JOHN ADAMS:
"Remember Democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes exhausts & murders itself. There never was a Democracy Yet, that did not commit suicide. It's in vain to Say that Democracy is less vain, less proud, less selfish, less ambitious or less avaricious than Aristocracy or Monarchy. It is not true in Fact & no where appears in history. Those Passions are the same in all Men under all forms of Simple Govt. & when unchecked, produce the same Effects of Fraud Violence and Cruelty."
"We're living in the moment the American founders feared most: A populist authoritarian (they used the term "demagogue" -- same difference) has gained power through a legitimate election.
Worse. Trump has the most concentrated, anti-democratic coalition since the Confederacy.
Indeed, for those searching for comparison points from American history, I believe there is no simple parallel for what a threat this poses to our democracy."
"Moving forward, there'll be two narratives of American history: the Trump regime's narrative, bolstered by powerful media on the right: E. Musk vs. reality.
The regime's narrative will be: Trump as American savior, January 6 was righteous (if misguided), and restoration of a Christian America. Trump will almost certainly pardon most or all January 6 rioters, whose 'bravery' will be celebrated by the regime's propaganda.
The other narrative -- the complicated story of America's yet-to-be perfected union, of growing pluralism since the 1960s, of the derailment of that trajectory through a white majority and Christian majority backlash -- will be forced to live in the shadows of disfavor and censorship.
I expect -- and I'd be thrilled to be wrong -- we'll see a surge in Christian nationalist and Christian supremacist rhetoric and identities around Trump in the coming weeks and months.
Trump's seemingly 'miraculous' re-election on the heels of his 'miraculous' survival of the assassination attempts will pour jet fuel on the already popular idea that Trump is ordained and anointed by God for office.
Trump gestured toward this in his victory speech.
Over the past 10 years, charismatic Christian prophets have issued hundreds of positive prophecies about Trump, his divinely appointed destiny, endurance of persecution, etc. This means that Trump has taken on a quasi-messianic aura for many American Christians.
What makes this so dangerous is that, to his followers -- the only segment of the American populace that he cares about -- Trump can make the case that he has not only a democratic mandate, but that he also has a divine mandate to enact his agenda. 'Promises made; promises kept.'
I am especially concerned about this 'Trump as Jehu' prophecy narrative that has set in in recent months, because it is preparing the ground for Christians to accept and even endorse Trump's threatened violence against his opponents as a necessary purge.
It is well past time that we lay aside any lingering forms of American exceptionalism to recognize that autocracy, kleptocracy, and theocracy absolutely 'can happen here.'
Like most populist authoritarians, Trump uses the language of democracy to dismantle liberal democracy.
We need to learn from resistance movements around the world how to stand in the face of MAGA hegemony.
Our dream of a pluralistic, liberal, multi-religious, multi-racial American democracy is not dead; it is on life support."
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