Hi friends,
Last week, I had the privilege to hear a talk by Stephanie Luce, a professor of Labor Studies at CUNY. She was speaking to members of the Caring Majority about the current dangers to democracy and how they affect our advocacy work and organizing as well as our broader efforts to build solidarity.
She offered an analysis of the authoritarian playbook, noting that most authoritarian leaders seek to gain power through electoral politics. They engage in a number of steps to effect a transition from democracy to a consolidation of executive power in the hands of an authoritarian.
The steps don’t necessarily happen in order. The words in bold are Luce’s:
They change the rules to politicize independent institutions, such as the Supreme Court and libraries.
They spread disinformation to undermine democratic institutions like juries and elections and to weaken trusted authorities.
They target marginalized groups and seek to divide us by scapegoating immigrants, Muslims, drag queens, trans people, etc.
They stoke violence. January 6, attacks on election workers, etc.
They crush dissent, making it difficult or even illegal to protest. Think of the protesters against the war on Gaza.
They corrupt the electoral process with dark money, voter suppression laws, fraudulent claims of rigged elections, and other means (see all of the above).
I would have left that meeting in despair, but for Luce’s inclusion of the democracy playbook. She notes that solidarity is the root of our power. She encouraged us to join organizations working to “change the social order to make it more just.” I borrowed those words from Leah Hunt-Hendrix and Astra Taylor’s book, Solidarity.
More on Solidarity, soon. I’m still reading the intro. In the meantime, if you need to hear “stories of solidarity and hope,” here’s a brilliant podcast:
Listen to Heather McGhee’s The Sum of Us. Or, check out her book!
Astra Taylor is the co-founder of the Debt Collective, the kind of visionary organization that Luce was referring to. The Debt Collective is working to
build a world where college is publicly funded, healthcare is universal and housing is guaranteed for all.
Professor Luce urged us to build coalitions, support and work for candidates we like, challenge disinformation and share accurate news. So, here we are.
Less than two weeks have passed since the verdict in Trump’s first criminal trial, and the disinformation campaign is well underway, muddying the informational waters. It started before the trial began, and the post-verdict campaign did not miss a beat.
I followed multiple sources during the trial, and none was more explanatory than the Prosecuting Donald Trump podcast with veteran prosecutors Mary McCord and Andrew Weissmann.
Weissmann teaches criminal law and procedure and prosecuted 30 people in Enron’s sprawling fraud scandal and numerous members of the Colombo, Gambino, and Genovese organized crime families. He was the lead prosecutor in Robert Mueller’s Special Investigation, which yielded the Mueller Report on Russian Interference in the 2016 Presidential Election.
McCord previously worked in the Attorney General’s office for National Security at the US Department of Justice and currently runs the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection (ICAP). McCord has written extensively
about domestic terrorism, unlawful militia activity, public safety, and the rule of law. McCord received the Oliver White Hill Courageous Advocate Award [for] her work with ICAP litigating against white supremacist and private militias that attended the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville.
I trust these experts. I listened so that you don’t have to. Ready yourself to correct people who are misinformed. Bear in mind that folks have been hearing deliberate falsehoods and make your corrections respectfully.
Read my executive summary of McCord and Weissmann’s corrections to the disinformation surrounding the trial.
Potently, McCord and Weissmann point out that Trump and his supporters continue to repeat the false claim that the 34 felony counts for which the former president was tried and convicted are evidence of a weaponized Justice Department.
These claims ignore the facts: The DOJ declined to charge Trump for these crimes and Biden did not ask them to do so. Trump was convicted by a jury in a state trial brought by an elected Manhattan DA, who does not answer to the federal government.
McCord went further, to state that
Joe Biden is living what it means to act by the rule of law.
Weissmann spells it out: Hunter Biden, the president’s only living son, is on trial right now. The president has made no effort to interfere in the current prosecution of Hunter — concerning an alleged false statement on a background check application for a gun purchase — nor in an upcoming trial on tax charges.
This is so important because of the former president’s habit of accusing others of what he is doing or intends to do.
To preserve my sanity, I rely on others to read Trump’s speeches and social media rants; Robert Reich has detailed Trump’s disinformation as well as the clear signals he has been sending about his own plans to weaponize the US Department of Justice for the purposes of retribution.
In one post about special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation, Trump warned there will be “repercussions far greater than anything that Biden or his Thugs could understand.” In another, Trump wrote that his federal indictments are “setting a BAD precedent for yourself, Joe. The same can happen to you.”
In another post, he asked, “When will Joe Biden be Indicted for his many crimes against our Nation?”
Trump has also said he plans to invoke the Insurrection Act on his first day in office. The Act empowers a president to “take such measures as he considers necessary” to suppress “any insurrection, domestic violence, unlawful combination, or conspiracy.”
Reich offers practical ideas about what we must do to address the threats facing our democracy. He compares our task to the mobilization for war that occurred ahead of the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941.
To prevent any president from weaponizing the Justice Department against political enemies, Reich says we should call on Congress to pass the Protect Our Democracy Act, which passed the House with bipartisan support in late 2021. The law would
prevent the White House from interfering in the work of law enforcement and the DOJ, including exerting pressure to prosecute the president’s political enemies.
Reich also calls for changes to the Insurrection Act to prevent the president from deploying federal troops in a state without the permission of the state’s governor and to
clarify that no president can deploy the military under the Act unless violence overwhelms the capacity of current authorities to protect public safety and security.
Tell your Congressional delegation to pass the Protect Our Democracy Act and amend the Insurrection Act.
with love,
L