I have found little news more chilling than the recent report that scholars and authors Timothy Snyder (On Tyranny), his wife Marci Shore (The Ukrainian Night), and Jason Stanley (How Fascism Works) left Yale University for University of Toronto.
Shore stated, “I sensed that this time, this second Trump election, would be still much worse than the first — the checks and balances have been dismantled,” she wrote. “I can feel that the country is going into free fall. I fear there’s going to be a civil war.”
One could conjecture that they have little faith that our Constitution will hold. In my opinion, they are justified. All of the authoritarian-takeover signs are here, as you’ll see below. And the only thing preventing that takeover is the Constitution. But the Constitution is a benign doctrine – if there are few people with the fortitude to enforce it.
It is the people in the two branches which are meant to be the check on Executive power that must decide in this moment to do the right thing. Otherwise, the Constitution has no power. With that, I offer this final warning:
Key: IP == In Progress
| Steps to Takeover | Hitler | Putin | Orban | Trump |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1) Create an Enemy to Unite Against: Generate fear & justify attacks (think “transgender sickos, raping/murdering immigrants, enemies within, & radical left lunatics”). | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ |
| 2) Amplify Propaganda: Normalize hate speech & authoritarian rhetoric; change the meaning of language (“diversity” = white discrimination); use double speak (“fake news” to describe factual news); LIE (Trump won the 2020 election, & Biden was the worst president ever); gaslight (Crime is at its highest level; DOGE is removing waste, fraud, & abuse); endorse conspiracy theories. | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ |
| 3) Stoke Nationalistic Fervor & Institute Isolationism: Co-opt patriotism (think MAGA); gain popular support, then convert followers to loyalists willing to do ANYTHING; reduce global influence, pull out of global partnerships, & sanction foreign governments. | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ |
| 4) Suppress Political Opposition & Reward Loyalty: Disparage & purge party dissenters (like RINOs) & grant favors for fealty (think dismissing lawsuits & hiring loyalists, & pardoning Jan. 6 rioters & others). | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ |
| 5) Purge Government Officials: Remove qualified, experienced civil servants & install loyalists, qualified or not. | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ |
| 6) Centralize Power: Centralize Executive power & remove checks & balances, insulating Executive with loyalists; ignore conflicts of interest. | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ |
| 7) Restrict Freedom of Speech: Censor certain language (like anti-Trump & DEI words) & extort/punish those who defy. | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ |
| 8) Restrict Freedom of Press: Discredit legitimate truth-telling news sources; investigate & ban factual news media; elevate pro-regime media – accurate or not – to position of state-run media (think Fox Faux News). | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ |
| 9) Manipulate Elections: Legislate voter suppression; gerrymander maps; purge voter rolls; discredit election integrity. | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ |
| 10) Manipulate Education: Whitewash history; oppose/ban subjects (like gender ideology, African-American History, & systemic racism); restrict liberal speech & academic freedom (think anti-DEI, extorting institutions, removing funding); dumb down the citizenry by reducing access to accurate information on subjects like science, history, health, & education (think removing info & research from government websites); dismantle Department of Education & defund programs. | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ |
| 11) Rewrite History: Promote & institutionalize false narratives (think restoring Confederate leaders as heroes fighting for states’ rights, & Jan. 6 was a day of love & peace); remove historical figures & info from museums & government websites. | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ |
| 12) Weaponize Judiciary: Discredit & purge disloyal attorneys & judges; hire loyal attorneys & stack courts with party-line judges; launch cases against “enemies,” including businesses; dismiss cases against loyalists; ignore judicial rulings; eliminate due process for selective groups; re-interpret & change laws & Constitution. | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ |
| 13) Attack & Limit Civil Liberties: Dismiss civil rights lawsuits; pass legislation & issue Executive Orders trammeling civil rights for selective minority groups (think women, non-citizen immigrants, & LGBTQ persons). | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ |
| 14) Remove Oversight and Transparency: Remove ability to sue government; hide actions behind legal frameworks (like the State Secrets Privilege); dismantle Freedom Of Information offices; use unsecure channels (like the Signal app which deletes data); remove watchdogs (think firing Judge Advocate General officers & replacing Inspectors General with DOGE) & thus remove accountability. | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ |
| 15) Use Violence & Intimidation: Use rhetoric encouraging violence (think inciting Jan. 6 Insurrection & assault of dissenters) and threats (like to political opponents); signal shadowy groups to enact punishments (like pro-Trump militias, ready to act as Secret Police); turn a blind eye to excesses of law enforcement (like ICE). | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ |
| 16) Institute Oligarchy: Allow ultra-rich to have undue influence; dismantle government services & offer to oligarchs to buy up & take over. | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | IP |
| 17) Declare Emergency to Unlock Executive Powers & Justify Martial Law: Restrict civil liberties; suspend communications, like telecomm & Internet; freeze assets; institute warrantless surveillance, search & seizure; criminalize protests; investigate, penalize, and/or jail dissenters. | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | ✔︎ | IP |
Then, Autocracy is complete.
We are well on our way to having all the conditions in place for an American autocracy. The only way to stop it is for the people to step up and refuse to let it happen. Contact your elected representatives in both the House and Senate and DEMAND that they uphold the Constitution and stop Trump’s takeover!
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Sources
- On Tyranny, book by Timothy Snyder; summary
- “How Easy Would It Be for Trump to Destroy Our Democracy?“ Forward Kentucky
- “20 Signs of Tyranny,” Substack, Robert Reich
- “The Path to American Authoritarianism; What Comes After Democratic Breakdown,” Foreign Affairs
- “Their democracy died. They have lessons for America about Trump’s power grab,” Vox
- “Hungary Under Viktor Orbán: A Domino in The Global Fall of Democracy,” Human Rights Research Center
