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Demovictory9

(36,407 posts)
Fri Jun 20, 2025, 03:20 AM Friday

We are witnessing the death of American democracy

Ambrose Evans-Pritchard
We are witnessing the death of American democracy
There are parallels but also differences between Trump’s America and Germany in the early 1930s


American democracy has much deeper roots but the imminent bombing of Iran by the US air force gives pause for thought. There may be excellent reasons to knock out Iran’s nuclear capability, though doing in this way, flippantly, like a power-drunk despot, conflating non-proliferation with regime change, drives the final nail in the coffin of Western moral credibility.

That said, polls suggest that almost 80pc of Americans would applaud the destruction of the Fordow nuclear site, and most would support cutting off the head of the serpent in Tehran. Trump might face a Maga revolt on the edges but the larger bounce in popularity would let him steam roll opposition to his tariff war, his climate war, and his “beautiful big bill” – a giant transfer of income from poor to rich. I don’t believe Steven Bannon’s warning that intervention will “tear the country apart”, unless the bombing mission goes awry.

The strongman glow will open the window further for Trump’s takeover of the deep state. He has already fired the heads of the FBI’s intelligence, counterterrorism, criminal investigations, as well as the heads of the Washington and New York offices. He has purged the justice department, now run by a Lord High Executioner from The Mikado, openly touting an enemies list of “conspirators”. He has forced private law firms to bend the knee.

He has put in a loyalist in charge of the CIA, who inconveniently reported in March that Iran was not building a nuclear weapon. But that was then, when Trump stood for America First, and staying out of forever wars was policy. He has fired the head of the eaves-dropping National Security Agency and its top officials. He has purged the head of the Federal Trade Commission, who is independent by law, like the chairman of the Federal Reserve.

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Play possum if you want. Trump will eat your lunch.


https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2025/06/19/we-are-witnessing-the-death-of-american-democracy/
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