of ten innocents. The killer was disappointed. He wanted more.

We, in the media, need to help people connect the dots. Ignoring the obvious will result in the further rise of the narrative embraced by so many of Trump's followers. An obvious question for Republicans, do you think our children should be exposed to
The Great Replacement Theory (GRT)? Are you willing to speak out against Trump's use of GRT to fire up his base?

Quick Guide to Autocracy

 

What is an example of an autocracy?

Nazi Germany is an example of an autocracy run primarily by a single leader and his party. Indonesia under the Suharto's New Order (1966-1998). Greece under the military junta of Georgios Papadopoulos (1967–1974). wikipedia.org
What type of government is autocracy?


An autocracy is a form of government in which one ruler has absolute control and decision-making power. Autocracies have existed since ancient times, when kings and emperors ruled over great countries and tribal lands, and they exist today in the form of absolute monarchies and dictatorships. Jan 28, 2022 National Geographic

Does Russia have an autocracy?

Features. The tsar himself, the embodiment of sovereign authority, stood at the center of the tsarist autocracy, with full power over the state and its people. The autocrat delegated power to persons and institutions acting on his orders, and within the limits of his laws, for the common good of all Russia. Wikipedia Communist Russia and the Soviet Union under Stalin was autocratic.

Is Vladimir Putin an Autocrat?

Yes, according to the Atlantic, The BBC, The Journal of Democracy, CNN, The Brooking Institute, The Economist, Politico, Forbes and many more. Other autocratic countries includeChina, Iran, Kazakhstan, Laos, North Korea, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Turkmenistan...

Is Trump an autocrat?

Autocracy is certainly his leadership style, and the leaders he admires most are autocrats. Shawn M. Burn Ph.D. thinks so. In her article for Psychology Today she writes of The Perils of Trump's Autocratic Leadership Style. Her points:

• Autocratic (authoritarian) leaders use, and often abuse, their coercive power to get people to do their bidding.

• Another problem is that using threats or intimidation to foster loyalty often backfires. Superficially, you may have the loyalty and respect of your subordinates, but it is not the real thing, driven as it is by fear rather than true respect.

• Another problem with autocratic leadership is that it lends itself to poor decision-making. Trump’s insistence on the unquestioning loyalty of those in his administration is also a set-up for groupthink and consequent poor decision-making.

Democracy in Retreat

Democracy has been in decline for the past 15 years and Putin has been behind the decline. And yet, Putin sees himself as the champion of democracy.


"Putin has spent more than two decades consolidating power, rebuilding Russia’s military and weakening his enemies. He has repeatedly undermined democratic movements and popular uprisings, including those in Syria and Belarus. He has meddled in Western elections. And he has deployed Russian troops to enforce his will, including in Georgia and Crimea.

The invasion of Ukraine — the largest war in Europe since World War II — is a significant escalation of this behavior. The country’s fall would mark a violent end to one of the world’s democracies." German Lopez, NYTimes