General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: The beginning of the end? [View all]Caliman73
(11,730 posts)I may be foolishly optimistic in stating this but I think that there is a fairly fundamental difference in Russia and the US historically and culturally that makes Trump's plan infinitely harder than what Putin did.
Historically, Russia went from an absolutist monarchy to an authoritarian form of communism where power was controlled by a dictator through repression. From there, as the system appeared to be collapsing, Gorbachev tried to maintain some functionality by opening the USSR up a bit, but he could not stop the collapse. When Yeltsin and Putin were reforming the CIS and Russia, they had a lot of room to work with. The country was a shambles, so a little bit of freedom and some economic good news was welcomed and Putin became really popular. He has since cracked down on those freedoms, but not to the extent that he wants to, not yet. For him, he has fertile ground to work with, the Russian people are somewhat used to, historically, being under authoritarian regimes. They have not tasted freedom to the extent that they will die for it. I think that they would be okay with a little bit of economic comfort and would not revolt against being dictated to.
The United States has grown up under at least, the illusion of being free. While we have accepted more authority, we still have a fairly clear line, as witnessed by the Acting AG refusing to implement the ban, the massive protests that followed, and the courts recently ruling to stay the ban (issuing an uncharacteristic statement about their opinion that the law will not withstand legal scrutiny). One thing that Republicans have always been good at (and I mean this in the sense of "for democracy" is that the over reach. They are so hungry for power that they jump before everything in their plan is set, then they get punished for it.
2010 was one of their biggest victories. They really did a number on the country, but that is very slowly ebbing and there has been resistance. Getting Trump into office was good for people like Bannon and Putin in a sense, but because Trump is so bumbling and stupid, they may have gotten more than they bargained for. Trump being Trump, is maintaining a motivation of resistance in the country that I think, will grow as he continues to over reach.
As you said up thread, we need France to remain Progressive, and Germany to stay the course as well. Here, we need Ginsberg & Breyer to stay healthy. We need to not only protest but to really start organizing and push to take back the Senate, House, and any local races that we can get. We need to really work on fair redistricting, or alternatively, to get control of State legislatures in 2020 in time for the census so that we can do to the conservatives what they did to us in 2010. It is s tough fight, but it is the fight for life in America they way we have known it.