Authoritarianism - A present danger

Recently, I reread an article published almost a year ago, and noticed something salient to what has happened in America over the past year. The urban/rural divide in America also corresponds to a second divide - that of Libertarians and Authoritarians.

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In the Vox article published last March, they discussed a simple 4 question test that could be used to determine whether a person had authoritarian tendencies:

1. Please tell me which one you think is more important for a child to have:  independence or respect for elders?
2. Please tell me which one you think is more important for a child to have: obedience or self-reliance?
3. Please tell me which one you think is more important for a child to have: to be considerate or to be well-behaved?
4. Please tell me which one you think is more important for a child to have: curiosity or good manners?

These questions appear to ask about parenting but are in fact designed to reveal how highly the respondent values hierarchy, order, and conformity over other values.

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I do not intend to ignore how a person values hierarchy, order and conformity.  Instead, I pose that without adequate checks and balances, these values can easily be subverted to destroy liberty.

Recently, one member of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir resigned her position in the choir, instead of perform at Trump's inauguration. She considers her church's lesson of always choosing to do what is right, over that of what is convenient, a very important lesson for all to follow.  The appearance of the choir at the inauguration in her eyes is an endorsement of someone who violates all Mormon tenets, save that he does not drink alcohol.  

The history of the Mormon church was one that began with oppression.  They were persecuted in the early days, and chased out of states like New York and Missouri until they reached their promised land in Utah. Although I do not agree with their creed, I respect them as people - as they try to respect others.  Many Mormons remember their history, and are very offended by Trump's campaign when he advocated a Muslim Registry.  They were among the first to see the potential for an authoritarian government going wild.  And though Mormons tend to be more "traditional" in their answers to the 4 questions above, their faith tends to provide a form of check and balance against tyranny - which might be due to the teaching to do what is right, over that which is convenient.

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We now are seeing a president who does only what is convenient, and not what is right. He has partnered with people whose beliefs and prior actions indicate that they will shred the current social safety net, and leave nothing good in their wake. Additionally, he is now starting to destroy the credibility of the independent press, so that he and his cronies can "gaslight" the public. 

In a recent CNN posting, we are asked what side of history we want to be on.  I hope that enough Americans stand up to do the right thing, no matter how inconvenient, so that we pass on a great country to our children and grandchildren.

I'm not sure of what to think

Does adding a second bible add any substance, legitimacy or truth to what Trump swore to on Inauguration Day?  I doubt it.  It only serves to create an image of false piety for a man from whose mouth only comes lies - including the words "And" and "The".

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As I write this entry, less than two weeks have expired since Trump took office, and we're already seeing chaos in the land. Previously approved refugees, legal residents/green card holders, and other vetted people are being denied entry to the USA, because of Trump's latest executive order. How does this make us any safer? How does this make us appear to the rest of the world?  To me, it only gives nations such as Iran a propaganda advantage, as they will not reject previously approved holders of American passports from visiting their country. And to make things worse, the 3 Arabic speaking countries which are exempt from Trump's executive order (Egypt, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia) are those in which Trump has business interests.  Two of these countries (Saudi Arabia and the UAE) are countries that supplied the 19 hijackers that commandeered the planes on 9/11/01, killing almost 3,000 Americans.

An op-ed piece in the Huffington Post is already.talking about the inevitability of impeachment. But is that what a Democrat should be looking for?  Each day that Trump is in office, he tarnishes the GOP brand and helps to mobilize more potential Democratic voters - people who could be very useful in 2018 and 2020. When the Women's March gathered 3 times on the National Mall as many people as Trump's inauguration, one has a potential movement.  But when one takes into account the other 1,500,000 people protesting around the world, it's easy to see that a raw nerve has been touched.  We have to make sure that the reaction gets us the results we want.

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It is no accident that ALL of Trump's appointments have been to the extreme political right. His deal with Pence is likely the same he offered to John Kasich: You run both foreign and domestic affairs, while I make America great again.  Kasich has some ethics, Pence does not. He is a religious wingnut, someone more dangerous to us than Trump - something that I found hard to believe at first.  If we are stuck with a President Pence, he will follow the GOP policy with no compromises allowed. This is different from Trump, as he can easily be manipulated with flattery.  

The Huffington Post piece noted that Trump suffers from Malignant Narcissism.  Otto Kernberg characterizes it by an absence of conscience, a pathological grandiosity and quest for power, and a sadistic joy in cruelty. And everything said about Trump indicates a diagnosis of Malignant Narcissism would be one of the things high on the list of possibilities. Can we afford this in a national leader?

It is possible to manipulate someone like Trump.  It has often been said about him, that if you are the last to give him an opinion, he will often lean your way - as long as he feels in charge and feels that he is the strongest alpha male in the room.  However, it is much harder to manipulate someone like Pence, as his currency is power. Pence is smart enough to wait around until someone self destructs. And that's what Trump seems to be doing, seeing how much work and thought goes into being president.

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But I go back to the title of this entry, as it raises an important question: Is it in our best interest to help get Trump out of office, taking an immediate gain? Or, is it better to help Trump stay in office until the 2018 elections, preventing a potential President Pence from serving more than 6 years as President in his own right?  Can we afford the damage that Trump will do to this country in a little under than 720 days?  

I've already accepted that Trump will destroy as many external checks and balances as he can, regarding those we have on large businesses.  I've already accepted that Trump will be a disaster for the environment, given his belief that Global Warming is a Hoax.  And I've already accepted that he will be a disaster for human rights. Do we know ALL the risks of removing him from office either via impeachment or via the 25th amendment to the constitution?  I don't think so.  And that worries me.