The Coming Autocracy, II

A few weeks ago I wrote in these pages that we in America are almost assured of heading for a degradation of democracy and a sharp rise of autocratic governance if Donald Trump wins the presidency again this coming November. In that op-ed I focused on the groups that would be under attack if Trump is installed in the Oval Office: immigrants, women, the poor. This second essay focuses on the templates for Trump’s potential actions as president provided by what Republican state governors have been doing for several years.

Currently, 23 states have ”Republican trifecta” governance, meaning that the governorship and both houses of the state legislature are controlled by that party. (To be fair, there are also 17 states with Democratic trifectas, including Connecticut; each bloc serves about 41% of the total population of the U.S.)

Republican Governors Ron DeSantis of Florida, Greg Abbott of Texas, and Sarah Huckabee Sanders of Arkansas have been leading the way, but they are joined in their efforts, if not always in the headlines, by such governors as Kim Reynolds of Iowa and even by Glenn Youngkin of Virginia, who has to deal with a legislature that he does not control. One and all, these governors are attempting to rid their states of recent immigrants; to criminalize abortion; to push women out of the workforce and back into their marital homes; to remake school curriculums so that they exclude materials that cast doubt on anything they don’t approve of — interpretations of race relations, women’s rights, evolution, American and world history, even certain mathematical concepts; to reformulate voting in ways that will exclude and overburden likely Democratic voters; and to marginalize such minority groups as gays and trans-genders, and to some extent, all people of color.

Sanders’ official website touts her plans to have “universal school choice” — meaning, to enable families to opt out of public schooling — and to “invest in prison space to get repeat offenders off the streets,” even though every expert in the rehabilitation of criminals advises earlier paroles and treating potential recidivists with care on the outside, rather than re-incarcerating them.

In these states, as well, gun-toting rights are being advanced, so that it may soon be possible to see, on the streets of their cities the sort of open-carry excesses that have become common in Texas.

Unnecessary arming of civilians is not going to augment public safety, according to recent research; as one report puts it, right-to-carry laws and the removal of restrictions on concealed weapons have been shown to “increase violent crime, firearm robberies, gun thefts, workplace homicides, and mass shootings.” Such governors also advocate placing armed police officers in schools, ostensibly to prevent violence.

Fifteen Republican governors have chosen to deprive poverty-level students in their states of food assistance during the summers, despite it being made easily available under a bipartisan federal bill. This has injured 8 million children across the country.

Seven Republican-trifecta states have refused to extend Medicaid eligibility to low-income people, adults and children alike. The damage done thereby is almost incalculable.

Republican-trifecta governors are also cutting state taxes, essentially defunding their own state operations so as to then be able to plead that the coffers lack enough revenue to pay for needed services for its citizens. “Starve the beast,” the cry of the Gingrich and George W. Bush years, is now state policy in 23 states.

The Republican governors’ efforts to restrict, de-fund, criminalize and forbid day-to-day activities are being felt in private, semi-public, and public arenas, from the bedroom and bathroom to the doctor’s office, schoolroom, voting booth, sports locker-rooms, company offices, and beyond. Efforts to over-fund the police while underfunding welfare and assistance to the needy — the aged as well as the poor — are multiplying.

Will Trump use these Republican-governor activities as template for his own actions as president?

It is not hard to imagine every one of those being replicated and magnified on the federal level by an incoming president pledged to dismantling the civil service and substituting obedient political hacks for veteran experts and lifelong public servants. The consequences will be severe, unpleasant for everyone, and very long-lasting.

Salisbury resident Tom Shachtman has written more than two dozen books and many television documentaries.

Latest News

Crescendo’s upcoming tribute to Wanda Landowska

Kenneth Weiss (above) will play a solo recital performance in honor of Wanda Landowska, a harpischord virtuoso, who lived in Lakeville for many years.

Provided

On Sept. 14, Crescendo, the award-winning music program based in Lakeville, will present a harpsichord solo recital by Kenneth Weiss in honor of world-renowned harpsichordist Wanda Landowska. Landowska lived in Lakeville from 1941 to 1959. Weiss is a professor at the Paris Conservatoire and has taught at Julliard. Born in New York, he now resides in Europe.

Weiss will play selections from “A Treasury of Harpsichord Music.” It includes works by Baroque composers such as Bach, Mozart, and Handel. It was recorded by Landowska at her Lakeville home, at 63 Millerton Road, which overlooks Lakeville Lake. Weiss said, “I am honored and excited to play in Lakeville, where Wanda Landowska lived.”

Keep ReadingShow less
Silent cinema, live magic

The live audience at Music Mountain takes in a silent film Sept. 7.

Natalia Zukerman

On Saturday, Sept. 7, Gordon Hall at Music Mountain was transformed into a time machine, transporting the audience for a 1920’s spectacular of silent films and live music. Featuring internationally acclaimed silent film musicians Donald Sosin and Joanna Seaton, the evening began with a singalong of songs by Gershwin, Irving Berlin and more. Lyrics for favorites like “Ain’t We Got Fun,” “Yes Sir That’s My Baby,” and “Ain’t Misbehavin’” were projected on the screen and Sosin and Seaton lead the crowd with an easeful joy. The couple then retreated to the side of the stage where they provided the live and improvised score for Buster Keaton’s 1922 short, “Cops,” and his 1924 comedy, “Sherlock Jr.”

Joanna Seaton and Donald Sosin, a husband-and-wife duo, have crafted a singular career, captivating audiences at some of the world’s most prestigious film festivals—New York, TriBeCa, San Francisco, Seattle, Denver, Telluride, and Yorkshire among them. Their performances have graced venerable institutions like MoMA, Film at Lincoln Center, the AFI Silver Theatre, and Moscow’s celebrated Lumière Gallery. Their melodic journey has taken them to far-flung locales such as the Thailand Silent Film Festival and the Jecheon International Music and Film Festival in South Korea. Notably, Seaton and Sosin have become a fixture at Italy’s renowned silent film festivals in Bologna and Pordenone, where they perform annually.

Keep ReadingShow less
Desperately seeking Susan Seidelman

The cover art for Seidelman's memoir "Desperately Seeking Something."

Provided

On Thursday, Sept. 19 at 6 p.m., Haystack Book Talks will present a special evening with director Susan Seidelman, author of “Desperately Seeking Something: A Memoir About Movies, Mothers, and Material Girls.” Part of the Haystack Book Festival run by Michael Selleck, the event will take place at the Norfolk Library, featuring a conversation with Mark Erder after a screening of the 1984 classic, “Desperately Seeking Susan.”

Susan Seidelman’s fearless debut film, “Smithereens,” premiered in 1982 and was the first American indie film to ever compete at Cannes. Then came “Desperately Seeking Susan,” a smash hit that not only solidified her place in Hollywood but helped launch Madonna’s career. Her films, blending classic Hollywood storytelling with New York’s downtown energy, feature unconventional women navigating unique lives. Seidelman continued to shape pop culture into the ’90s, directing the pilot for “Sex and the City.” Four decades later, Seidelman’s stories are still as sharp, funny, and insightful as ever.

Keep ReadingShow less