Why Andrew Sullivan thinks Trump may defeat Clinton for the U.S. presidency.

[Kablooie]

Is America’s Democracy Ripe for a Dictatorship?

In New York magazine’s May 2 cover story, Andrew Sullivan writes that “when a democracy has ripened” to a maximally free state, as described by Plato, “a would-be tyrant will often seize his moment.” That moment, Sullivan argues, may be upon America.

You argue that this is happening now not just because there’s this vile monster, Donald Trump. You actually call him a monster. I thought it was a well-chosen term. But because American democracy has become more susceptible to it. And the reason it has become more susceptible to someone like this is because it’s been getting more democratic. Can you explain what you’re talking about, about America getting too democratic?

I think there was always a concern among the founders that what they wanted to construct in America was not a pure, direct democracy, which they understood would be subject to the whims and passions and fads of the popular majority at any one particular moment. Now this may not be a very popular thing to say today, but it does seem to me important that there be some place for the will of the mob, for the will of the pure democratic majority to be restrained, to be channeled into more productive and less dangerous forms. And what’s happened through the democratization of media, through the collapse of elites in terms of the political parties, and through the further democratization of the Senate, and now actually having Supreme Court literally put up for election, in which the Republicans are currently saying even the Supreme Court should be subject to democratic rule really by the parties.

This is not what the founders intended. And so the safeguards that we used to have against an individual like this have been weakened or removed, so that if we could imagine him winning, and I think to be honest with you, I think he’s more likely to win at this point than Clinton.

Really?

Yes. I mean, I can’t prove that. That’s my instinct at this point, because he owns the narrative.

But were he to win, I think obviously he’d bring the House with him, probably the Senate, and then would have the Supreme Court. So there’d be nothing to stand between him and the people. And that’s a very dangerous position, especially when this individual is proposing a trade war with our biggest trade partners. He is proposing a reign of terror in the Middle East, at least demonstratively to smash, or destroy, or to cut the head off, whatever metaphors he uses, ISIS. But I don’t think he would sit back and pursue the current strategy. These are extraordinarily radical changes against which we would have almost no defense.

Much more:
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2016/05/andrew_sullivan_thinks_donald_trump_may_defeat_hillary_clinton.html

[Elmergantry]

1. Well Duh!

The founders set up a Democratic REPUBLIC, not a mob rule democracy. That's why we had at one time the Senators elected by state legislators, and why we have an electoral college. - both are safeguards against mob rule.