DESCENT FROM DEMOCRACY INTO AUTOCRACY

 The Cambridge Dictionary definition of autocracy is "government by a single person or small group that has unlimited power or authority, or the power or authority of such a person or group." Julius Caesar turned Rome from a republic into an imperial autocracy in ancient times via a civil war. But in more recent times democracy was often turned into autocracy not by war but by perverting the democratic system of elections. Adolf Hitler, the most notorious and cruel dictator of relatively recent times, became Chancellor of  the Weimar Republic in Germany by being elected and then over a period of a few years dismantling the republic making himself dictator. Vladimir Putin transferred a brief flirtation with democracy in Russia after the end of the Soviet Union into a dictatorship with a false face of democracy. Similarly we have seen other countries in Eastern Europe regress from temporary democracies back toward various degrees of autocracy, for example Hungary and Poland. In the past few days we have seen people in Belarus coming out and daring to demonstrate after the election in Belarus was obviously rigged to keep the leader in office. The main opposition leader in Russia was poisoned a few days ago and is now in a coma. Here in America where we have had a democratic republic for 250 years, we now have a president (Trump) who idolizes dictators like Putin, who lies continuosly, and who has fired competent people in high levels of government (including those who he himself appointed) because they spoke the truth, and he has replaced them with sycophant cronies who enable his grab for authoritarianism. Every time he flaunts the law and gets away with it, he becomes bolder in his attempt to corrupt American democracy. We are now approaching an opportunity to remove Trump from office through an American election. Trump and his gang are doing everything they can to suppress the votes of the American people. We, the American people, must not fail. This is an existential election for America. 

VOTE FOR JOE BIDEN AND KAMALA HARRIS! Throw Trump and his gang out of office. We must unite, Democrats, real Republicans, and everyone else. We can duke out our differences in the next election. But now we must unite to preserve our democracy, to bring back rational government, and to stop tyranny.