U.S. House of Representatives Voting to Impeach President Donald Trump for Incitement of Insurrection, January 13, 2021. (Photo credit: U.S. House of Representatives / Wikimedia Commons)
Donald Trump’s authoritarian MAGA movement is “an existential threat to American democracy,” writes Salon’s Chauncey Devega. That is not news, but it is an important reminder as we enter a general election year.
The dark force of Trump’s demagoguery, his dictatorial aspirations, his dishonesty, and his incendiary proclivities are notorious. His political base for ruling the Republican Party—what Devega calls his “diehard followers”—consists largely of (ultra)conservative white Christians. His rallying cry is tailored to their sense of divine favor, fear of displacement, and vision of apocalyptic salvation.
All of this is well known by now but perhaps not sufficiently assessed for its repercussions. Trump’s harangue to his diehard followers is more than just an angry lament. It is a recipe for violence that typifies his authoritarian cant and culminates in the destruction of democratic institutions. (more…)
Hunt the Devil 