Robert Reich: The 7 Signs of Tyranny

Unfortunately, those who support Trump won't read this. Even if they might have it delivered to them or should they come across it accidentally, they will immediately deny that it has anything to do with Trump, and they will shoot the messenger, Robert Reich, a man of indisputable integrity, knowledge and--most important--wisdom.  

But for those with eyes to see and ears to hear, the warning given below is very clear. Warnings such as this were given by wise men to the Germans in the '30s, but their warnings were ignored.  What followed then is well known.  Contrary to what some Trump supporters claim (that our Constitution wouldn't allow a dictator like Hitler to arise here), fascist authoritarians like Trump and his puppet master Steve Bannon don't pay attention to Constitutions or established rules/laws of government.  They trample over them.  

We are warned.

The 7 Signs of Tyranny

  

Donald Trump

by Robert Reich | February 22, 2017 

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— from Robert Reich's Blog

As tyrants take control of democracies, they typically do 7 things:

1. They exaggerate their mandate to govern – claiming, for example, that they won an election by a "landslide" even after losing the popular vote. They criticize any finding that they or co-conspirators stole the election. And they repeatedly claim "massive voter fraud" in the absence of any evidence, in order to have an excuse to restrict voting by opponents in subsequent elections.

2. They turn the public against journalists or media outlets that criticize them, calling them "deceitful" and "scum," and telling the public that the press is a "public enemy." They hold few, if any, press conferences, and prefer to communicate with the public directly through mass rallies and unfiltered statements (or what we might now call "tweets"). 

3. They repeatedly lie to the public, even when confronted with the facts. Repeated enough, these lies cause some of the public to doubt the truth, and to believe fictions that support the tyrants' goals.

4. They blame economic stresses on immigrants or racial or religious minorities, and foment public bias or even violence against them. They threaten mass deportations, "registries" of religious minorities, and the banning of refugees.

5. They attack the motives of anyone who opposes them, including judges. They attribute acts of domestic violence to "enemies within," and use such events as excuses to beef up internal security and limit civil liberties.

6. They appoint family members to high positions of authority. They appoint their own personal security force rather than a security detail accountable to the public. And they put generals into top civilian posts.

7.They keep their personal finances secret, and draw no distinction between personal property and public property – profiteering from their public office.

Consider yourself warned.