• It could not happen. Of course, it could not happen. Only a fool would believe for a moment that it could.
"What Kind of Fool Am I?"
(Songwriters: Anthony Newley / Leslie Bricusse)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BGL-a_FrHk
What kind of man is this
An empty shell
A lonely cell in which
An empty heart must dwell.
from "Stop the World: I Want to Get Off"
My feeling precisely! Call me 'foolhardy'!
7
You have provided the outline of the historical collapse of democracies - and, oh! There is a recent book by that title written by two historians, How Democracies Die. I highly recommend it, but suggest that you read the last chapter first. It's on the topic of 'hope.'
95
In Merkels case how could someone so smart be so stupid? Germans like us are a violent angry people. The ones I've known were quick to fly off the handle especially when they were wrong and write people off as pigs if they didn't like them. The new German born out guilt for Hitler isn't really new. I'm smarter, better therefore you must obey dosent work in a democracy when parties are so different. Merkel knows what she is doing is right and the hell with the voter. Her stands on immigration and energy are only acceptable to her some in her party but she plows on.
I'm going to guess but the wealthy German thinks a lot like a wealthy Americans. Give them a few handouts and they'll be happy. Decent jobs, job security are a thing of the past. If you're worried about losing your job...should I qoute Hillary? Merkel and the Democratic Party are more concerned about immigrants than their own working people and poor. If you're seeing Nazi's maybe it's you that should change.
27
What a strange article -
on Planet Earth, the legally elected president fulfilling his constitutionally mandated duty to enforce legally enacted laws is not any cause for concern. In fact it’s what we hope he or she would do.
Apparently on the author’s “opposite planet” this is not the case.
Let’s hope in November enough folks who live on Planet Earth vote so that America continues to exist.
23
I never imagined, as an American citizen, until Trump became President, how hard it is to standup against demagoguery, to stifle the fine seeds, just beginning to germinate, of American authoritarianism. It should be easy to protect democracy—right? Cohen’s op-ed struck a political nerve. It frightened me. I wondered: If I were a citizen of the Weimar Republic of Germany in the late 1930s, could I have found a way to oppose a racist demagogue? Yes, on paper, it seems so easy to oppose anti-democratic impulses. It’s not so easy. It could happen in America.
192
So, would anyone be willing to stick their neck out and propose what SHOULD be done with regard to this migrant crisis? The EU is paralyzed and/or feckless about all this. Yes, it's a terrible humanitarian crisis. I sincerely am heartbroken by it. But have you spent time in a train station in Paris or Rome lately? Calais?
Not a pleasant experience. There could soon be a billion people fleeing wars, climate crises, and failing states. All of them will have a compelling case for moving north. Writing this, I realize how heartless it sounds. But we are witnessing the slow-motion results of doing nothing about but hand wringing.
87
The banality of evil has begun.
Each day we move closer to an end game where only the privileged are citizens with rights needing protection.
United we stand.
Divided we fall.
Brave Americans need to stand up TODAY!
103
Please, don't give him any ideas!
It is astounding to me how easily he has been able to damage our economy and the 'free world" already
100
The sarcasm of the title and conclusion of this column is not lost on me, but it is unlikely to be understood by the majority of Trump supporters. Sarcasm is the rhetorical tool of the "elites." A more straight-forward approach is needed in this era in which subtlety is lost and conspiracy theories reign.
71
Regardless of whether it's happening or not, could happen or not, or even if it's a farfetched fantasy, if you sit back and note the current circumstances that are NOT in contention, do you know what your responsibility is?
16
Why are Trump and Putin meeting in Helsinki? I can only guess, of course, but history tells me that Finland is afraid of Russia to this day. To refuse such a meeting between despots would be suicidal. Oh, to be fly on the wall in the room where they meet to slap backs, smile admiringly at each other, then foment the take over of Europe and the down fall of our Democracy. Oh wait, that last part they have already planned.
57
"May you live in an interesting age" - an ironical Chinese curse
I regard 2017-2020 as the next test of the wisdom of the founding fathers, as expressed in the words of the United States Constitution. Try to stay hopeful. Vote.
58
The collapse of the Soviet Union was, in retrospect, a catastrophe. Setting its own failures aside, and there were a few, the neoliberal forces unleashed by its disappearance from the world stage turned out to be far worse than anyone could have imagined. And make no mistake: neoliberal capitalism is at the root of almost any crisis/problem/war you care to name.
64
Remind anyone of another time?
It not only CAN happen here, it IS happening here.
Wake up. Go to the polls in November and vote.
It's a start.
122
Things have been changing rapidly. There are many more people than ever before. The way we live is stressing the ecosystems on which mammalian life, and human civilization as we know it, depend. The ways we go about clothing and feeding ourselves, finding shelter, forming families, finding meaning in life, and governing ourselves or being governed by others seem to be in rapid flux. I’m not saying it’s all bad but I doubt it’s all good and I don’t think it will inevitably end well.
I don’t know how to respond to this column with a philosophical or political mini-essay.
The recent death of Harlan Ellison brought to the mind of many people the original Star Trek episode The City on the Edge of Forever. This column again brings it to my mind. Our protagonists find themselves in an American city during the Great Depression. Self-reliance and interdependence are both important, as are both cooperation and a certain toughness. Alas, in the logic of the episode’s plot, so is preserving the ability to fight and win the world war that is looming.
That episode and this column in turn bring to my mind the Star Trek episodes The Cloud Minders (about an unjustly stratified society) and Patterns of Force (the Nazi episode).
We have a lot to think about. Logical linear thinking seems necessary but insufficient to me.
29
One possible way out of this mess is for the blue states and cities to join together and form a coalition of progressive state and local governments. This coalition, empowered by its size and wealth, could then demand that Congress, the President, and the Courts be more responsive to the needs of progressive areas, threatening if necessary to withhold taxes from the federal government until it becomes more responsive to progressive state and local needs and desires (no taxation without representation).
Right now we are living under a tyranny of a red minority. The blue states and cities have a majority of the population, but are grossly under-represented in Congress and the electoral college thanks to an electoral system that disadvantages large states and those congressional districts (now mostly urban and progressive) where a single party dominates. The majority cannot have its voice heard and the minority is content to shut the majority out of governing completely. This is an unsustainable situation and the progressive states and localities should not tolerate it. But they must organize themselves and work collectively to have any success.
224
We are lurching ever close to an authoritarian regime and total instability. Truly, what's standing in the way.? Republicans let him do what he wants!!
They control all branches of government. They let his cabinet staff to do awful things without hesitation.
Now he's headed to cavort with the Russian president, who ordered the attack our 2106 elections.
But Trump doesn't believe OUR intelligence agencies--he believes Russia's denials.
He wants Russia to force it's weight on the European Union. He says Obama was responsible for Crimea being annexed by Russia, not Putin. He wants to jail many of us!!
Trump loves dictators. And is one.
126
Yes, and then
Canada offers political asylum to all liberals, progressives, independents, humanitarians, the highly-educated, the moderately educated, those with common sense, journalists, and non-whites, now declared “enemies of the state” of Foxtrumpnewsistan. Hundreds of millions of asylum seekers take up the offer, bringing their lands with them, and New South Canada quickly declares independence stretching down the East and West Coasts. Mass migrations of people and wealth surge into Canada and its new territories. Overnight, Canada becomes the world’s most potent economic superpower. Allied with the EU (which didn’t actually fall because they’re not dumb enough to fall for Putin’s chicanery), India, Qatar, most of South America and Asia, and New North Mexico (the former Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, and Nevada), a new world order rises.
86
I watched Bill Marher's "Real Time" last night. His last guest of the evening was Michael Moore, who was sounding an alarm to viewers. I've never seen him quite this ... intense. He usually intersperses a bit of comedy when he speaks of the issue he's currently focused on. Not so last night. I saw genuine fear in his eyes and his voice had an urgency to it. He predicts Trump will win in 2020 and is not kidding when he says he wants 4 terms like Roosevelt, or more...
Moore has a new film coming out, "Fahrenheit 11/9." The day 45 won the election. The strange thing was that he really didn't want to talk about his new film very much at all. He was focused on what he sees as THE moment of truth where we either stand up and fight or we lose Democracy entirely. I've felt this way since 11-9-16.
I think we need to be afraid. Very afraid, as they say. Republicans have morphed into, I don't even know what to call them. Greedy, lying water boys & girls to 45! They have no shame, which they proved this past week. Fascism is taking over. What are we going to do about it? Democrats and Progressives (not one in the same thing) need to stop being so reserved and complacent. We have to work at democracy or it dies. Today there are 750 marches protesting the separation of immigrant families at our border. Cancel whatever you have going on today and find a march near you. BE the Resistance!
182
We should be more concerned about the outlook for the USA. With partisan and hypocrit Supreme Court that advocated state right and stopped vote count in Florida, destroyed viability of labor union, will soon force women to carry a fetus to full term, has abrogated principle of one man one vote by approving gerrymandering— we should be more concerned about USA becoming apartheid state where a monitory group will control all branches of government.
58
Once again, they get it wrong. Not wanting your country overrun by immigrants is not xenophobia. It's just rational thinking about immigration.
27
Events unfolding in this country in recent years have never happened before! As a youth I enjoyed a great childhood of neighborhood football. baseball, hockey on the ponds in Winter ..Fishing etc...in school I was never concerned someone might come to school with a gun...same at the movies etc. I was never as concerned about politics...nor as informed as I am today. Yes things happened then that rocked society...but not with the frequency of today. Years ago the decency and morality we were taught to uphold ...did not make us saints...but would have prevented...amongst other things.. our voting for a lying belittling obnoxious President..it could not have happened then as the majority had the backbone to do the right thing...to make what can sometimes be the hard choices! That majority of time past has dwindled in number to the point of nearly being overtaken by the minority. History can repeat itself..anything can happen here in the US...but nothing can happen that we don't allow...good or bad !! Our standing in the world has taken a blow in such a short time...it's more than time for the majority to act ! Perhaps it may be up to America's youth...who seem lately to be making the most sense as well as the most waves! Stand Up America and choose wisely..all our future's depend on our ability...to do the right thing . Nothing positive will be accomplished..if action is not taken..talk is cheap...VOTE....anything can happen...don't allow just anything to happen to our future !
60
Read IT CAN’T HAPPEN HERE by Sinclair Lewis
34
Migration (invasion?) is the root of all our problems now. All of them. Brexit was in response to misguided European migration policy. The very close U.S. presidential election would have turned out different if many millions of well meaning Americans were not concerned about the open southern border.
The insanity must end or democracy will.
No more illegal invaders! Not one more.
24
Guess I'm that fool. It certainly could happen and is indeed happening.
39
Countries have a right to control their borders and put limits on the numbers of immigrants who enter. No one should demand entry into any country as it is a privilege and not a right. There are laws for a reason and they must be obeyed.
21
Have you ever checked out how difficult and expensive it is to immigrate legally to the US? Have you ever experienced the possibility of being slaughtered in your own country by your own authorities?
This is a very complex problem - needs more than just a moralistic 'be good' response.
44
Very close, but I think the Putin-Trump Master Plan actually takes it a step further:
Putin and Trump have already or will soon agree on a division of spoils.
Trump backs out of NATO allowing Putin to take Europe.
US gets North and South America i return.
Think about it: the only thing preventing Putin's aggression has been the nuclear threat posed by the US. If the US decides not to defend its allies they can't stand alone against Russia.
Putin's known all along that his hopes of expanding Russia would never be realized as long as the US stands by NATO. All he had to do was find a US President willing to back out.
47
"Of course, it could not happen. Only a fool would believe for a moment that it could."
Precisely how i once viewed a Trump presidency. Chilling scenarios here.
51
That’s unfortunately not such a far fetched picture...
20
I'm putting this column in my read-it-in-five years file. Or maybe my read-it-next-year file. Cohen has a vision of where things are going that fits many of the trends so far. Human beings aren't cut out for constant change and disruption--but tyrants love it, they thrive on it, they join hands with each other in a Dance of Death. The Republican Party dances around its piles of gold now. But they too will go down beneath the hooves of their masters.
37
Fear mongering on the right or the left is dangerous.
13
Mass unbridled, unending immigration combined with rising inequality all over the world.
Yeah what could go wrong with this scenario?
14
Except that immigration into the US is 30% of what it was 15-20 years ago.
26
As I was reading the Op-Ed, the image of Vladimir Putin holding marionette strings over the Earth and smiling crossed my mind several times.
12
Why did I start crying in the middle of this article? Never again. I guess those two words don’t mean much anymore - if they ever did.
25
With the population of the earth growing by an additional 2 to 3 billion people and automation reducing world wide jobs from 4 billion to 2 billion at the same time that climate disruption decreases historically arible land and water accessibility, humans will do what humans have always done, regardless of lines on maps and walls of ignorance. The severity of the consequences of over population and climate change will depend on how much of the wealth generated by new technology is shared and how human reproduction is reduced. Six billion humans will not remain docile and immobile while thier children die and one thousnth of one percent own the world. Gated communities and borders will not work in the long run.
46
Aside from the dramatic and brilliant rendering of his world in the painting by Peter Breughel, which I realize now reminds me a bit of the painter of American Indians, Caitlin, the accompanying text by Cohen paints another picture of the turmoil and troubles facing this country and the world we share with others. Havoc created and helped where present such as at the US border by women and children fleeing their countries to altering without thought the breakage of alliances brokered to keep us stitched together. Trump is the proverbial bull in the china shop, the non-educated and thoughtful person in the White House who has been leading the country thru many unnecessary trials and tribulations. The economy is strong, so it seems at the present, and jobs available to many, yet the jeering and insulting tweets and talk regarding newspapers/print/journalists, individuals who represent other political parties, or other roles. This said president is under investigation for actions that are serious; of his own political team, whether campaign mode or in office from Manafort to his guy to Flynn, Cohen, Papadapoulous et al numbering 20 total. Yet Trump flies to Helsinki to meet w/Putin. Trump has claimed in some reports that he will bring up Russia's interference in the 2016 election. Anyone want to take a bet on that one? Still, as the Brits say, KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON. REad and vote responsibly.
12
Yes it can happen here but first, nobody can predict history and even more important, western civilization has firmer roots in democracy than they did as little as a short time ago, WW2 especially the US.
This present era is more like we experienced with blocking Chinese migration yrs. ago, putting Japanese Americans in camps, discrimination against blacks, Dixiecrats in 1948 and Wallace in 1968, the know nothings in the 19th century etc. etc.
So far nobody has bombed Pearl Harbor or has fired on Ft. Sumpter.
3
"Those who cannot learn from the past are doomed to repeat it". Santayana.
The world has changed but overall we had been moving forward. My son has way less intrinsic bias than I had at his age. He didn't have to learn that people of color were often smarter, more talented, more brave, more..you chose, than I. We white people were raised thinking that we were superior in some way, we even may have thought that our ethnic group was superior. One of my classmates, an Italian American asked me once "when did the Irish conquer the world?" The good guys in history seemed to be winning. Europe gave up wars and made EU, Russia gave up trying to conquer the world with communism, the US tried to make peace with Cuba and Iran, China stopped some repression and with Belt and Road is tying to get influence, helping poor nations (perhaps cynically), we stopped trying to influence small country's elections, we attempted to be fair to the Palestinians. Is the history of mankind the history of its wars or it is the history of its progress? I hope we go back to progress. "the good guy wins every once in a whi-ile". Hopefully, two steps forward will negate the one step back.
11
Blah blah blah. And it all happens because some nasty, selfish citizens in Europe don't want to allow millions and millions (and millions) of illegal immigrants across their borders now and in coming decades. The alternative, a Europe destroyed by waves after wave after wave of uncontrolled immigration from a chaotic and overpopulated Middle East and Africa, would be far more horrifying. (And is more likely to actually happen.)
14
Why... Trump and Putin can almost see Estonia from the front porch of their summit!
11
“We’ll see what happens.”
1
Don't read this to your children at bedtime. Too scary!
4
For this "plan" to work, Cohen and the "dystopia is HERE!" crowd have to have it happen quick. Because, one word missing from his scenario: Elections.
It seems as it Cohen's imaginary future forgets that we hold elections every 2 years, the House and (some) Senate seats are up for grabs THIS November. And of course, Trump's up for election in 2020.
So in 2020, all the Democrat nominee has to do is campaign in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania (the entire state). And maybe, all those who voted for Obama twice, but voted for Trump, will decide to change their vote again.
Since, some believe, we went from post-racial to Nazi in a few months, surely we can move back just as quick.
10
In 1923 at the beer hall putsch, only a foll believed that Hitler was a serious threat to Germany. In 1933 Hitler became Chancellor. The "fools" were the only ones who survived, having left Nazi Germany. You can't ask dead people what were you thinking.
22
Gosh, Roger, what happened to the invasion by the Martians?
6
"...My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings.
Look upon my works, ye mighty, and despair...
...Nothing beside remains remains. Round the decay
of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
the lone and level sands stretch far away."
Percy Bysshe Shelley
15
Yup... that is what the Germans said in 1932....
13
For your readers, this column is a nightmare, for the white nationalists, republicans, and Ann Coulter, it's a rosy fairy-tale.
28
What is this? Fan-fic for liberal globalists? I fail to find any relevance here.
12
Hang on. You will.
23
Americans no longer think that it can't happen here. If an arrogant fool like Trump can get elected president, anything can happen.
29
Guess I am that fool
3
The world is not coming to an end, it's just changing. No one state can take on the problems of the world, police the world nor take in all who suffer. Here at home we need to flush our Congress and start fresh, get young people with new idears. If Congress did their job the supream court wouldn't matter all that much
13
Geez, Roger Cohen, you are inconsistent. When you write about immigration, your prose is purple and overwrought. Examples abound- your series on Australia was full of half-truths or really half-lies. When you write about say, football, you are delightful. Suggest you leave the difficult topics to others.
7
This is the worst you got? I'll see you this stuff and raise you World War III.
12
Not just US and Europe. Most countries in Asia are also moving towards nationalism. South China sea, Baltic states, and, of course, the Middle East states are all likely ignition points for World War 3. Of course, it could not happen.
8
For everyone who writes "of course it could happen here", please try to read the irony in Mr. Cohen's closing statement. He uses irony to make the point that it could, and is happening here.
I've read a bunch of prescriptions for fixing it, and because I believe that many things can be true at once, let me add my perspective.
Political civilization is at a tipping point, facing seemingly intractable problems of overpopulation, resource shortage, concentration of wealth and power, and conflicting beliefs. OK, that's the background. To get past all this and remain civilized, we need to select the right leaders, which will require a better way of making sure that the right people get into leadership positions. As #MeToo is showing us, we have allowed too many people of bad character to rise to positions of power and influence, and they're leading for their ends, not ours. If I compress my belief into a single phrase, "civilization needs to civilize its leaders."
I don't know how to do it, but I know it has to be done.
22
The truly terrifying part of this fantasy is that each of its component parts are not only perfectly lsusibke, but in some form and fashion, have already occurred.
18
Don't be surprised when Trump tries to suspend elections due to civil unrest and national security issues.
Happen here? Of course it can. It's already started.
63
In a nutshell, that is precisely correct.
The signs and underpinnings of a blatantly authoritarian, fascistic regime under Trump and his cronies, are clear, but unlike for WWII, America may have no allies to help overcome this hate-filled regime. And, the threat to his opponents will be immeasurably increased if the SCOTUS goes the same way, as Trump and his acolyte McConnell seem to be plotting to do.
I’d be curious to know whether at least some NYT readers are quietly trying to figure out where they might safely emigrate if things in the US continue on this path.
16
It’s Happening Roger.
If one is blind one will not see it or refuse to acknowledge it.
It’s happening and we will have to deal with it in retrospect again, just like after each war and we will repeat, “Never Again”.
But then we are humans and we have done this throughout history and will continue to do it. Sad.
16
It's happening, as an apathetic world watches in disbelief.
21
The last person Trump needs to meet for a tete a tete is Putin. It is an outrage this is going forward while it has been proven the 2016 election was influenced by Russia and the possible collusion with the Trump campaign. The fact Trump publically stated he believes Putin over the National Security agencies smacks of treason.
Does Trump intend to firm up steps for Putin to take to influence the midterms in November or to collaborate on lies to the Mueller investigation? This is total insanity.
37
How can we deal with the "cossacks?" We made them. We created them. And now they're asserting themselves in Europe & America. This emerging nationalism can accommodate many faces, from many places, but increasingly on their terms.
What do the cossacks want?
2
The Illegal Immigration Act of 1996 authorized the use of "expedited removal". Under this process, illegal aliens meeting certain requirements may be deported without a hearing before an immigration judge and it is completely legal.
16
Yes, but they weren’t criminally charged. You can’t charge someone criminally and then not provide them an opportunity in a court to defend themselves. So you’d have to stop the zero tolerance touted by the administration and return to how Obama dealt with it, which Trumped mocked to no end.
7
It's not legal to kidnap their children, then deport the parents without them. It's not legal to deny due process to legal asylum seekers. And NOTHING justifies the pointless sadism of seizing children, shipping them to secret far-flung locations by night, and having no intention nor means to return them. That is just evil.
21
While traveling through the Midwest USA in a rental car, I had to repeatedly hit the radio channel scan button because it seemed like every AM station was spewing hate of liberals. Not a simple disagreement with policy, but a visceral personal hate of our very existence. It can’t get better until this propaganda machine is stopped.
44
Unfortunately this has been going on for years. Often with strong religious overtones.
12
A frightening future projection. All good reasons to go to a rally today supporting refugees--they are in all 50 states and Puerto Rico. Complacency and ignorance empowers people like Trump; get out there and into his face! He may be hiding on his course in Bedminster but the news will cover these protests.
8
Save the horror fantasies. An historic Blue Wave that retakes Congress is our civic & moral responsibility.
As McConnell & the R's know well, the key to power is winning elections by any means. The success of decades of Clinton, Obama, centrist democrat derangement syndrome propaganda from the the right, the Russians, & the puritanical left gave Mitch, Trump, & their authoritarian grifters the keys to the kingdom.
We must take back the keys.
13
A rising tide may well lift the boats, but not the ones already on the bottom.
6
Of course, people believe it could happen, Roger. What do you think all the fuss has been about?
7
Woke up this morning (read Cohen) got myself a beer
The future is uncertain
and the end is always near
16
And then all of the 1%ers jump into their helicopters either at their country estates, sea coast manses or city building's roof top helo-pad. Then that brings them to their waiting, fueled and ready Bombardier Global Express jet which transports them to their huge, private ranches in New Zealand and they live happily ever after. The end, for the rest of us.
23
All it takes for evil to triumph is for people of good will to sit idly by while evil marches forward.
24
All that’s missing is the world war to complete this scenario.
15
Well, it’s plausible but you forget that France and Britain are nuclear powers in their own right. Not having the US active in NATO is a problem but an existentialist threat to the EU would likely be a bridge too far and invite limited defense including deployment of at least one nuke in the direction of Russia. Once Russia understands that it could suffer serious consequences for its continued hostility to the west, it might act differently. The real scenario is of a no-win war, the EU lived through appeasing Hitler and it’s not likely that they’d be willing to follow that script again. The question is who will blink first.
6
AND THE AMERICAN BILLIONAIRES -- GATES, BUFFETT, ELLISON, ZUCKERBERG, ET AL -- STAND BY without putting their wealth and influence to save the American democracy from its own self-destruction.
Shame on them!
20
You are right
(although Buffett tried to help Democrats get out to vote in Nebraska in 2016 by hiring a van and riding along with them to the polls.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPdmDXVVIy8
7
Tom Steyer is. So is former Mayor Bloomberg.
9
Bloomberg has said he will spend, I think, eighty million to help elect Democrats. Let's hope he inspires or shames some of the others.
9
AG writes: "There is an element of Chicken Little panic in America at this point and we need to reflect."
To which I say, there is a difference between panic and, alarm, precaution and prevention.
We have to be very aware of this potential outcome. All of the levers of our government are controlled by people who already espouse views like those envisioned by Mr. Cohen, or who enable and abet those views.
There must be a concerted and unrelenting effort to remove from power all those who by action, inaction or silence could and would make this nightmare scenario a reality.
Come November, we must vote against any and all Republicans. There will be no other way to prevent this.
31
Too much of what Roger Cohen describes is already happening, despite the fact that (I believe) a majority of Americans support a more open immigration policy and are becoming increasingly uncomfortable with one-party rule imposed by gerrymandering and big money and supported by foreign governments hostile to American democracy.
We no longer truly have the rule of law; Congressional Republicans spent the entire week shouting that down by forcing Rod Rosenstein to serve as a prop for their grandstanding, all because they don't want any evidence that Russia influenced the election of Donald Trump exposed. And this after an endless investigation of the Fox-News-manufactured Benghazi scandal that yielded...nothing.
So here we are. I'm looking into immigration after I retire. In the meantime, I'm going to vote against Republicans everytime the polls are open, because their entire party is working to undermine democracy.
39
"It could not happen. Of course, it could not happen. Only a fool would believe for a moment that it could."
Isn't that eerily how people felt in November 2016, especially those who did not vote, or voted 3rd party in swing states about trump getting elected?
21
"... or voted 3rd party in swing states..."
I've said many times, to anyone who'll listen, the biggest danger to the environment is the Green Party. They've already given us at least one anti-environment president and may have given us another in 2016. (2000 was especially galling because the Greens voted against Al "Inconvenient Truth" Gore.)
8
The post war liberal thinkers adopted a cognition based political, social and economic system that ignored the other dimensions of human experience like emotions, life experience and spiritual. The outcome is the contradictions in cultural, religious and life experiences in Europe and America. American melting pot is struggling to accommodate multiculturalism - a vague and unknown concept never worked in any continent over last 2000 years where dissimilar cultures are trying to coexist Inspite of genetic, religious, liguastic, cultural differences. Only place this experiment was tried is India and outcome is a society of complete chaos . And it took thousands of years to come to stable state and forced the society to renaming under foreign domination. Can Europe and America like to try this experiment is the question - the altar right political parties are saying it is not worth. Let us see how the liberal cognitive forces encounter this objection. It is not an empty challenge.
3
Beautiful column, and very thought provoking, thank you.
5
Any who doubt the possibility of this dystopian abandonment of European cooperation and civility should immediately get a copy of "Wag the Dog", the ?comedy ?drama ?roadmap for trolls, produced in 1997.
Mr. Trump appears to have lifted David Mamet's screenplay for his riposte to the Stormy Daniels affair, fomenting a war on immigrant children and families as a distraction and as a counterpunch to Robert Mueller's investigation.
It can't happen here? It might already have happened.
2
As a fifteen year American expatriate let me be one of the first to announce the advent of a quiet but persistent exodus of Americans out of their native country.
Trump is the tipping point where just thinking about leaving is replaced by an enormous sigh of relief by many Americans to give up on the pervasive right leaning culture once and for all.
The fifteen years I've just spent living outside the United States in Peter Mayles Provence were the best years of my life!
Michael Kittle
Vaison la Romaine
France
4
And yet...instead of responding to the concerns of those who hold different perspectives on things like open borders, cultural assimilation, the obligation of European states to pay their treaty-provided fair share of NATO costs...the coastal "cosmopolitans" pour gasoline on the fire instead of working toward a reasonable political resolution. Do you understand that to a family in Appalachia struggling with poverty-driven opioid addictions, a concern about Guatemalan "refugees" who cross the border illegally might seem misplaced?
4
My greatest fear since Trump's nomination is that he would find an excuse to declare a national emergency and institute martial law, suspending both Congress and the judicial system and taking on absolute dictatorial powers. Most of my friends suggest that to be a mere liberal paranoid delusion. Mr. Cohen's column seems to suggest otherwise. The only thing needed to permit the rise of a despot is the willingness of the people not to oppose that rise.
6
My initial comment was stopped by the hopeful comments from other readers. They're right. Public opinion influenced the decision to stop family separations, etc. There are protests all over the country today...
Plus, the conspiracy between Trump, the Brexists, and Russia, is now part of Mueller's investigation and is also being looked into by the British Parliament.
The one that worries me is the European reaction to African migration. After centuries of pillaging that continent, Europe is reaping what they've sowed. If they want change, start investing in Africa and help that continent deal with the effects of climate change the EU, the US, and China have forced upon them.
11
Bruegel's imagery, Dante's allegories, we're setting off down a path that guarantees a bleak future for our children and grandchildren. It will certainly be laid at the feet of the frightened and uninformed nationalist/populists - i.e., the "Trump'ists" in the US. I had thought that these apocalyptic allusions were the GOP's destiny alone. Now I fear it may be the West's future.
9
It not only could happen here, it is happening now. The international order cannot hold against this onslaught as tightly organized minorities gain control of governments across the West. Putin and his puppets will soon rule over most of Europe and the former United States. Resistance seems futile but resist we must. The question is, "How?" So far, nothing seems to work.
5
What we are all about to discover here in the United States is a lesson that geography and two world wars has shielded us from up to now. That lesson? Historic events that Americans have only read about in history books can happen here too.
6
If our allies fall to authoritative rulers like we have in America today, this "plot" will end as badly as it did for the nationalist republic of Germany in the 1930's, or the Soviet Union in the 1990's. But at what cost? Will those who worship Trump be willing to bear arms against neighbors? Street by street, country by country? If they support ripping a baby from her mother's arms as they flee tyranny, or cheer the wholesale shut down of longstanding news organizations (that report actual news with facts), crying for the murder of journalists, what more is left?
15
There is a big difference between oppressed people seeking asylum and a wholesale invasion by illegal migrants who do not have the language or job skills to support themselves and do not share heritage, culture or faith with the nations they are invading. It is not racism, islamophobia or hate- even the then 2016 Presidential Candidate Bernie Sanders said any nation has a right and responsibility to control it’s borders.
If I, as an American, decide to fly to Frankfurt and ask for asylum due to the travesty of Trump, would I be granted asylum? I speak German, served in the Cold War US Army to help defend the Federal Republic of Germany, have marketable job skills- yet I doubt I would be allowed to stay.
The European Union was a nice idea hijacked by undemocratic bureaucrats. The EU is a neoliberal’s dreams come true with little accountability to the individual citizen of any EU member nation. It will implode as a result of it’s inability to deal with the very things national governments have ceded to it.
All of North Africa and SW Asia cannot live on the European Continent. The peoples resident there have a right to protect their languages, culture and traditions which are starkly different from those of the migrants.
9
Russia is not going to invade Estonia. That is absurd. The Russians have their hands full defending their allies Syria and East Ukraine from the lethal attacks of American-backed military forces.
On the other hand, there is a major, war-like, build-up of US forces in the Baltic states, on Russia's borders. (Albeit nearly unreported in the US media.) Imagine how the US would react to a growing Russian military presence of weapons & soldiers on our Mexican border!
The coming break up of NATO simply means that the European peoples are no longer willing to risk nuclear war, in order to go along with Washington's drive for world domination. The end of NATO will be great news for world peace.
The Congress can change hands in a few months. Trump can be removed two years after that, if not sooner. We are the majority in this country. We can make life difficult for the right wing incompetents engaging in sabotage of our country from within.
Read about the mass civil nonviolent uprisings that have taken place in several European countries during the last year. They are inspiring stories of what mass civil protest can achieve.
We have come to a place where we have to test our belief in the principles protected by democracy. We have to go to work. In civil disobedience, in massive demonstrations, in every peaceful way we have to protest the harmful actions perpetrated by this government.
May they ever sleep with one eye open and may we never rest defending the values we cherish.
We are the majority. This is our country.
11
Mr. Cohen paints a bleak picture, although not one as frightening as the grim artwork that accompanies his column. For all the obvious metaphorical purposes behind Bruegel's painting, it seems to capture the real threats facing the Europe of his day better than Cohen's word picture portrays the challenges we confront.
Cohen narrates a cautionary tale in which the US and Europe simply collapse when endangered by forces far weaker than those which threatened our forebears in the 1930s. His pessimism seems to arise from a conviction that the current crop of leaders in the West lack the determination and unity to fend off Putin and other reactionary leaders. But democratic leaders in Europe and America in the 30s yielded to Hitler's stealth attacks on peace for years, until his annexation of the rest of Czechoslovakia convinced them that diplomacy could not constrain this man.
Trump will not spearhead a resistance coalition this time around, but others might, including possibly an American thrown into prominence by the 2018 and 2020 elections. My point is, Cohen assumes that Putin alone will dictate the course of events. Hitler undoubtedly thought the same in 1939.
Britain, France and America are very old democracies, and Germany is a strong one. Trump's dubious loyalties notwithstanding, the burden of proof lies with anyone who assumes they will not fight to preserve their system against a man whose domestic economic problems make him more vulnerable than they are.
3
Yes, most certainly history is repeating itself, only this time the struggle will be in the light.
4
Then I am a fool. Because that's not what I see happening. Here is what I see happening. Americans from there position of comfort and power are perfectly aware of what is happening. If I can draw an analogy to our involvement in WW II it goes like this: Our advantage over the rest of the world has always been that we could prepare to fight without having to actually fight at the same time. The USA, was the only country that could do that during WW II. Eventually we had to fight, but we fought on our own terms, well prepared to do so. That is America. That's why we win. We will win this one too.
2
It's not longer 1945 and we haven't won a war since.
13
Win what? The right to spend billions on border walls? The right to engage in mass round ups and deportations of suspicious others without due process? A world and US economy in deep depression? A quasi-dictator with pretensions to the title "President for Life" creating one emergency after another?
This isn't 1941. We don't produce most of our steel or oil any more. Our manufacturing is tightly interdependent with other nations: few manufactured products start in the US as raw materials and never leave. Our 21st century military depends on materials and technologies from other countries. We depend on our allies to protect shipping lanes, host advance warning and defensive systems, and share intelligence about real enemies. And the distance across the oceans from Europe and Japan, the most important factor in keeping our cities and towns safe during WWII, is useless against modern weapons. North Korea has missiles that can hit the US. How long do you think it would take for any hostile nation to buy or develop their own ICBMs (if they don't already have them)?
Sorry, winning is not in the cards for the US for this war, whether economic or military. No one will win this one. Everyone will be a loser.
11
63 million voted for Trump.
66 million voted for Clinton.
93 million didn't vote or voted for someone else.
93 million squandered their vote, the vote people fought and died to secure for them, the vote people in other nations risk their lives to cast, the vote that is THE real guarantor of freedom, even more than the right to keep and bear arms.
93 million gave up on the promise and dream of the United States of America.
And so, we have a wannabe dictator seeking to smash all norms, aided by a compliant Congress with short-sighted tunnel vision goals of its own to placate big-money donors.
And all it takes to break that is for those 93 million to get off their duffs, to register, no matter WHAT barriers are placed in their way, and to vote the bums out.
A sleeping dragon that needs to wake up before it's too late...and it almost is.
7
What we are watching in real time is an example of lemming behavior in human form. Lest we forget, even though we are humans, we are still animals subject to the rules and laws of nature. Maybe population demographics subscribe to the same laws as bacterial and other life forms. What makes humans different from other species is only their hubris. We humans don't get a special dispensation from evolution any more than a lion or elephant in Africa or an orangutan in Borneo. We depend on Mother Earth for our existence and the sooner we learn that tidbit of information the better off our species will become. If evolution teaches us anything it is that we are not special except in our own minds.
1
If you pay attention , it is already happening .
16
'NATO disbands. Putin proposes replacing it with the Alliance of Authoritarian and Reactionary States, or AARS. Trump says he finds the idea “interesting.”' Putin my consider renaming the alliance as the 'Alliance of Reactionary States of the East', in honor of his 'friend', Trump.
4
Well, at least the EU summit resulted in Hungary et al promising to pay some "blood money" to states that still have the heart to take in refugees. That's a bigger compromise than would ever have been achieved by today's Congress. Plus, Italy and Malta get to push further toward North Africa's coast line to chase away vessels with refugees, or migrants, depending on your point of view, where, back in Libya, some horrible fate awaits them. Sending back refugees to the country they were first registered in, an idea deeply unfair to Italy and Greece, polls at 58% with the German public, not a resounding endorsement, but still. The CSU isn't likely to ally with the AFD, because they know this irreversible move to the extreme-right will likely result in cannibalization by the AFD, in the way Italy's Five Star Movement's "star"-Di Maio- seems to have become insignificant in the shadow of neo-fascist Salvini. Meanwhile, we still have Macron and Merkel as our crumbling bulwark against the European "populists/nationalists" and an insane and craven U.S. President who, along with his voters and allies in government and the courts is destroying democracy at a breathtaking speed. And every day, the right-wing nationalists are gaining ground and devouring formerly seemingly progressive countries like Poland. It could not happen here, right? Can it wait til 2019? Or after the France- Argentina match today?
1
Cohen's nightmare scenario is frighteningly prophetic. Each detail is rooted in a specific statement by an actual official, or in the program and policies of right-wing authoritarian parties in Europe, and in an actual events.
And key to all of this nightmare is the accidental American president strangely in hock to the Russian autocrat.
This Cassandra must be believed and heeded.
3
Think about all the people that stand at attention when the National Anthem is played and recite the Pledge of Allegiance. So many do not believe the words of the great documents of our nation and never think about the meaning of so many provisions of the Constitution. Consider how many believe that Trump never lies. Bad things can happen here!
2
Some commenters are taking this piece a bit too literally, I think.
Like the "Handmaid's Tale," this piece isn't a prediction, but an extrapolation; the disturbing trends it comments on are visible all around us.
24
Democrats regain control of Congress in November. Trump is impeached and removed from office. President Pence pardons the disgraced former president who tweets that he will return. It is possible.
6
The idea of "President Pence" frightens me even more than Trump, who is at least so self-focused that he can't undermine women's rights and other areas of law that Pence will quietly and effectively target for destruction.
7
Cool down Roger and get a grip on reality.
Even if these countries would want to act like you paint the picture here, they could not due to the rules and regulations of the European Union, the Schengen Accord and the Dublin III Accord.
What you are doing here is what you are criticizing, for good reasons, when it happens on FOX & Friends, you are playing an unrealistic spin.
Nothing of that sort can happen in the EU as the EU's biggest weakness, it requirement for harmony and unified decisions is also one of its biggest advantages, there is no single strong man like Trump who can change it all whenever he feels like it.
Whatever these countries, in part for a good reason, want, they will have to do it within the framework of written rules.
It is called the rule of law, something that seems be lost in the US these days but is alive and well in the EU.
There is no need to cry "Wolf" as long as some things are just considered differently to what you would like them to be.
And BTW, if you want to play politician in the EU, you will have to become an EU citizen and are most welcome to try.
Europe needs people with a fresh perspective as well.
We are sunk unless the MAJORITY of us in USA recognizes the existential danger we face as a Nation and unites to vote to right the ship in 2018/2020.
I believe 58% - conservative leaning, progressive leaning, and in between - have the psychological wherewithal to do this.
People that can break the bonds of their personal inclinations and preferences and let reason, facts, and fairness guide their decisions and actions.
People that aren't compelled to let unfounded fear, ignorance, and parochial attitudes rule their global politics.
People that can accept the FACT that we are a social species that has endured and survived MOSTLY because of our abilities to diversify, to use reason over superstition, to empathize, to cooperate, and to assist others even outside the immediate tribe.
People that can see and accept that zero sum models mostly end bad - enhancing the possibilities for war, destruction, inequality, regression, and hardship.
People that can point themselves at REAL problems and form real "American" solutions for them - instead of being consumed by illusionary problems designed by authoritarians to separate, divide, and conquer us.
People that can see that the fabric of our Nation is unpinned by the principles of life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness, of equality of person and of thought, of adult autonomy over existential aspects of their life, etc..
People that value privacy, diversity, honesty, and reason.
Vote 2018/2020 to end this horror show!
5
Donald Trump has chosen to make his mark upon the world and to leave a legacy that will never be forgotten. He is ruthless and will use all means to be the most significant, the most important, the most documented - the most feared human of all time.
The eye of the public his his domain - relished and embellished as he sees fit. A golden terror that cannot be contained, cannot be stopped.
There have been others of his ilk through the centuries. He aims to be the one of whom all will speak forever.
16
I fear that this column and all the comments are too little too late,
The destruction of this Nation and possibly the world is already in flame. There appears that no one is willing to offend the Party of Trump, power is everything but in the end, would the price have been too high?
1
Well done, as always, Mr. Cohen. Yes, this is our current trajectory to be certain and the dangers cannot be overstated. But within this escalating doomsday scenario, I have far more faith in Germany despite its history, frankly, than I do the United States of America these days.
I wish Brexit would accelerate so that the other EU members could watch as the British economy teeters and falters badly. Actually, I genuinely wish Britain would reconsider and stay in the EU as a majority of her citizens now believe Brexit is a mistake. Otherwise, the EU should take a stand and threaten to withdraw the massive subsidies given to Poland and Hungary. If they continue with their fascist tendencies, then vote to oust them from the EU. Once the German and other EU factories are closed in these two countries and the EU subsidies stop, the citizens of these countries can drown their sorrows in their endless supply of cheap Russian vodka.
Unfortunately history does repeat itself and its darker impulses are always fomented by singular leaders of evil intent. The trick is preventing these people from coming to power in the first place and, if they do, ridding them before they can inflict any kind of substantive damage. I know, how dare an American lecture the rest of the world when ours is the worst example today of a democracy being torn to shreds by a diabolical fascist.
4
Of course, it could happen that none of what you write happens, and instead, Americans are continued to pay a disproportionate amount of taxes for other countries defense and citizens. A majority of the American states in red states tire of this and elect an even more Conservative president who tells Mexico, Canada and Europe you will pay us or we will take what is rightfully ours since we have paid for it with our blood and money.
The parade of horribles is nothing new. The failure of our "allies" to recognize and consistently support us (remember France blocking Reagan flying planes over their airspace while they carried out a military strike or Germany and France's refusal to support us in Iraq) while we are expected to pay and support for their issues is ridiculous. We are not an imperialist country, but if they want us to lead they either need to follow or understand that if you refuse to help us we will certainly refuse to help you. It really is that simple. America gives too much and gets too little.
1
We have the largest military in the world, seven times larger than the top three countries put together. Why is it that we need more money for that? The US has chosen to be the BMOC for the world, not the other way around. We want countries to fear our wrath. What amazes me is that other countries don’t force us to cut back our nuclear arsenal. If the US power gets into the wrong hands we will be looking at WWIII in no time at all. And many people fear that Trump is the leading edge of that power grab.
13
Of course this could happen, it is happening--right before our eyes.
8
How about this. The US and World economy stabilized under 8 years of Obama finally starts to crash. The incompetent White House is clueless except to blame it on whatever. Trump yaks but only about 15% of the true hard core listen to him.
Pretty soon we are looking at 2008 times 10.
Real fear. Real collapse. Real consequences for our behavior.
4
Trump has angered allies and embraced dictators...that's all foreign affairs.
He has demonized the free press (not including Fox News).
These tactics have worked to keep his supporters energized.
However...
Trump has targeted our FBI and CIA, as yet to no meaningful effect. Those of us who have had dealings with FBI and CIA believe that those agencies have their own agenda, and those agenda do not include allowing Trump to take over as dictator.
5
Oooo fake news! Can I play? Go back five years ago. Merkel recognizes the abuse Greece is taking, both from Deutsche Bank and the inability to devalue their currency or collect taxes fro the powerful and wealthy. She actually finds a way to help a fellow Euro nation, and Germans grumble but deal with it, because the Eurozone is all in this together. She tells her pal Bush to get busy fixing what he broke in the Middle East. When hordes come flooding into Europe, she begins work immediately with border countries like Turkey to establish places to vet immigrants and deport those rejected immediately. She never assigns quotas to nations like Italy and Greece who are already generous but overwhelmed with unemployed citizens. Germany hires those Eurozone citizens first before hiring even cheaper outsiders who will take much longer to assimilate. And no one thinks about austerity as a policy during the times of high unemployment. Poor choices all around and now you want to worry about the currents we’re swimming in.
3
"She tells her pal Bush to get busy fixing what he broke in the Middle East. "
Actually, let's go back a few more years. Nader voters in Florida vote for Gore.
The popular vote winner, chosen by the majority of Americans, is elected President.
Rather than a vacation cutting brush in Texas all summer 2001, the obsessive Gore puts all government agencies on high alert and the warning from the FBI agent about the would-be-20th hijacker in jail reaches the highest levels of the government, they connect the dots, foil the plot, and 9/11/2001 passes as another beautiful blue sky September day.
There is no invasion of Iraq or Afghanistan.
2 Justices more along the lines of Breyer and Ginsburg rather than Alito and Roberts are appointed to the Supreme Court; the voting rights act is upheld; Citizens United is not supported; the second amendment is correctly interpreted as speaking to "a well REGULATED militia"....
The housing bubble is recognized and intercepted; no Bush tax cuts for the wealthy; Medicare and Social Security on firm footing...........(and so on)
17
Cohen writes for the amusement of his Trump hating readership, but does them a disservice by not addressing both sides of the coin. Sure, Trump is uncouth. But in typical Trump fashion, he bloviates, but in the right direction. Europe has picked US taxpayers clean for decades on defense spending. Even the liberal saint Barack Obama, who was somnolent when it came to national security, complained about this. And while the Times Editorial Board and Cohen love Chancellor Merkel, her response to Russian imperialism in the Ukraine has been more live and let live than Cold Warrior. Sure, Trump could tamp down the rhetoric. But at the same time, Europe could cut back on wasteful social spending and contribute more to the common defense. They only have about, what, 70 years of catching up to do?
1
“The liberal democratic club is crumbling under the weight of its own decadence and political correctness.” Indeed so, and most of all due to the liberals’ refusal to separate the geopolitical and nuclear issues vs. a. vs. Russia from the collusion and interference fury. Such a dogmatic stand has humanity-endangering implications and is also a political self-destructive folly to boot (as it gives Trump a handle on the “stabbed in the back” pretext in case of a negotiations’ failure).
Cohen’s and The NYT Board continued warning that Putin has actually declared a global war on the West (now presented as a scheme to “fracture the West”) coupled with the continuing demise of the anti-nuclear movement (fearing being blamed as Putin’s stooges) is smiting what may turn to be the budding of geopolitical stabilization and nuclear arms control efforts.
Even when the protagonists are Trump the moral-leper and Putin the revisionist authoritarian, pushing for global geopolitical confrontation on debatable issues (as Crimea and the sanctions) or inflated political accusations (the Russian popped the American democratic process cherry) and Uber-alarmist fake-scenarios ( Putin is about to overtake Europe) is a moral-historical travesty.
1
Those who say "Never" should heed a southern Italian cautionary Pasquetta tale.
On one Easter Monday, small villages parade up to the hills for a day of picnics and play. They call it 'Little Easter'. One year, a group of villagers, departing in the predawn, found it unusually cold, so they wore heavy clothing. As the sun rose, they asked Luigi, a village elder whose burro carried their wine, cheese and bread if they could place a hat, or a scarf, or a coat on the burro. "It's nothing," each one said, "It's nothing." Up into the hills the poor burro struggled. Then, covered with a mass of clothing over his original burden, he stopped.
"What happened?" the villagers asked Luigi.
Luigi dug though the load and found the poor creature had died.
"What killed him?" Luigi was asked.
"Nothing," the despondent owner said.
2
Mr. Cohen’s nightmare is as brilliant as it is frightening. The injustices and absurdities of our neoliberal dystopia are becoming more and more obvious. Xenophobia is on the march and the worst of this, from my point of view, is that the xenophobes often consider themselves to be good Christians. We need Bernie Sanders and his American socialism more than ever.
3
First off, NATO is a paper tiger. The US Marine Corps have move troops, tanks, planes, and(counting the USN's amphibs), more ships then the entire British military. Germany has to cannibalize the entire army to get 1 tank brigade running.
Germany is also undercutting sanctions against Russia and slow rolling any NATO protection for the Baltics/Poland because they favor Russia.
1
I daily traverse the distance between hope and despair. Unfortunately it seems there is a greater distance to hope seems to be farther and farther, while the trip to despair happens in nano-seconds...often several times a day. No, I am not bi-polar or manic-depressive. I am a moderately left Democrat in what should have been my golden years watching my country destroy its democracy, eaten by a cancer from within. It is easy to blame Donald Trump, or the Russians, or the far leaning left amorphous GOP. But the real fact is, 63,000,000 of our citizens voted for this administration, even after the previews during the run-up to election day that clearly demonstrated what they were getting. Another fact...the number of other nations moving in the same downward spiral as ours is growing. Maybe it's not such a bad thing that global warming (or euphemistically, "climate change") is being ignored. When our planet starts its death throes homo sapiens will be closer to extinction. Perhaps a newer species with respect for each other combined with intelligence and compassion will evolve after the apocalypse. I don't dream now...it is too scary. As to the headline, the OF COURSE should have been in upper case letters.
4
I DID mean "far leaning RIGHT amorphous GOP. Hazards of a fast electronic age and aging connectors between brain and fingers.
"IT" ("The abduction of a Russian girl by Moroccan migrants at a Spanish beach resort causes an uproar. It turns out to be “fake news...” for example) is already happening here.
see the time magazine cover 7/2 for a photo of the president towering over a child who WAS NOT separated form her mother...two separate photos merged to make a political point...
imagine a photo of two arkansas state troopers eating their donuts outside a hotel room from which the sounds of a sexual assault are emerging in cartoon balloons...oops bad example, actual not fake, news.
no trump voter here but a disappointed progressive convinced that the convenience of slamming and blaming, of personal attack and partisan intransigence, (as opposed to the effort of cogent reporting) will persist long after trump is gone.
where was all the rage when all the conditions that trump is facing (russian aggression, north korean nuclear capability, immigration law and policy failings, etc.) were developing, for decades?
"only a fool would believe for a moment," to borrow a phrase, that "IT"
was not already epidemic.
Of course it can happen here. It's happening already. We have a misleader at the helm...a pathological liar who is singlehandedly destroying our strategic alliances while elevating our ideological enemy, Putin's Russia.
Americans who value their freedom and independence should be deeply concerned about the direction our country has taken under Trump. Let's not forget that this man who sits in our White House sits there exclusively due to Russian (Putin) interference in our electoral process.
Trump has always displayed an unusual degree of deference to the Russian leader while treating our traditional allies with disrespect. Don't you find this disturbing?
I am not exaggerating. These are critical times. We must all be on alert to threats to our democracy both from within and without.
13
Sadly, all of these scenarios are possibilities. In fact, some are probably in the beginning stages of implementation. We have at least 3 leaders with sociopathic tendencies dominating the world stage: Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, and Kim Jong Un. Xi Jinping does not impress me as a sociopath but I could be wrong. Whatever he is at the core, I think he is probably the most powerful and cunning of the group....The thread that ties the foreign leaders named above together is they all seem to be liked better than our allies by Donald Trump. The only thing that is more mystifying is that about half of voting Americans either don't realize this or don't care. I think it's a wicked combination of both.
The devoted voters of Trump and the silent brownnosers in the Republican Party, have given a cunning sociopath a license to play by his own rules without the checks and balances other presidents have had to deal with. Our democratic party has no answer for Trump. The Russian voters have no answer for Putin. The North Koreans are brainwashed to adore Kim Jong Un. Xi Jinping has changed the rules he has to play by to ensure his longevity.
With the above leaders operating unchecked I think all the scenarios in this article are possible and more. I hope someone sees a way out of this quagmire- I certainly don't.
3
Sinclair Lewis - It Can’t Happen Here
Thank you for an insightful commentary. Frightening and sad.
3
There are 7 billion plus humans on the planet. Global warming is altering the world climate and not for the better. World assets are shifting into the hands of fewer and fewer people. Starving, desperate people don't use diplomacy.
Donald Trump is the canary in the coal mine. And yes, this may be the coming age of China-if we are lucky. No previous despot in history had a world full of nuclear bombs to set in motion.
2
Putin helped Trump get elected because Trump promised him something. Why else? Surely not just because Putin hated Hillary! You have to look at what the Russians want. They see NATO as an existential threat, plus they want a buffer of lands on the western border. This means they want to invade Ukraine and the Baltic states, the latter giving them crucial ports with ice free access to the Baltic Sea for their nuclear submarines. This would drastically change the balance of power in Europe and enable the Russians to threaten Poland unchallenged because NATO could not realtically engage the Russians at that point. Putin saw in Trump someone he could manipulate to weaken and disband NATO or at the very least, reverse the Magnitsky sanctions and legitimize the annexation of Crimea and ignore the invasion of Ukraine. He undoubtedly implemented a Kompromat action on Trump when he stayed at the Moscow Ritz Carlton during the Miss Universe contest, as detailed in the Steele report. After Trump meets Putin, he will emerge with an announcement Putin told him he didn’t meddle with election, and that the United States will remove the sanctions. Trump is a bought man who wants to stay in power to line his pockets, and has no compunction to expose the world to Russian hegemony.
7
Color me a fool because I think that the subversion of the world's organizations that have brought peace and prosperity.since the end of WWII in 1945, is a plan being currently executed by Trump at Putin's insistence. Keep in mind, for example, that prior to the end of WWII, France and Germany went to war against each other every 20-25 years on average. NATO and other organizations brought order to historically difficult neighbors in Europe. There has been peace between the two now for 73 years. That is what is being torn apart by Trump, organizations, alliances and trade agreements between the United States and other nations world-wide that promote peace and prosperity. Based upon his prior remark when Trump hoped the people would "extend his term" [of office], I expect that if given a chance, Trump will declare himself president for life. Realistically, that would come in the event he is elected to a second term (God help us!), most probably toward the end of the term. He would attempt to justify it upon the horrible costs of elections and the amount of money that we would save by not having them. What shred of decency possibly possessed by Trump would lead one to believe otherwise? Tell me, please. Oh, did you miss the warning by the head of the British Army several weeks ago that Putin is planning for war? It was in all the British newspapers. Color this patriot as a fool because not only do I believe it is possible but I believe the it is underway.
5
It would not happen here if the far left would compromise on immigration.
If Western values collapse and authoritarianism rises it will be because a small fringe of people, supported by big-business, continue to think their societies are obligated to destroy themselves to benefit illegal economic migrants.
Please- compromise. Help people in their home countries. Stop forcing your societies to forsake their own children for the benefit of the children of illegal economic migrants.
Every 12 years there are another 1,000,000,000 (billion) people. We, in the West, cannot help everyone- we cannot even help our own people. People in the developing world need to help themselves and they need to get their population growth under control.
6
Dear Mr. Cohen:
I love you; you have become my favourite NYT columnist, and I place great value upon your good judgment. But I fear this ostensibly nightmarish piece seems excessively optimistic when one considers truly worst-case Trump scenarios. You and I must compare apocalyptic visions of the future of America and the world sometime, at your convenience.
Fondly,
2
A failure of imagination is a bad thing. So is an excess of imagination. NATO and the European Union aren't going away because Trump is in a bad mood and because migration is a difficult issue. Many of the 'events' you describe would be strongly opposed by both Democrats and Republicans in the U.S. and many, many people in Europe.
One point of unity between both conservatives and liberals since 'The Population Bomb' has been their whistling past the tomb of Thomas Malthus. That modern technology of food production would continue to exempt us from the threat of over population. But how short sighted was this thinking that continued community among democratic nations and a benign physical atmosphere unaffected by man would accompany and facilitate such advancements? The arguments of Paul Ehrlich were merely delayed and not nullified by the hubris of man-strong which is now bringing our downfall.
1
I can't send you the link on NYT but search on YouTube for the 1964 British film It Happened Here. The premise is that the Germans invaded Britain in 1940. By 1945, the country was split between collaborators, insurgents with American help and the indifferent go-along, get-along mass in the middle. The movie is from the perspective of a nurse who bounces between all three groups. You can draw your own analogies from the film. I have two. Change won't happen when the apathetic middle suddenly becomes enraged by injustice. Collaborators end up shot.
3
Of course it can, and is happening here as I write this.
Trump seems far too pliant when it comes to his relationship with Russia. It's as though Russia knows certain closely held secrets about his past that Trump absolutely does not want revealed.
Let's face it, Trump does have a checkered past. There's no doubt there. No U.S. bank would loan him a dime. He has stiffed them too many times. And what else do we know about our fearless leader? Well, I think that it's pretty obvious that he's a pathological liar. Of that there's no doubt.
And, for a U.S. President, don't you think that Trump is far too submissive when it comes to his relationship with Putin? Why is that?...It causes one to think that Putin might have some info or evidence on Trump that Trump desperately does not want revealed to the general public.
Finally, what troubles me most about Trump is his obvious deference towards Russia while simultaneously showing a certain amount of disrespect to our long-term European allies who have historically stood with us in the face of tyranny.
...These are strange times, indeed. So, Mr. Cohen, yes, it could happen (and is happening) here.
9
Ha! I don’t know about this. The Russian people love Putin. Half the US loves trump. People all over the world are tired of Islamic radicalism and appalled at their societies being overrun by migrants fleeing chaos in Africa, the Middle East, and Central America. They never agreed to this, but are told they are racist for even thinking about the wisdom of it all. The media fans all this conflict and discord with self-righteous lectures about tolerance while others fan it for fun and profit. And, of course, it’s our fault the home countries of all these migrants are in chaos to begin with. I’m sure once they all make it to Europe and the US these good folks will suddenly turn over a new leaf and become model citizens of an egalitarian multicultural West. Another fantasy worthy of a pundit’s vivid imagination...
7
An excellent piece, and one which should be read with an item from today's (London) Times that begins:
'President Trump has declared that the European Union, NATO and the World Trade Organisation are bad for America, according to senior diplomatic sources. Donald Tusk, president of the European Council, told EU leaders that Mr Trump posed a serious threat to western unity and it would be a mistake to dismiss the US president as stupid. “He has a method and is serious in his mission against an international rules-based order,” Mr Tusk told the leaders, according to a senior diplomatic source. “He is on a mission against what we stand for.”'
Donald Tusk is a sensible, serious man. He does not make such comments lightly. The drift towards chaos that Cohen describes is being encouraged (I'm sorry to say as an outsider) by your President.
As a first step towards avoiding disaster, any chance you guys could clip his wings in the midterms?
Please?
26
Are we headed to another Dark Age, with disease, death, the elite living in their gated communities, newspapers shut down?
The 2008 animated film Wall-E was prescient in its depiction of a future world.
1
Trump has given Estonia,Poland Ukraine various defensive weapons. Obama gave the Russians a reset button just before they invaded Ukraine...and that's not a what if.
1
Back in the mid 1930's Sinclair Lewis wrote the book " It can't happen here", proving it could happen here, a dictatorship that is. It's not the greatest novel ever written, but for those that think we are safe from a demagog dictator taking over the country it could be an eye opener.
I think if I were in a leadership position in the democrat party I would be pushing the reading of this book as much as possible. In fact it would make a good TV series.
3
Now can you do one for the death of unions, the growth of "right to work" legislation, the collapse of minimum wage, forty hour work week, laws against child labor and OSHA?
1
Silence is complicity.
4
Just as Sinclair Lewis imagined in his 1935 novel "It Can't Happen Here", we are witness to a fascist wave of intolerance and erosion of freedoms in our own country. Mr Cohen has aptly described a near-future where our Bully-in-Chief has given license to at best boorish and at worst violent behavior among our social democratic allies; those same allies that are hopefully going to be most resilient to these base nationalist tendencies. Each day I wonder where a future Ex-Pat might go to find solace in an increasingly unrecognizable world.
7
The collective GDP of the EU, US and Canada is $40 trillion. 1% of $40 trillion is $400 billion. $400 billion annually will go a long way to develop third world poor countries. My solution to this problem is all the industrialized-first world countries and other rich countries should dedicate 1% of their GDP to develop third world poor countries. Seriously invest to develop these poor third world countries. Not give the money to any huge bureaucracy, including the African Union, the World Bank, IMF or the UN. Not to give money to third world poor countries' governments or corrupt politicians. Rich countries should encourage their own entrepreneurs, all businesses and all industries by providing incentives, tax benefits, loans and grants to invest to develop third world poor countries. By entrepreneurs, businesses and industries investing in training for the local potential job seekers and building businesses and factories, they will create employment in the these poor third world countries. When poor people are working and providing for families they have no reason to leave home except for education and advancement not for stealing or taking jobs away from others. When economies improve everything else follows. This plan is a win-win for everyone. If we don’t do this, people in these poor third world countries will continue to migrate and worse some of them may become terrorists.
Nasser AlNasser
I feel that liberal democracies are like a player at a black jack table with an 8 of hearts and a 6 of clubs, and they can see that three 7s have already been dealt. If they take another card and it is a 8 or worse, they collectively fall to totalitarian regimes. If they hold and take no card, they are also likely to lose.
We have to keep playing. We have to do everything that we can (protest, organize, contribute to sane candidates, VOTE) and hope for the best.
Hit us, dealer.
1
No triumph in death,
only transition,
in its wake there forms.
a new beginning.
1
Roger Cohen does not need to mention Nobel Prize winner Sinclair Lewis 1935 It Can't Happen Here because he can safely assume that Times readers know that book well.
At 6 AM this morning I could open the print edition of my Swedish newspaper DN to a fine 2-page article about a book that not all Swedes would know, an article that contains this observation in my translation:
"Windrip's administration's first days remind us so much of Trump's that it is as if we are seeing a reprise - of a well known TV series you forgot you had seen...paramilitary troops (Minute Men) begin to hunt down and abuse dissidents...sound familiar?"
Trump stars in a reality TV series that is already streaming from the United States of America even to Sweden.
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
Citizen USA SE
DN is making available a Swedish translation as an e-book, free to subscribers.
3
@ myself. The original is by John Freeman translated to Swedish by Ola Larsmo. Have not found the original yet.
This was like reading a stream of consciousness. Like the last chapter of Ulysses. What precisely is it that you think or don't think could or is happening here. There is a vague reference to to the Holocaust that happened in Europe between 1933 and 1945. Whatever is happening here, it is nothing compared to the Holocaust. We have always had to witness suffering as people struggle to survive. Here is a thought: In today's world everyone is a witness. No one can claim they didn't know. I know for sure that Americans at an individual level are moving to stop this inhumane treatment of Refugees. But everything takes time. We will fight this one too.
The biggest winner of Russian meddling in US and European affairs will be China. I am sure President Xi is happily watching US and Europe self-destroy through Russian efforts. Russia divides and China conquers the world order.
4
For over a century, the United States has been the safety valve for global migration. We have built a strong, powerful nation and resilient culture from the ashes of ethic conflict every where. Without the welcome mat of the United States, persecuted peoples have few choices to escape their misery, be it economic, political, or cultural. Europe is experiencing a crisis because we have rolled up the welcome mat, and it is tearing apart liberal democracies everywhere.
Trump's global vision is divisive because he works for Putin, not us, and this is what Putin wants. His immigration/migration narrative is his red meat, the destruction of a European unity is his goal. Underestimating the Trump/Putin alliance would be a grave mistake.
7
I have seriously looked into emigrating from my beloved United States, but being an older person of limited means I find myself unqualified to move to any liberal democracy. As best I can see, they all require some combination of valued work skills and/or investment capital. I am self sufficient, but that doesn't appear to be enough. The countries that would welcome me seem to be only those which are already more dysfunctional than the US is becoming.
So I will live within these borders, and I will continue to work and vote to maintain this country as one being governed by "We, The People". But history teaches me I should not be optimistic. The Supreme Court is beginning to rule that repression is legal, and every indication is that they will eventually declare that the President is above the law. That will be the end of the United States of America.
My best hope for my children's future is the Balkanization that Cohen writes about. Before our conversion to a theocratic oligarchy is complete, there will remain a period of time where State's rights are still respected, and Blue States may be able to secede without undue violence. Let Trumpistan keep the name "United States", for it will be meaningless.
Here I am, a member of the most privileged group on our society: A male, hetero WASP. What used to be called the "All American Boy". If even I'm this scared, I can't imagine how it must be for my neighbors who don't have these protections given me by birth.
25
I think this very accurately express the views of many of use who see the US as changing into a werewolf under the influence of the full moon of fascism.
4
I would like to side with those who challenge RC's view and find cause as to why this could not happen here. Much of what is described in the op-ed has happened, is happening and will happen. Unfortunately the 1930'es give ample illustration of how societies with democratic constitutions and institutions, deep-rooted humanistic and christian traditions descended into barbarous hate-mongering, militaristic nationalism, genocide and ultimately World Wars.
The Western countries - under US leadership - and facing a resurgent totalitarianism from the East, built a bulwark against a repeat of these processes: the Unites Nations, NATO, international conventions and laws, the EU and a framework of regional alliances and trade agreements. Three generations after WW II, the lessons drawn from all the bloodshed and destruction are being forgotten and voters are again swayed by the siren songs of xenophobes, racists and nationalists, but this time, multiplied and amplified by the power of the internet, of anti-social media, bots and troll-farms emplyed by Putin, Trump and the like.
It is not a question of whether it could happen here. It is happening here. The question is whether the resistance can achieve enough strength in time, to avoid the descent of our lonely planet into another global nightmare.
11
Here in this country we on the liberal left have always been dubious of states' rights advocates who see the federal government's power and use of such power over states' rights as a negative. This belief on the left came from some states wanting to hold onto their segregationist and Jim Crow past. As a result, those on the left myself included came to see the consolidation of power in a central government at the expense of individual state power as a powerful force for good, i.e., civil rights, women's liberation, equal education, environmental protection, etc. Now, I, for one am beginning to think we may need the states to put a check on federal power. But, the question now is do the states have enough power remaining to stand up to the federal government. We are about to see as states are suing the federal government on everything from the environment to immigration. As more states take action and more people enter the streets to protest, we are about to find out whether or not We the People ceded too much power to the federal government over the past 50 years, and now it may be too late to stop.
9
The unrestrained breeding of humans will work much greater havoc than this, I am most certain. The number of humans on this planet needs to be dramatically reduced, and it will be - one way or another.
2
I wish I could dismiss this utopian vision, but I can not. There is a larger picture here: climate change and massive cultural change due to technology and the Information Age. Things are changing, and much too quickly. I don't think humans ever had to adapt this quickly to the other major social challenges of the Agricultural and Industrial Age transitions. The faster the rate of change the higher the level of anxiety. The higher the level of anxiety, the more we will see strong-men in power and "other" demonized. We are herd animals, and the hunters are approaching. The more we follow leaders like Trump, the faster our demise as a civilization.
48
This nightmare scenario by Roger Cohen is the kind of hand-wringing that liberals love. It stokes their moral outrage. And they can’t get enough of moral outrage.
In fact, the repugnance of the Americans of all stripes toward Trump’s family separation policy effectively ended it. The people are not yet helpless as Cohen and his followers would like to believe.
Trump’s tariffs have yet to bite in the US heartland. When they do, there will certainly be a drop-off in support for Trump, not only by his base, but by the billionaires who pull the strings behind the scenes. The only question is how big a drop-off?
In Europe, as the Times recently reported, there has been a hopeful resurgence of support for Angela Merkel. The game is not over yet, not by any means.
The greatest threat we face, is the renewed effort of liberals—by their numerous, shrill accusations of "racism"—to drive away those pesky swing voters that Dems need to win in November.
Liberals hate the idea of "swing" voters because it implies that not all Trump voters are hard-core racists. If true, liberals might have to survive on a little less moral outrage. God forbid!
17
Immigration and all its moral, political and practical complexities will not be a winning issue for the Democrats. The people most directly affected by it are not citizens, i.e., they will not be voting. It is an issue that inflames the right, but will arouse little passion in the undecided. Undecided or swing voters will not be demanding more immigration, they are probably more concerned about uncontrolled immigration. It's not a black and white issue that you can use as a call to arms. Democrats, please figure out on which side your bread is buttered!
3
To call complaints about racism "shrill," and loud concerns about moral injustice "hand wringing," lacks empathy, and degrades our national conversation. I see the value of the substance of your argument, but the offensive of your adjectives did much to lose an ally and is ironically what your argument was about.
I don’t feel “moral outrage,” nor do I require it before taking action.
What I do feel is that everyone needs to re-read DARKNESS AT NOON, by Arthur Koestler. My parents gave me the book when I was 13.
“Aberrations of the human mind are to a large extent due to the obsessional pursuit of some part-truth, treated as if it were a whole truth.”
1
For the love of sanity, we need to focus on repairing and rebuilding trust among individuals and then nations. Where are the voices that will show us the way forward?
14
Apparently, according to another Op-Ed in this issue, that is a myth. I don't think so and the voices that will lead us forward are us. There is a wonderful group called Better Angels dedicated to the concept of getting both sides together to talk and find common ground. They are having difficulty finding interest in some areas of the country. We could start there.
The fundamental elements of a totalitarian state have already been introduced by this administration regardless of what takes place in Europe. We lurch from one manufactured crisis to another with the media barely able to catch up or really evaluate the ever changing situations both internationally or domestically. Lies and corruption along with the watering down of the rule of law and institutions that would hold Trump accountable to include a complicit congress, attacks on a free press and the judiciary are merely the beginning. Ever notice that past authoritarian governments always emerge with minority rule? All that's required is willing participants in the minority in power and a good propaganda machine. We have that with the Republican party and Fox News. Facts are simply ignored and the agenda moves forward usually wrapped in the Flag or other nationalistic rhetoric messaging an "us against them" seemingly patriotic position until the minority authoritarian grip on power is solidified. The once unacceptable becomes the normal condition and the layers of corruption are by then too entrenched to even be recognized. The head of the subject nation then appoints those around him to positions of power so if something goes wrong they are the ones that can bear the blame and be removed so the head of the snake can never be touched or questioned. If the pressure becomes too much, a war is always a good distraction. This is a factual account of historical tyranny.
97
When I was born in the US Midwest my father, his brother, and two brothers-in-law were fighting against tyranny in Europe. Due to the usual twists and turns of real life I grew up surrounded by refugees from that terrible tragedy. As a result, I have always known in a very deep way that of course it could happen again. Democracies have a built-in instability, since people can vote to give power to an authoritarian group.
Roger Cohen's scenario is, I hope, equally unlikely. It assumes that power-hungry factions world wide will coordinate skillfully and compromise with each other in order to produce a global axis of coercion and control. Quite frankly, can you really envision Marine Le Pen, Donald Trump, Frauke Petry, and Viktor Orban in the same room all hashing out a delicately-nuanced coalition? Cage-fighting anyone?
On the positive side, I see that perhaps two thirds or more of people in democracies world-wide are increasingly cooperating to resist the 20% fringe. The remaining people seem to be supporting the authoritarians only because they see personal gains in wealth and power. Yeah, "moderate Republicans", I'm lookin' at you!
41
Well this is a lovely way to start the weekend. And we used to say in the '60s, "Just because you're not paranoid doesn't mean someone isn't still out to get you."
Mr. Cohen's piece contains a certain amount of hyperbole, but it is still a scenario that could play out, at least in part. And he doesn't even bring in Asia or the Middle East. Or Africa. Or Latin America. And, because he limits this to one or two terms of Mr. Trump as president, he leaves out the impact of environmental issues such as climate change. But it's generally plausible. And scary. I suspect some of it will happen, at least in some way.
But he also leaves out the unfolding disaster of a tribalized United States. I have long worried that the Union will dissolve into a federation like the EU, and the seemingly enormous gulf between Trumpists and everyone else could accelerate the process. Under this administration and its grip on many republicans and a "base" that enjoys willful ignorance, our nation is in deep yogurt. I hope it can survive this administration and work with the EU and other nations to regain global stability, but the next 50 years are not going to be a whole lot of fun.
69
"Fear" is the wrong word. The US would be much better off if broken into three countries that had to be more respectful of each other, and that process would also severely disempower the corporatists and oligarchs who hold so much control here now.
"Leading Republicans unanimously support his position."
This is the core of the problem, the Republican Party, which represents a minority of Americans (voter suppression, gerrymandering, 2 Senators for Wyoming, party-over country Electoral College), which is propped up by NRA (Russian?) money and their money-is-speech Supreme Court, and which has turned against democracy in exchange for its 30 pieces of silver tax cut.
No purity tests. Use the power that remains to us until (even more of?) our voting machines are inescapably hacked: vote, vote, vote for Democrats, every level, every election.
118
It is not too far fetched to foresee a strategic alliance between the Russia and the US. But an alliance against whom? China, of course. China and Russia are no longer natural allies vis a vis communism. And China poses a threat to both Russia and the US given its ever expanding economy, military, and influence around the world, in places such as resourse rich Africa. China shares a sizable border with Russia, and almost certainly would like to control far eastern Asia. And given the growth of its navy, both in size and in advanced technology and weapons systems, it poses a potential threat to US hegemony of shipping lanes, particularly those in southeast Asia. Bannon has proposed such a scenerio, and we may be seeing the beginning of just such a scenerio.
2
One should consider that China and Russia are presently conducting joint military exercises. They are reversing Nixon's police of triangulation to keep Russia in check. Rather, China and Russia are triangulating against the USA to diminish our power.
2
Bruegel's painting, The Triumph of Death, depicts the effects of the bubonic plague in the 14th century. I am not sure what this has to do with Trump in the current day especially since the plague was an equal opportunity avenger claiming peasant and nobleman alike. Note what appears to be a king on the bottom left of the painting. Trump's nefarious policies largely spare the very wealthy although one suspects that even they might be inconvenienced by the collapse of the global economy.
8
In the end, not at the beginning, authoritarianism subsumes all, making the Triumph of Death an apt symbol of what possible lies in store for America.
2
I'm not an art historian, but I don't get that this painting is solely about the effects of the "Black Death" ... but rather about what can be the chaos, fear, and ugliness that accompanies death related to tyranny, war, religious wackiness, nasty disease - any kind of unwelcome death.
2
Recently I listened again to Leonard Cohen's recording of his masterpiece "The Future" and a chill suddenly ran through me. In 1991, I didn't know who the monster described in this song was. Now we do. "Things are gonna slide in all directions."
48
Me too! Re-listened to his concert, Live from Dublin and his words are so precient.
Sinclair Lewis, "It Can't Happen Here" (1935).
32
Frank Zappa, "It Can't Happen Here" (1966).
2
United States, "It Is Happening Here" (2016-present)
2
What's missing in this narrative is the concurrent civil war going on in North America. Unlike the war between the States of the mid-19th Century, where populations generally divided along state lines and armies of those two sides fought it out on the battlefield, the internal war in the USA is like the carnage in the Balkans during the 1990s, with fighting taking place between residents of towns and neighborhoods. Not a war of secession, it is a war for dominance of the culture leading to a Balkanize of the country. In addition to fighting in the streets and neighborhoods, it is a war of migrations as like-minded people move to areas where their worldview is dominant. As the older nations of Europe re-assert them selves breaking up the European Union, a handful of new, much less powerful nation-states arise breaking up the American union. American hegemony is coming to an end. The president tweets his approval.
78
I'm glad you wrote this, it is just what I have been thinking. What is happening right now is definitely leading towards a dystopian U.S. (I'm sure it will be renamed Trumpland or something like that), the EU and beyond. I feel like screaming for help but realize that we have to help ourselves. The question is, how do we do this? I am asking in all seriousness.
38
Help people who need it to get themselves on the voting register. It is deliberately complicated. On the day mobilise the vote. 3,000,000 more voters did not vote for Trump last time - but there were still many people who did not vote and they could have prevented this debacle if they had just voted. Hopefully they will see now it does matter. If everyone who voted took one more person with them to vote you have doubled the vote.
2
If you believe that there are more people horrified and disgusted with current trends than not, work to get out the vote.
There is hope - younger people, "new Americans" and caring Americans are in the majority. Work to get out the vote.
And then there is "fly over land". The middle of America where companies are being destroyed by Trump's random chest beating sloppy trade decisons. Those folks, whether they voted for Trump or not, are beginning to suffer. Work to get the voters to the polls.
In short, I think it will take too long, but we can turn the ship of state back to sanity. It is possible that the immigration nightmare CREATED by Trump and the trade chaos CREATED by Trump will be his "Katrinas".
1
It's plausible and more than that, as several comments have already observed. History's chorus is growing louder.
What are we, keen observers and students of history, DOING about this all possible outcome? Somehow, vigils and marches pale in comparison to the actions and laws (remember, first make it legal and atrocities are protected) which have already been passed and which are being implemented every day.
Everything that Trump and Co. have recently done, domestically and globally, makes everything Mr. Cohen has described that much closer to reality. No one can say we haven't all been warned by history and daily newspaper reports. Remember the words of Martin Niemoller. Read the words of Stephen Rohde, in his more recent updating of " First They Came for..."
37
Is there any research into why Trump supporters are drawn to him? What is it - exactly? I would think that might be helpful in terms of understanding and addressing their deepest concerns. Democrats should address those concerns and not gloss over them.
A president who is under criminal investigation for colluding with Russia to help bring about his own election, and who denies that any such interference by Russia took place (despite obvious evidence and the views of his own intelligence services), is about to name the swing vote on the court that may well decide his own political fate, and is also about to hold a summit with the same Russian leader who unquestionably interfered in the 2016 election and is probably about to interfere in the 2018 election as well. As they say, what could possibly go wrong?
293
If the meddling of Russia is so obvious, is it too much to ask for some evidence for this assertion? Trump's son having one meeting with a lawyer who was not a representative of Russia? or a few Facebook ads? As causes for a big war?
Dont get me wrong. I am a patriotic American who understands the necessity of hating our country's enemies. Any sound businessmen will tell you: Yet another US war would be just the thing to unite our divided people and jack up the Stock Market. The only little trouble is, war with a nuclear power would end civilization & the human species. But we've got to kill those evil Russians!
Do you have to see ANGELS IN AMERICA on Broadway to see what happened to this country the last time anyone opposed to the Great War Drive was denounced as being "tools of the Kremlin"?
The president is not the "target" of a criminal invention. Untrue allegations about criminal also contribute to the problem, no? As do failures to accept the results of an election. What's destroying our country is an inability by the left to accept the results of an election.
I'm not a Trump supporter and didn't vote for him, but I'm sorry, for you to write that Mr. Trump is "under criminal investigation for colluding with Russia" is inaccurate at best. Trump has himself yet to even be questioned by Mr. Mueller, and the inquiries have all been tangential to the election itslef, and NOT related to "collusion". The majority of the criminal findings have been related to perjury, money laundering, and fraud. Facts really do matter.
Thank you, Mr Cohen, for setting out this thoughtful and all too plausible scenario. Your commentary on foreign relations is always insightful and much needed to help keep our eyes wide open at this frightening turning point in world affairs.
33
All this--fact AND fiction--was presaged well over a year ago by none other than kooky Steve Bannon.
I recall reading an analysis of Bannon's long range game plan, and and his white, Christian nationalist grand strategy to divide the world in two with Vladimir Putin.
Undesirables--just about anyone who's foreign, poor, weak, or in need of help and sustenance--must be expunged.
I recall thinking, nah, this nationalist "divide the world" vision thing is a joke. and then I watched slack jawed, as Trump began implementing key elements of it on our border.
The right's bete noir, Hispanics, would be subject to their worst nightmare: losing their kids.
Family separations began long before their official launch last April. there was a pilot "program" in 2017. The number of missing kids--thrust into the incompetent HHS game of hide-and-go-seek is likely over 4000.
As Yeats wrote a hundred years ago, "the center will not hold."
It IS happening here, there, and everywhere.
270
I could easily see the scenario with NATO and Trump offering to cease US Military exercises in the Baltics to make friends with Putin - just as he did with North Korea. After having just returned from a trip to The Baltics, it won't be Estonia that will be invaded - it will be Latvia. Latvia is more than 40% Russian.
37
Even if NATO stays in place, how actually would it defend the Baltic member states?
It couldn’t stop a Russian invasion, or undo it if it occurred. The Americans and British don’t have the logistical capacity and the Germans don’t have the political will. Poland might try but it would not fare any better than in the last war.
We’re treaty-bound to protect an untenable military position—a situation similar to what led to World War I.
Then Mr. Cohen’s illustration would become frighteningly real.
4
The American people by and large don't WANT their armed forces traipsing about in Eastern Europe. As President Obama once quipped (and I totally agree with him), "the 1980's called; they want their foreign policy back". Not saying we should embrace Mr. Putin, but it's also not in the US' interest to antagonize him nor provide security blanket/anti-anxiety with respect to Russia. If Western Europe feels that threatened by Russia, and perhaps it's in their interest to return to Cold War security posture, then by all means they should do so. The US is tired of being chastised as "the world's military bully". It's high time we focus more on negotiating and less on "military exercises"
Absolutely correct. Expect the Putin-Trump meeting in July to be a replay of the infamous Molotov-Ribbentrop meeting of the 30's. Trump will hand off the Baltics, Romania, Poland and more. He doesn't need Congress to pull out of NATO: as commander-in-chief he'll order the US military to stand-down while Putin's tanks (with Trump's glee and foreknowledge) roll West. NATO nations, w/o the U.S., must IMMEDIATELY strengthen their defense (and keep the U.S. out of the loop, else Trump relays their plans & secrets to his Kremlin pals.) The freedom of humanity now depends on Europe.
1
How did Mr. Cohen get his hands on Trump's secret global grand strategy?
Seriously, all of this is already pretty much underway, so it is not much of a stretch to think that events are going to transpire in this way. The only pure fiction is the name that Putin would select for his new alliance of dictators -- it would be a bit more clever than the one Cohen posits.
35
Of course, it is already happening here. Americans are retreating into their own cultural communities. Education is failing. The Supreme Court has endorsed free riding on the backs of their dues paying union members. The country is not so slowly becoming Balkanized.
48
Since the end of the Cold War, global capitalism has created mass, global poverty and political instability. I'm glad that Roger is recognizing that now and seeing what a disaster and a destabilizing force capitalism is.
11
In fact, the poverty level throughout the world has dramatically decreased throughout the 20th century, including following the end of the Cold War. But regardless, as facts do not matter anymore. Welcome to the post truth dystopia.
30
It is a mistake to ignore the role of climate change - increasing desertification in Africa and parts of Asia, fewer water resources, and sharply reduced crop yields - which drives migrants.
15
The Davids of the world deny that globalism has seriously lowered the living standard of the middle class and working class in the US and Europe, and actually reduced their life expectancy in the US. The Davids are the Deniers of fact and reality.
4
About as uncompelling a set of speculative hypotheticals as any I’ve seen. We might also decide to solve our energy challenges by turning all hyper-liberals into human batteries à la “The Matrix”. That would vastly reduce our climate change exacerbating requirements for oil-and-coal-based energy generation, while also palpably reducing the rancor of our civil discourse. And those would be POSITIVE outcomes, wouldn’t they (even if the batteries might not agree on the means)? Unlike Roger’s “let’s just jump on the subway track and start playing with the third-rail” approach to dealing with Life, the Universe and Everything.
Anything can happen, anywhere. However, we have among the strongest and most mature institutions of any society in history to prevent the kind of social deterioration that Roger, in his blackest moods, sees as directly linked to Trump’s presidency … but that show NO evidence of appearing.
This intensifying wave of black depression that I see among the unchained, potted liberati simply tells me that they’re finally beginning to accept that America remains center-right (as it always has been), and that their best arguments aren’t changing that.
Fiddling with third-rails is NOT the answer to a constructionist Supreme Court and federal bench or to continued Republican majorities as far as the eye can see. Do better. Try making better, more compelling arguments and consider Lexapro or Prozac.
18
You are not familiar with the apocalyptic theory embraced by Steve Bannon and reflected in Trump's inauguration address written by Bannon's protege, Stephen Miller, who happens to be Trump's "senior advisor" and the architect of the child separation and incarceration policy.
The Fourth Turning by Strauss and Howe is clearly a faux intellectual, semi spiritual, deeply "traditionalist" systematic rejection of the Enlightenment and its doctrines of progress, upon which the US was founded.
It is apocalyptic and Bannon and Miller have taken it as their gospel. The theory lies behind Trump's strategy and the takeover of the GOP. Bannon proselytizes in Europe and the USSR. It is no secret why Trump and Putin would like to work together. A wacky conspiracy theory smoothly presented as "history" explains the turn to our dark side.
Yes, we do have fascism in America.
You always harp on the notion that Democrats need to make "compelling arguments" in order to win elections. Do you consider the perpetration of falsehoods as a "compelling argument"? What about naked appeals to fear and bigotry? That is what got the GOP its majorities -- plus gerrymandering districts and harassment of poor, less educated voters. Some "compelling" record indeed...
5
These increasingly dire warnings should be, and are, taken with a grain of salt. The left's inability to face defeat is startling. Trump is not their biggest problem. It's the rest of the country, which is increasingly turning away from them. They keep doubling down because they are always the last to know.
2
North Korea is effectively a part of China. As JFK reminded us, when written in Chinese the word “crisis” is composed of two characters. One stands for danger; the other stands for opportunity. In a crisis, we need to be aware of danger, but we also need to recognize opportunity.
At present, the United States is abjectly blind to perilous danger; China and Russia scrutinize manifest opportunity.
27
Macron is slyly confirming that Trump offered him a better trade deal than would exist for the EU were France to withdraw from the EU. Trump cheered for BREXIT, made the G7 meeting a mockery and is making noises about US troop commitments in Germany. We learned today that the biggest British financial supporter of BREXIT has been offered various lucrative investments in Russian owned ventures. We know that Russia waged a propaganda campaign to support BREXIT comparable to what was done during the 2016 presidential election. Cohen's column isn't all that far fetched, at least when it comes to Trump's furthering of what is good for Russia.
145
Is it just me, or did Reagan's declaration that "government is not the solution to the problem; government is the problem", send a shiver down the spine of every American who learned from an early age that "We the people..." ARE the government, and that's what made America great in the eyes of the world? Despite our many and serious flaws there was an aspirational component to Americanism that existed nowhere else: that there is a way to govern ourselves as a collective of civic minded individuals while maintaining the rights of those whose voices would otherwise be unheard. And isn't that what government in America is supposed to be? A collection of elected and appointed individuals whose job it is to essentially "do the will of the people" while mediating as level a playing field as possible for all of the nation's competing interests. If Reagan was correct then why didn't we just leave the Articles of Confederation alone and lurch along with no national voice or common political and legal institutions? Reagan stood American history and its political and legal legacy on its head and it hasn't come close to righting itself since.
214
In 1981, in his inauguration speech, Reagan stated tha "government was the problem." I, being a 36 year old airline pilot at the time, dedicated to his career and not particularly active in politics (I always voted), thought Reagan's declaration was wrong because we are the government. Were "we " the problem?
17
I think it safe to say Ron Reagan was a Nationalist who held himself, and Nancy, above the American people who he claimed, in essence, were the problem and he was the savior. Worked for him. Not so much for the rest of us.
10
In the Washington Post, this is the latest headline:
"U.S. assessing cost of keeping troops in Germany as Trump battles with Europe"
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/us-assessing-cost...
9
And the sequel to the Manchurian candidate recurs. In it, a factitious president by the name of Thump turns out to be the dark and hidden character in this movie. Everything he does with the Russians is as he calls it "Fake News", but in reality, Thump is Russian leader Putkin's puppet. Sadly, in this movie, this mole is never discovered, and North America succumbs to the Russians!
32
The German government of Angela Merkel falls. The AfD enters into an agreement with Greece, Spain and Italy to strengthen external border control and detain migrants in Southern Europe. This is backed by generous funding from Northern Europe.
The AfD simplifies the immigration problem by changing the asylum system. No asylum claims will ever be considered from those who cross illegally. Asylum claims will only be accepted at legal ports of entry from those who can prove they come from recognized genocide zones. Despite protests from the media, the policy spreads across Europe.
Within a few months the flow of immigrants slows to a trickle. Potential immigrants learn that the asylum scam no longer works, and they have no chance of being admitted to Europe regardless of how convincingly they lie.
The UK government admits that they can't reach a deal with the EU before the deadline. Facing a disastrous hard Brexit which the UK is not prepared for, Theresa May resigns. The new PM, Boris Johnson, admits to the British people that he was wrong about the costs of Brexit. He calls a new referendum and urges people to vote to stay in the EU. The vote passes, leaving great bitterness among Brexit supporters. The UK government collapses. The EU leadership is filmed celebrating with President Macron with $500 bottles of Moet et Chandon.
Thanks to the simplification of environmental rules by President Trump, US oil and gas production booms. The Russian economy stalls due to this.
7
You somehow omitted your closing sentence: "Schrodinger is appointed official White House cheerleader".
1
What most Americans don't understand --including, it appears, many journalists -- is the historical role our government, including "respectable" politicians, has played in creating Donald Trump:
Thread 1:
1. Our own CIA, since its inception, has been complicit in the overthrow of democratically elected governments throughout the world with pro-worker leanings that threatened the profits of U.S. and multi-national corporations.
2. The Reagan government in the 1980s supported brutal right-wing dictatorships in Guatemala and El Salvador.
3. Actions 1 and 2 have led to political instability in Latin America, contributing to the dysfunctional countries.
4. People have fled those dysfunctional countries and tried to enter the U.S., both legally and illegally, contributing to our present circumstances.
Thread 2:
1. We invaded Iraq in 2003, under the guise of a false association between Saddam Hussein and the 9/11.
2. We had no credible plan for what to do after we overthrew Saddam Hussein's government.
3. This invasion contributed to political instability in the Middle East and exacerbated anti-American terrorism.
4. Our actions have contributed to the influx of refugees into European countries.
It's not all our fault, but American politicians have given their blessings to U.S. meddling and invasions, which over time have contributed to the immigration pressures and problems we're now experiencing, whose response forms the cornerstone of Trumpian politics.
591
Ought to be NY Times pick.
Thank you!
2
Ok. So what's your point?
your list is way too short.
Editor’s note: This comment has been anonymized in accordance with applicable law(s).
2
This makes me cry. Literally. The pain and the anguish that it has come to this... I cry reading this op-ed, and the comments. I vote in every election, but is it enough? Are my campaign donations enough? Is my political volunteering enough?
How can it have come to this?
190
You're not crying alone. The last two weeks, in particular, have made it impossible for many of us to remain dry eyed. How can anyone who watches or listens or reads NOT suffer emotional pain as tragic events and decisions erupt around us? So, yes, we must not fail to use what we have: votes, donations, volunteering, as well as demonstrating, contacting political leaders, even initiating political action in our local communities. The important thing is each of us must take SOME action, regardless of how small or inconsequential it may seem. Anything is better than suffering in silence. Diminishing our feeling of helplessness is a top priority.
19
I voted for Obama twice, would again given who ran against him.
My indictment: Obama used his eloquence to get elected - twice. Obama, never used his eloquence to move this country in a direction.
I attribute the Republican ruling Washington, DC, to Obama not taking them on,
We elect our president to do what is necessary/required - to grow into the job.
How about taking this action - come up with candidates and policies that win elections, and stop relying on the courts and the media to do your bidding. Maybe the superiority of ideas is not as self-evident as you think.
1
It reminds me of what happened in Europe in the early 90's, when we all believed that war would never ever happen again in civilized Europe. Then the Yugoslav wars started. It turned out we Europeans were all fools.
26
Or the blue states of the northeast and west coast could wake up and realize they have more in common with Canada than with Alabama.
368
Really, imagine what happens when tRumps base no longer gets Medicare and Social security. When we lost the Civil War (during Reconstruction), we lost the last chance to perfect our ideal of a progressive liberal republic. It’s been Zinn’s divide and conquer ever since.
1
I was born in western NY and was stationed in Alabama 3 times. You are totally correct.
3
The speed we travel towards Bruegel is breathtaking.
23
Keeping in mind I am stating the obvious, and actually the hook of the entire piece, its brilliance is that the reader upon finishing, cannot say this is a far out scenario. It might have been farcical 12 months ago, but today, it could be a State Department While Paper.
83
Dictators are always supported by wealthy people who think they will profit by oppressing the masses. Without money dictators are powerless. So, the one thing that could prevent it from happening is the collapse of the international economic system.
15
Guess what happened after the international economic system collapsed in the 1930's?
While the prosperity and pax Americana from 1950 thru 2000 was not perfect, it should be remembered as a golden period in world history.
2
“History doesn’t repeat itself but it often rhymes”
13
"It could not happen. Of course, it could not happen. Only a fool would believe for a moment that it could." I had the same thought about Trump getting elected. Along with the sense of belonging, the sense of logic and a sense of truth, I've lost my sense of self. Tom Friedman wrote a column after the election where he described the indescribable as "feeling homeless". Any of the scenarios you painted are plausible and would have been thought fiction a mere two years ago. The mind reels (and not in a good way).
44
Right on target for where we're going.
But to reveal the ultimate horror, it needs another paragraph or two: our effect on natural science, and its effect on us.
The autocrat leaders ignore the science and keep emissions rising, driving ever-increasing immigration north -- and starting such powerful self-driving processes of global warming that we all head north to the arctic. Most starving along the way.
23
Sinclair Lewis believed that it could very well happen, and he is not deemed a fool, except by fools. There's only one winner in this disturbing scenario, Vladimir Putin who has run his own country into the ground as a corrupt, counterproductive dystopia run by a gang of thugs. Even Russians lose. Especially Russians lose.
45
It’s already happening here
We have a Supreme Court Justice whose son is a money launderer
A republican congress and NRA funded with foreign money
It is here and has been for 30 years
65
Chilling. And, if the Democrats don’t sweep in the Fall election, I hate to say it but I see it as prophetic. The balance of power and the expectation that we have a free press are slipping away. We’re down to the last knot, the election. If we can’t hold on there, we slide right off the end, into the swamp.
104
At least you get to do that in Hawaii!
It feels like we will all either be Russian or Chinese one day.
2
When it does happen The Peoples Republic of China will take over and we will all be speaking Mandarin.
3
And only a fool would have believed that a con artist and braggart could be elected to the most powerful office in the world. No, nothing like that could happen in this enlightened bastion of progressive thought.
58
The only thing missing from your scenario is the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria ...
21
Yes, I too wonder when that oblique fire will be lit.
1
Funny "quip" but on the money. Our country still is fighting the Civil war. The "South " has risen again. The right wing haters are in charge. I have traveled the world and things looked quite calm and better then reported. America talks to much, we are one of the worst counties when it comes to living with it's original ideals. We watch to many Mafia films. Grow up America, we are supposed to be a nation to be admired not feared.
2
It sure could happen in Europe because it has through out
its history. A united Europe and NATO bring stability and
peace. Mr. Cohn's take looks like post WW2 Europe and thats
not a good thing.
2
Just 18 months ago, Roger Cohen would have been laughed out of the office for writing this piece… Now it seems scarily plausible.
28
Call me a fool. If there is any way that 45 or his family can profit from this, he will be all in.
18
By the fourth paragraph, the hairs on the back of my neck were standing up. Halfway through, I felt my breath catch and by the end of the piece, I felt tears rolling down my cheeks. We cannot let this happen, but can we stop it?
23
Get off the couch and vote.
3
Excellent. Mission accomplished. People are being frightened into voting by Armageddon-level fright pieces like this.
3
I grew up in Venezuela and watched that country go through a similar path as income disparity and lack of opportunity fanned the flames that led to Hugo Chavez and the revolution that destroyed the country. Trump is totally ignorant about most things but very clever in tapping the anger and distress of whites in America. He will lead this country and much of the world into disaster.
190
That white anger is scary and real. Looking back at comments from an article a few days after the 2016 election, the vitriol towards the "PC liberal left" is extensive and shocking. Blaming liberals for trump's win by prioritizing immigrants, and elitist's kumbaya fantasies, over the struggles of "real" americans. And also berating those worried about overblown fears of what trump might do. Looking back now, only 20 months later and seeing those fears become reality one by one is disturbing in the extreme. This year's election will be a defining moment in history. Hopes and prayers will not win this one. People of open hearts and open minds need to link arms and swarm the polling places to make themselves heard!
3
I have seen this brilliant movie already. It is titled “Children of Men”
4
For once I'm glad to read fake news.
At least it is so far.
5
Couldn't happen here? It reads like a straightforward extrapolation from current events, as Mr. Cohen likely intended.
9
As my grandmother said, "Oy".
7
Good grief, Roger, that's already next week's news.
6
No, that's just Monday. You don't want to know what will happen the rest of the week.
2
Always great to see a Breugel....but here's another way : Mueller's report reveals smoking gun criminality of Trump & even senior Republicans begin to distance themselves (although not the Trump goon squad in the House of Reps..)..The Dems regain the House in the midterms & even gain two seats in the Senate. Impeachment follows and the President is removed....
9
You need 67 votes in the Senate to remove the President. Sorry.
8
But to make him a lame duck, all you need is to control one of the houses of Congress. That's do-able in November. Then the rest in 2020.
It could happen anywhere and anytime. The darkness in human nature is always with us, alongside the light. Fear, hate, dehumanizing, violence - these don't change, even if the subjects do.
There are certainly enough of us operating with compassion, respect and acceptance to stop the forces of intolerance. But we have to be vigilant because complacency is an opportunity for evil to flourish.
7
We can't defend the Baltics unless we do major exercises *repeatedly* and only right there, less than 100 miles from St. Petersburg, Russia?
That sounds like someone wants to provoke.
The Baltics are not really made safer by doing this. These provocation endanger them.
Those most exposed to any war are the ones who most need peace. That is why it was the South Koreans were pushing for the meeting with Kim, and pushing hard. When Trump pulled out, the South Korean President met with Kim the very next day to get it back on track.
This horror story has within it gems like this point, that are more designed to make things even worse.
4
I think I found that paragraph you accidently omitted.
A man with orange hair, a history of failed business adventures, and failed marriages; who has a history of stiffing contractors, infidelity and a firm belief that a lie is superior to the truth, becomes elected to the most important position in the world, President of the United States of America.
80
And all that needs to happen is for the good people to do nothing.
95
The only good people who could do something before its too late are the Republicans in Congress. Enough said.
1
Losing all the emotional bits, which Cohen puts in to evoke 1930s Germany (the Volk), some of the things in the article would be worth trying.
And so how do we get everyone who can, to vote?
5
Make the day of voting a National Holiday.
2
Climate change will create disorder, floods of refugees, and walled communities of order. End times coming. I want my children inside those walls.
8
Chilling.
"When trouble comes up anywhere in the world, they don't call Beijing, they don't call Moscow. They call us. That's the deal. ... That's always the case. That's always the case. America leads. We are the indispensable nation,"
-Barack Obama Sep 2014
"The U.S. has put together a STRONG bid w/ Canada & Mexico for the 2026 World Cup. It would be a shame if countries that we always support were to lobby against the U.S. bid. Why should we be supporting these countries when they don’t support us (including at the United Nations)?"
- Donald Trump Apr 2018
We've gone from indispensable to indefensible in one election cycle.
Turns out electing a president who is profoundly ignorant, emotionally unstable, authoritarian, and so far out of his league he doesn't even outstand what "game" he is playing, was not a good idea.
Who knew that leading the post war order was could not be done by an ill-tempered buffoon? Certainly not the 63 million Americans who gave him the job.
But as Mr. Cohen points out: "It could not happen. Of course, it could not happen. Only a fool would believe for a moment that it could.".
And if does? You can always blame it on Hillary or MS-13 or fake news or …
19
A friend in Australia once said to me that when things get bad, anywhere in the world, they all know America will fix it.
At least that's how it used to be.
Now we have a president who is pleased that we can host some World Cup football matches. While he dismantles our relationships with the rest of the world. Except, of course for his friends in autocratic nations.
3
Dear Roger,
Look at what happened after the U.S. decided to "make the world safe for democracy" and entered World War I. By 1917 both sides were out of almost everything, including bodies with which to fight. It's conceivable Britain and Germany could have negotiated an end to the war without our involvement at all.
Wilson insists on the League of Nations and sacrifices almost everything to secure its inclusion. Germany is treated horribly and stuck with a bill no country can pay off. It descends into chaos and we get Hitler. Italy gets upset they didn't get more spoils and the fear of Communism spreads, leading to Mussolini. Russia, meanwhile, gets Stalin. Japan is like Italy and wants more. Had we stayed out of WWI, we might have ended up with just Stalin and a more stable Europe.
In the summer of 1941 a brief window opened where the coalition Konoye government in Japan repeatedly asked to meet with FDR to resolve the China issue. The Japanese PM was willing to meet FDR anywhere, anytime. The US ambassador to Japan told FDR that the Japanese was serious about talks. FDR never responded, while our Navy assured FDR that Japan was no match for the United States. In October the Konoye government fell and Tojo took over, and the plans for Pearl Harbor were completed.
In short, Roger, our own actions, however well-intended, can also lead to disastrous outcomes.
8
And who enables this destructive, despicable behavior by our "leaders"?
Ignorant, fear-filled voters.
And why are so many voters so ignorant and fear-filled?
Primarily because our "opinion-leaders," our "intellectual elite" have failed us. To sell books, to gain tenure, to obtain a privileged perch from which to pontificate, they complexify, obfuscate and confuse to demonstrate just how oh-so-clever they are.
But human nature needs no complexification. All it needs is constant, unremitting exposure to the light of truth. And that truth is that the prime directive of human instinct in survival. And that means a deeply embedded fear-instinct to 'protect' us from all those threats, real or imagined, and a deeply embedded lust for power to mitigate those fears.
Donald Trump has played on those atavistic instincts masterfully. But what'a tragic, sad and pathetic is that we, as a species, couldn't see it coming.
3
So it is OK for lefty libs to be hysterical and fearful and paranoid over Trump.
But if working class Americans are frightened of the very real damage we see from globalization -- job loss -- overpopulation -- massive invasions by illegal aliens --- WE are IGNORANT.
Roger Cohen and you (and the usual NYT echo chamber here) are justified in YOUR fear and paranoia.
When WE are afraid....we are ignorant and stupid.
Got it.
Every word in this brilliantly written horror is 100% plausible.
11
Oh my God, this is terrifying. I certainly hope Mr. Cohen's crystal ball has failed, but he may well be right.
6
It not only Could happen -- it IS happening already. Roger Cohen sees it clearly; I can only hope enough voters get the message in time to vote appropriately on November 6.
13
This is not 1945 and the United States is not shielding a shattered Europe from a Soviet leviathan.
Europe is an economic powerhouse, with GDP more than ten times that of Russia. And Europeans outnumber Russians by more than 5 times. Nevertheless, the United States continues to pay for Europe's protection.
Quit trying to scare people with tales of the boogeyman; the Soviet Union ceased to exist more than a quarter of a century ago.
6
Also most of the former Eastern Bloc/Warsaw Pact countries are now in NATO or want to be.
1
And when the Soviet Union DID exist, working dissidents to death in gulag camps, the Left in the West LOVED it. Even into the 1980's, they were villifying Reagan and singing songs about "If the Russians Love their Children Too." Europeans marched against American servicemen being stationed in Germany- calling it American imperialism, but it was impossible to ever hear a single voice in Europe criticize the Soviet Union for its unprovoked invasion of Afghanistan.
It's only now that Russia has abandoned Communism and is resurging with rationally self-interested nationalism, that the Left hates them.
1
The purpose of NATO was for the US to dominate Europe, not defend it.
Your column is both more frightening and more real than the Breugel painting.
14
An impossibly defeatist, negativist scenario? Hardly. The work of 70 years has become very, very fragile because of its abandonment by an American oaf who "knows not what he does." The Know Nothing party has returned, with Trump in the lead. Isolationism won't lead the way to an "America First" political philosophy actuated. It will lead to a once again fractured world reminiscent of 1914 Europe. It will lead to a "gilded age" reminiscent of America just before the Great Depression, dragging the Western world down along with it. Why we fail to learn from history is a mystery, until you blend ignorance with power. If you do that, all becomes clear. If you don't do that, America's leadership blindfolds itself and gropes hopelessly (copelessly!) in a world that seems new, but is in fact old. The elements of revanchism are all around us, but our leadership - such as it is - sees it as a Brave New World, seen through the fogged lens of ignorance.
7
Alternative narrative - Decades pass as an alliance of powerful democrats looking for future voters and country club republicans looking for low wage labor unite to ensure that masses of people sneak into the US illegally. Schools and hospitals in the Southwest are overrun. The percentage of illegal aliens in federal penitentiaries climbs to 25%. The Mexican Mafia controls the penitentiaries and the streets. Costs of welfare, incarceration and social services for illegal immigrants rise past $100 billion. Sensing a tipping point, democrats push hard for an end to borders and an end to ICE, while at the same time pushing for no verification process at voting sites. Meanwhile, previously pristine European cities degenerate into US-style ghettos, rife with violence and unemployment.
Sensing it may already be too late, the American people choose a quirky billionaire who is not beholden to the special interests as their president. Uncounted masses of illegal voters hand the democrats the popular vote, but their abandonment of the American worker hurts them enough in the Midwest to give Trump the victory.
Things could not go better. ISIS is defeated quickly, the economy soars, and the president event addresses the illegal immigration problem and the unfair trade practices of China, which have hollowed out US manufacturing. As the 2018 midterms loom, a grateful country thanks the president with a republican senate and house. Greatness awaits.
7
Time will tell. But while Cohen's scenario is a fantasy based on fear of a possible future, yours is a fear based fantasy of the past.
4
A very interesting piece, 10% imagination, 90% reality. Makes me recognize how much Merkel is a leading light in the world today.
Cohen describes the president’s strategic objective as “the destruction of the World Trade Organization, NATO and the European Union.”
I'm afraid that this appears to be virtually 100% reality at the moment. Trump offering Macron trade deals to pull out of the EU fairly makes my hair stand on end. And it's Putin's agenda.
"It could not happen. Of course, it could not happen. Only a fool would believe for a moment that it could."
Except that we are almost there, of course.
11
Merkel actually STARTED THIS ALL, by inviting hordes of illegals and economic migrants into Europe -- surely you don't think the EUROPEANS rebelling against invasions of illegals and migrants are reacting to TRUMP? this started 3 years ago! when OBAMA was in office!
Do you also blame Trump for Brexit?
Under Trump, there is no scenario, which would have been considered absurd if not fantastical four years ago, that is not plausible. Things are much worse than Mr. Cohen thinks. It's 1938 all over again and nothing can stop the inevitable disaster.
5
Excellent piece. The only thing missing is the psychology of the Volk, AKA the "Real Americans." Fear and helplessness breeds the desire for scapegoats, resulting sadism, and identification with a strong leader who can punish the scapegoats. If we can't make our lives better (and as we know, the rich will get richer and the poor get poorer while the middle fades into the latter), at least we can make others suffer.
Humans can be compassionate. They can also be evil.
8
Wdll, Roger, if you don't like it suppose you show me the alternative, by which I do not mean Hillary Clinton, Tome Perez, Keith Ellison, Liz Warren, Bernie, Kirsten Gillibrand or any of these other third- and fourth-raters. I've been bitterly anti-Trump from the very beginning and still am, but when the opposition offers literally nothing (for example, I'd class Hillary's positions on the TPP and NAFTA as literally nothing) it can expect to lose. Even Trump can beat nothing.
7
You are also implying that Trump’s Republican primary challengers all offered the voters nothing. That is where his candidacy should have been nipped in the bud.
3
It is that attitude that got us where we are today. Thanks for nothing.
4
I always believed that Putin was the real winner in 2016. He will be in no hurry to count his money, he knows they are all his.
5
At present, asylum seekers must present applications for asylum when they are physically present within the United States. It is senseless and cruel to make asylum seekers journey from their home countries to the United States to apply for asylum, especially considering that most asylum requests are rejected. We should change the asylum law to permit asylum seekers to apply for asylum the same way they apply for U.S. immigration visas, at U.S. embassies or consulates in their home countries.
At the same time, we should change U.S. asylum laws to automatically deny asylum to anyone who enters the country illegally. Asylum seekers know they are supposed to apply for asylum at legal ports of entry, which is much easier and safer than rafting the Rio Grande or trekking across the desert. Illegal border crossers game the system by crossing the border illegally and applying for asylum if they are caught. They hope to be released with notifications to appear for immigration/deportation hearings set in the distant future.
6
ICE can order foreign nationals who enter the country illegally but overstay their visas to leave the country without granting them a judicial hearing. They have no right legal representation or judicial appeal. For them, due process is purely administrative, not judicial. If ICE can order foreign nationals who enter the country legally without a court order, why can’t ICE order foreign nationals who enter the country illegally out of the country without a court hearing?
Federal courts have acknowledge that foreign nationals are not fully under U.S. jurisdiction. They are not afforded the same rights and privileges as U.S. citizens. For example, they cannot vote. Due process for foreign nationals is what U.S. laws says it is, and laws can be changed to close loopholes. Being present in the country without authorization is not a criminal offense, and deportation is not a form of punishment.
8
I'll bet three or four Hollywood producers are already interested in making the film. Oscars with tearful acceptance speeches are guaranteed.
Of course, a bit of rewriting will be required. The downbeat ending is so 1970's. We will need a hero to turn things around at the end, a la "Independence Day". Those left alive can join in an inspiring song amidst the wreckage, as a Progressive President is installed to lead us into a New Day.
13
Right. Tom Cruise, Will Smith, Dwayne Johnson, Tom Hanks, Morgan Freeman and Judi Dench. Spielberg/Lucas with music by John Williams. I guess we could throw in Denzel Washington, Lucy Liu, Roy Scheider and Matt Damon. There will be no appearances by Sylvester Stallone or Ellen Degeneres. Many other real life entertainers, politicians and titans of industry will have cameos playing themselves. There has to be one scene where Trump grabs the cat from Dr. Evil's lap while the soundtrack plays his conversation with Billy Bush. Thanks to CGI we can marvel to a well trained dog as Mr. Peabody, voiced by James Earl Jones, of course. A plot worthy of Rube Goldberg must include an opening shot of Trump watching 2 TVs, one showing the Lucy/Harpo mime in the mirror schtick, the other showing Sid Fields and Lou Costello doing the Niagara Falls routine, which then pans to Steve Bannon needing a shave in some dank and dingy basement, on a worn out couch, with a nearly empty bottle of vodka on the table next to a skull with a candle on top, reading "Spy vs. Spy" in Mad Magazine. Off to his side is a 50's kitchen table covered in small tools, pipes, wires and a box of wooden "safety" matches. Meanwhile, back at the ranch....
1
We have started down a dark path that just keeps getting darker. I believe there is no turning back. The end will come in the near or distant future and it won't end well. This aberration could end with US bankruptcy or default, US currency no longer being the international currency of choice, the Chinese dictating our budget and tax policy, international trade isolation and tariffs on our exports to make up for our environmental destruction, economic warfare against the US by the world community, some combination of the above or hopefully, not some worse scenario that I can't even imagine.
11
I'm sure you could!
1
Like the Chinese do NOT already dictate our policies and taxes and business decisions? Like they do not own us, lock stock and barrel? And this started a long time before Trump.
US economy and stock markets all crash under the weight of world-wide chaos and collapse of foreign markets under the Trump Doctrine.
Trump has no idea of what to do as the economy crumbles and banks have runs on currency and start to fail, as the post recession limits that Trump and his cronies in Congress had rescinded no longer keep them healthy.
Trump's supporters see their asset values fall by the billions and actively start to oppose him. Republicans - not Democrats, begin impeachment proceedings, which occur after multiple criminal proceedings are begun against Trump and his family. Democrats take over both houses of Congress, and newly appointed President Pence is chastened.
Trump ends up being a footnote to history.
61
Reading this column, I was given a glimpse into how our current events might be regarded once they are history. We must open our eyes. This is happening before us, and we cannot be complacent.
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In 1956, the Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev tells the West that "we will bury you", and for years afterwards a string of Soviet leaders tries in vain to keep that promise. Then come Mikhail Gorbachev, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the end of the iron curtain, and an apparent Cold War victory for the West.
Out of the turmoil that follows, a bunch of former communist big shots emerge as very rich capitalist big shots, having helped themselves to state assets at fire sale prices. One of them, Vladimir Putin, a former KGB high officer, ends up as President and sets his sights on making Khrushchev's dream his reality.
He is using stealth and cunning to influence American public opinion and politics, and even getting much of the American establishment to cooperate in the ultimate collapse of American influence; he is seizing on the arrival in the WH of a useful idiot (doubtless heavily in debt to Russian oligarchs) to weaken and divide the West. His Soviet predecessors could not have even dreamed of such success; they must envy him from their graves. There's more than one way to skin a cat.
It turns out that the Cold War was never over; it's still happening in a different guise, and the advantage is not where we thought it was in 1991.
And a final reminder: you can take Putin out of the KGB but you can't take the KGB out of Putin.
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Another aspect of this gives fuel to the populist movement. The "triumph" of capitalism over Godless International Communism meant that social programs to promote equity and opportunity were no longer needed.
Powerful oligarchs have funded a campaign to undermine trust in the government, advance free market theories, and pay for research and the public relations campaigns to achieve their ends. The irony that the oligarchs are international did not prevent them from using nationalism to fire up the disaffected.
I don't think it's a conspiracy in the sense that people get together to plot, but it does seem as if they collaborate to achieve their ends by pursuing their own interests.
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In the 1980's Trump went to Russia as a businessman per their invitation. The business association that invited him was a front for the KGB. Putin did not meet him but was amazed that this man slept with provided prostitutes despite having a beautiful wife and ate up the idea that he could some day be President. They concluded that Trump was possibly useful and very gullible to flattery. The process of grooming Trump to be useful to Russia has been going on for long time.
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It's time for Americans to start thinking on their feet. If we can't do that then we are cooked and deservedly so. Russians will always try to confuse Americans. Don't worry about what the Russians do; you can't really stop them. You don't defeat your enemy by pleading for them to stop. You beat them by neutralizing their offense. That seems as simple to me as that Americans just start thinking coherently again. Not very difficult. This is an easy victory.
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May I suggest a further conclusion to this "it could not happen here" account: As a result of these mass deportations, with extensive real-time news coverage of harsh governmental behaviors inflicted upon subject migrants, civil disobedience erupts around the country. Trump, again on "national security" grounds and with the ready approval of a Republican Congress, in response to these widespread, large demonstrations declares national martial law suspending all civil rights. The necessity for this declaration is affirmed by the Supreme Court. Trump informs the populace that because of the continuing threat of public disturbances provoked by dangerous agitators, this state of martial law will continue for the indeterminate future.
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You forgot the point about suspending elections also for some indeterminate timeframe.
At the risk of sounding like a total lunatic, I've been predicting martial law as Trump's ultimate way out of his Russia mess.
A coup d 'etat from within supported by a sufficient number of military (and gun-toting Trump supporters) is certainly possible--elements of it seem already in place.
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......and when large segments of the regular military balk at enforcing the martial law regime, the President turns to his new branch of the military, the Space Force, “separate but equal”, built from scratch, and staffed by personnel hand picked to be loyal to the Commander and Chief.
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My first thought when the reality truly sank in the morning of 9Nov2016 was that he would use some pretense to impose martial law somewhere, largely as a test to see what he could get away with. My next thought is that he would suspend elections. Then term limits. I still believe all are probable, especially if it looks like Dems might tip the senate before he can put another corporatist hard-liner in the SCOTUS. He will do all this with full support (or no meaningful opposition) of the GOP who aspire to a Communist-like one-party rule. While individual Democrats have managed to win elections, the party remains ineffectual and without a coherent message.
Russians are chessmasters and I believe we are watching a grand strategy playing out on a global chessboard. The degree of trump's complicity with Russian schemes may or may not ever come to light, as will be determined by whether the GOP decides to silence Mueller. (While we're going full dystopia, lets fire Mueller and jail him for unspecified crimes against the state and "treason"!)
So much of Cohen's nightmare here is Bannon's stated vision. The fact that Bannon actually made it to the WH should be frightening to all persons of intelligence and decency, and makes this piece not so far-fetched.
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Being an optimist, I hope that when the Trump nightmare is over -- even if it takes 6 more years -- we will elect a leader who will restore our place among the nations. I hope that other nations will see this as a temporary interruption to our alliances and not a permanent pivot to a new normal. I plan to advocate for change and vote accordingly in the meantime, but hunker down if necessary.
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6 more years - I like that!
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If trump continues to help Putin destabilize the EU and destabilize our elections for 6 more years this article will become fact. I just can`t help but wonder what Putin has on the Republican Party to turn them into the Russpublican Party.
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My biggest fear from the beginning is that Trump will refuse to leave office, even if he loses, even when his legal term limit is up. Restrictions and the rule of law or for the "little people," after all. Not him.
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Excellent piece, but it focuses solely on the "others", the immigrants. As part of the same movement, Trump (who admires strong dictators and applauded the Chinese leader's move to become leader for life) could well extend his programs beyond the immigrants to remaining "others". First might come the programs to retake the country for the Caucasian race, to limit the minorities or round them up. And no one will say anything - after all, they aren't coming for us - or if they do, they will be ineffective. The Congress and Courts will be unable or unwilling to interfere. By that time, Trump will probably have suspended elections in the interest of national security. Finally, they will come for "us", the ones of us who are native-born, Caucasian, but disagree with his policies. By then, there will be no one left to protest for us. And the grand experiment of the United States will end entirely. I hope that before then someone, some institution, will stand up effectively for our Constitutional system.
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A nightmare vision of a dream-like reality.
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I think your scenario is a great idea.
At some point, you have to recognize that not everything is perfect in this the most perfect of all possible worlds.
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Of course it is. The collapse of civilization is always a great idea to anarchists.
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I think the choices that the US makes in the coming months will set the course for how success is measured by the US. If the anecdotal evidence means anything, the majority of Canadians are not only angry at the US but distrust the US more than at any time in our lives. I have to believe that this sediment is common with other US allies. If Trump (and the US) think that your friends are now against you, then what will happen when you find that your enemies are exactly that, and you've burned the trust of your friends. The US is on the fast track of global isolation -- you can call yourselves the greatest country in the world, but you can call yourself anything you want-- it doesn't mean it's true, or that others believe it's true. Any leader knows that respect is earned, not achieved by threats or heavy-handed moves -- perhaps Trump's policies will be successful, but the real gambit is what if they're not, what will be the US's position in the world order?
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The U.S. position in the world order is already fatally compromised. When Canada - our nearest and dearest friend since the debacle of 1812 - looks down upon us as a half-crazed opponent, we've truly lost our way. Will you ever forgive us this moment of insanity? Those of us - the majority! - hope so. We can only hope.
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Our position will be as a friend and ally with all the worse dictators in the world and try to emulate them. That is the Trump course right now.
Trump really acts as if he want to become a dictator in the US. He keeps insisting that he alone can do anything. That is what all the dictators say as they are taking power.
Don`t worry if isolation and cold shoulders from or previous friends becomes a security problem Putin will engulf,I mean embrace us and protect us. You know Alaska used to be Russian.
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One irony is that Trump himself lacks the knowledge, intelligence, or curiosity to have any real idea why he supports the destruction of the West. He has his handlers, like Reagan did, and he has his adoration. His people dictate policy ideas and as long as they can make them sound good to him, he loves it. His lifelong dislike of people of color juices it all up for him. And he makes a fortune out of it. Since most people of the world mean nothing to him, he pays no attention to the human consequences of all this. His fans cheer, his handlers and FoxNews applaud, his family wealth grows. A winner!
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This is the most brilliant column I have read since the Trump nightmare began for me on election night. The accompanying picture by Breugel is perfect. Roger Cohen says it all. I can only hope for a miracle that changes course, but I think Mr. Cohen is prescient of things to come.
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The Breughel picture is (of course) "The Triumph of Death."
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Here's another possible outcome I think we should be aware of:
If Trump has his way, the US will soon be closer to Russia and North Korea than with more our more traditional allies such as Canada, Germany, England and France.
After Trump, it could very well be that the world as we know it (politically, economically, and environmentally) will never be the same again.
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Some would say the world as we knew it is already gone. They would say it’s because of Obama. Two sides to every story. Different ways to see things. Don’t be so sure your point of view is the way things are. Others see it differently.
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And Trump could very well be the last president of the United States.
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Of course, that would be all his ego needs to proceed, it’s all about him.
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As a Briton-turned American, you dramatically over-estimate American influence, and dramatically underestimate European cohesion. All continental European leaders understand that the EU allows them to project power globally, and protects them against the bully power of the US - which is why Trump hates it so much, and wants to destroy it. Only the comically deluded Brits believed that they could thrive as a "fully sovereign" nation of swashbuckling free traders. Good luck with that!
What about a little journalism for a change? Germany would be a good place to start. Here are some hard facts:
The AfD polls between 12-15% and won't take over the German government any time soon. The Bavarian CSU (your conservatives) backed down even before the current European summit, which - quelle surprise - ended in a compromise that everyone could live with.
The Münchner Merkur - a paper you should have heard in preparation of this piece because it's the CSU's mouthpiece - ran the headline "Merkel Delivered". Even more importantly, Italy's Conte went home and declared victory, as did the Austrians and Hungarians.
If I were you, I'd rather worry about what's going on in the US, and its place in the world after the Europeans close ranks with what remains of the first world on the one hand, and the Chinese on the other. That's far more likely than a revival of the Hitler-Stalin pact. Yes, the 30's provide instructive lessons, but studying the 21st century can be instructive too,
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I would love to believe you're right on and the past 17 months are a dream from which I'm going to awake.
1) BrExit. The closer it gets, the messier it gets but it doesn't appear the decision to leave will be reversed.
2) The refugee problem has NOT been solved. MY $0.02: Intervene in the countries where intervention is most likely to succeed, not only to keep those people home but attract refugees from neighboring areas.
3) US has an election in a little more than 4 months. What progress have we made in any aspect of ensuring that the election goes as the voters cast?
Enough.
While I enjoy Roger Cohen’s op-ed pieces more than most, because they are better written than most and mostly in accord with my own views, I as another Briton-American, must applaud you, Kassandra, for your irritated, quite to-the-point rejoinder to Roger’s hyper-ventilation. The European Union will survive quite intact, because the great majority of its peoples recognize the tremendous benefits gained. The German center will hold. Only the crazy English (a small majority at that) have, as you say, a retrograde illusion of being a swashbuckling Great Power again (The Scottish people - I am one - didn’t buy into this illusion for a second and are committed to the EU).
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The American left is "hyper-ventilating" because it lost an election. That represents the "end" to it. Hard to take it seriously.
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If, if, if. If my grandmother had wings and wheels she'd be a 747, but she doesn't and she's not. There is an element of Chicken Little panic in America at this point and we need to reflect. Americans are not fascists and truly respect their Constitution, and they proved that when they pulled away from Richard Nixon finally as he shredded it. Republicans are not ogres; they have different policies than Democrats. They won the election. But the wheel will turn as it did when Obama was president. All things pass.
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Most of us said, "This won't happen. It can't happen," in regards to a non-reality TV show personality by the name of Trump getting elected. There are so many unethical if not unconstitutional acts of this so-called president, Cohen's article is plausible. It might be a longshot, but still plausible. Despite the lies and coverups during that era, the element of social media and fake news was not as prevalent in Nixonian days. All things pass, but where do they end up?
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What will the wheel destroy as it grinds along? Will you stand by and watch or help apply the brakes?
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In Nixon's day, the "WASP" (White Anglo-Saxon Protestant) majority was not staring the prospect of minority status square in the face. Nor were the "Libertarians" such a strong force, and their dog-eat-dog ultra-capitalist ideology was decidedly on the fringe of American politics.
A usually-unspoken driving force of our present political crisis is that one of our two great political parties has figured out it can no longer win if America is a democracy-- and has concluded that, because it is on the side of the angels (on abortion among other issues), it MUST WIN. Cheating is therefore mandatory.
Combine that with a strong vein of anger and resentment that no longer particularly cares whether it's howling and cackling from the depths of a moral cesspit or not (the test is blind loyalty to tribe), and you have the contemporary Republican party: the self-righteous wedded to the gleefully profane.
This, too, shall pass, yes. But this moment is not that moment, and there have been other historical moments that have not passed without deep, deep scars. There's no guarantee we'll make it out of this with our democracy intact.
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This is a scary picture of a possible future. But, I think that instead of letting this fear paralyze us, I think we the people and we the Western countries can take some concrete actions to stop this future, including:
1. Talk to all the young people and minorities you know to see if they're registered to vote. Push them to register and then vote.
2. Vote for more progressive Democrats, who will provide a real choice between the Democrats and the Republicans.
3. In regard to something I just heard about today, France and the other EU countries should do more to help out Italy, Malta, etc. in housing of asylum seekers. On NPR, it said they refused to have any shelters in their countries. Sharing the burden of processing these people will help prevent Italy from falling.
4. Realize that we should try to help refugees and asylum seekers and certainly treat them humanely, but that we can't take everyone. Borders and national defense are good, if done in a rational, fair minded, compassionate way.
But, if this doesn't work out, it's a dark future. I worry there may be a world war between two basic human personality types: one being more rational, fair-minded, evidence-based and compassionate and the other being more authoritarian, the rules apply to you not to me, uncaring and less rational/evidence-based.
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Voting is increasingly irrelevant. The right is in full control and will remain so for a generation. This is especially the case with the current electoral structure which empowers underpopulated states at the expense of larger states. Vote all you want, rack up majorities every election, and you will still be locked out of the presidency and the House.
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Do not forget the severe burden being placed on Greece, where the people are much more welcoming and — dare I say it? — civilized.
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After reading "Ascent" , we are again the proverbial frogs in the slowly boiling water. We underestimate the power of time, narcissism and hatred. History should be our guide but it isn't. Trump was a bad joke until he wasn't. He is relentlessly self serving and corrupt. The alarm is sounding now.
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