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There Are Four Anti-Trump Pathways We Failed to Take. There Is a Fifth.
The New York Times ^ | Oct. 24, 2024, 5:05 a.m. ET | Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt

Posted on 10/24/2024 10:22:58 AM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum

Democratic self-rule contains a paradox. It is a system premised on openness and competition. Any ambitious party or politician should have a shot at running for office and winning. But what if a major candidate seeks to dismantle that very system?

America confronts this problem today. Donald Trump poses a clear threat to American democracy. He was the first president in U.S. history to refuse to accept defeat, and he illegally attempted to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Now, on the brink of returning to the White House, Mr. Trump is forthrightly telling Americans that if he wins, he plans to bend, if not break, our democracy.

Mr. Trump tells us he plans to prosecute his political rivals, including Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Liz Cheney and other members of the Jan. 6 Select Committee; deploy the army to repress protest; and order the deportation of 15 to 20 million people, including some legal immigrants.

We have been studying democratic crisis and authoritarianism for 30 years. Between the two of us, we have written five books on those subjects. We can think of few major national candidates for office in any democracy since World War II who have been this openly authoritarian.

The view that Mr. Trump poses a grave threat to democracy is shared by his former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Mark Milley, who called him “fascist to the core,” and by his former chief of staff, retired Marine Gen. John Kelly, who described him as a fascist who prefers dictatorship to democracy.

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: Humor
KEYWORDS: danielziblatt; nevertrumper; stevenlevitsky
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Mr. Trump tells us he plans to prosecute his political rivals, including Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Liz Cheney and other members of the Jan. 6 Select Committee.

Trump put zero political opponents in prison during his first 4 years in office.

The FJB/Harris regime put thousands of their political opponents in prison during their 3.75 years in office.

Any questions, Steve or Danny?

1 posted on 10/24/2024 10:22:58 AM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

Steve and Danny forgot their favorite anti-Trump pathway: Assassination


2 posted on 10/24/2024 10:25:16 AM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum (The worst thing about censorship is █████ ██ ████ ████ ████ █ ███████ ████. FJB.)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

Mr. Trump tells us he plans to prosecute his political rivals, including Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Liz Cheney and other members of the Jan. 6 Select Committee; deploy the army to repress protest; and order the deportation of 15 to 20 million people, including some legal immigrants.

I’ve already voted for him...you don’t need to sell me on him.


3 posted on 10/24/2024 10:26:35 AM PDT by tet68 ( " We would not die in that man's company, that fears his fellowship to die with us...." Henry V.)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

I’m so tired of the ‘threat to democracy’ stuff.

They can never answer why he didn’t turn the US into a dictatorship when he had four years to do it.


4 posted on 10/24/2024 10:26:58 AM PDT by Jamestown1630 ("A Republic, if you can keep it.")
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

NYT’s Cheech Y Chong.


5 posted on 10/24/2024 10:27:14 AM PDT by FlingWingFlyer (Funny how the media handed the ball off to treasonous RINOs to carry Harris across the goal line)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

Prison? Trump failed to lift a finger to do any harm to those who led the coup

I don’t think he will even after all the mortal harassment directed toward him.

He’s a deal maker, not a fighter


6 posted on 10/24/2024 10:27:52 AM PDT by bert ( (KE. NP. +12) Where is ZORRO when California so desperately needs him?)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

Looks like Trump has lost the Irish vote.


7 posted on 10/24/2024 10:29:29 AM PDT by ComputerGuy (Heavily-medicated for your protection)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum; lightman

Dear Lord, saves from the lies printed in the NYT and the once-great “Atlantic”!

Grant Trump and Vance a victory like Ronald Reagan’s in 1984! AMEN!


8 posted on 10/24/2024 10:31:58 AM PDT by Honorary Serb
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

Typical “accuse Trump of what we are doing” propaganda.


9 posted on 10/24/2024 10:32:59 AM PDT by marktwain (The Republic is at risk. Resistance to the Democratic Party is Resistance to Tyranny. )
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To: E. Pluribus Unum
"He was the first president in U.S. history to refuse to accept defeat"

Because Demonicrats blatantly cheated in the 2020 fraudulent Presidential election of Traitorjoe. Demonicrats also cheated in the 1960 Presidential election.

10 posted on 10/24/2024 10:33:38 AM PDT by Carl Vehse
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

” we have been studying Democratic authoritarianism for over 30 years....”

And they can do no better than to repeat the same insipid moronic chance of the left yet once again.


11 posted on 10/24/2024 10:34:11 AM PDT by Attention Surplus Disorder (The Democrat breadlines will be gluten-free. )
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

New York Times: In short, he wasn’t supposed to turn his head.


12 posted on 10/24/2024 10:35:00 AM PDT by BookmanTheJanitor
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

“I will snatch their patent, so that we [the American government] will take over. And, yes, we can do that! Yes! Yes, we can do that! Yes, we can do that! It’s the question is, do you have the will do it? I have the will do it!”

“I support a mandatory buyback program.”

“I’m open to this conversation about extending the number of people on the United States Supreme Court, about increasing the number of people on the United States Supreme Court.”

“The power I have as a prosecutor is that with the swipe of my pen, I can charge someone with a misdemeanor. The lowest level offense possible. And by virtue of that swipe of my pen, you will have to go to a courthouse and stand in line, you will have to come out of pocket and hire an attorney, you may get arrested for a few hours, you will be embarrassed in your community, you will miss time from coming onto the Google campus, all because with the swipe of my pen I charged you with a crime, which I may choose to dismiss two weeks later. It’s an incredible amount of power.”

https://www.breitbart.com/2024-election/2024/09/12/everything-you-need-to-know-about-kamala-in-her-own-words-in-one-place/


13 posted on 10/24/2024 10:37:39 AM PDT by Brian Griffin ("Base load affected facilities...must meet a second phase standard based on 90% capture of CO2" EPA)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

“Just because you legally possess a gun in the sanctity of your locked home doesn’t mean that we’re not going to walk into that home and check to see if you’re being responsible.”

https://x.com/greg_price11/status/1836412718133191074


14 posted on 10/24/2024 10:38:18 AM PDT by Brian Griffin ("Base load affected facilities...must meet a second phase standard based on 90% capture of CO2" EPA)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

“there has to be, a, uh, er, uh, a responsibility that is placed on these social media sites to understand their power. They are directly speaking to millions and millions of people without any level of, of, of oversight or regulation. And that has to stop.”

https://pjmedia.com/robert-spencer/2024/09/04/hey-peasant-kamala-harris-doesnt-want-you-to-speak-without-her-permission-n4932251


15 posted on 10/24/2024 10:39:04 AM PDT by Brian Griffin ("Base load affected facilities...must meet a second phase standard based on 90% capture of CO2" EPA)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum
I can hardly wait to see the exploding heads on November 5th...


16 posted on 10/24/2024 10:39:26 AM PDT by jerod (Nazis were essentially Socialist in Hugo Boss uniforms... Get over it!)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

This was not the first presidential election to be questioned. Jefferson vs Burr.....Tilden vs Hayes are two that come to mind... not to mention Bush vs Gore and Nixon vs Kennedy


17 posted on 10/24/2024 10:40:23 AM PDT by mason-dixon (As Mason said to Dixon, you have to draw the line somewhere.)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum
...that Mr. Trump poses a grave threat to democracy is shared by his former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Mark Milley...and by his former chief of staff, retired Marine Gen. John Kelly...

An attempt to "tenderize" military command in the event of martial law?

18 posted on 10/24/2024 10:41:24 AM PDT by frog in a pot
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

1. They tried to kill him multiple times
2. They tried to imprison him
3. They restricted Secret Service protection
4. They lied through their teeth about Trump
5. They stole the election in 2020.
6. They are bringing false accusations about sexual stuff.


19 posted on 10/24/2024 10:41:28 AM PDT by gitmo (If your theology doesn’t become your biography, what good is it?)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

“...Mr. Trump tells us he plans to prosecute his political rivals,...”

That’s not good enough. I want Trump to order the arrest, torture and execution of EVERY single subversive communist puke employee at the New York Homosexual Times. EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM! The other stuff can wait. /spit


20 posted on 10/24/2024 10:41:31 AM PDT by Flavious_Maximus (Tony Fauci will be put on death row and die of COVID!)
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