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Tyranny expert blames 'small lies' that built to 'big' ones and eventually Trump's insurrection
January 17, 2021
In an interview with historian Timothy Snyder, CNN's Ana Cabrera noted that Americans have been watching the country slowly go down the path of violence for the past several years. She asked Snyder how far America has gone "down the road" of tyranny, but Snyder explained it isn't as simple as that.
"It's not a road," he said. "It's an open field. And there are many different ways you can turn. It was never a sure thing that we will be a democracy and not a sure thing we will turn away from democracy. What I would say what happened on January 6th was in the cards a long time before January 6th. We chose a president who doesn't believe in choosing presidents. We had a man in office for four years who told small lies; medium-sized lies until he finally got to the big lie. When the big lie is told, we see that Americans are no worse, no better than anyone else. We act just like everyone else."
<p>The optimistic part, he said, is that there is now an opportunity to rebuild. "We know there is nothing automatic about being a city on a hill," he explained. "You have to build. You have to climb that hill, and you have to build that city. That I think is our chance to recognize that this is a moment where we could actually create a better democracy. We can't rely on the past. There's a future we have to create."</p><p>He explained that history has shown that the lie will outlive the liar. In the case of the lie about the election, there's an opportunity for Republicans, "who have been mealy-mouthed about this," Snyder said, to start speaking the truth again. What the country needs in the long-term, is honesty in the local news. </p><p>"What has happened to us is we've lost the little truths all around us along with the local news, and that vacuum gets filled up with a big lie, with the attractiveness of a big lie from a great distance," he said. </p><p>Watching videos of the insurrectionists while they are on the House and Senate floor, they spoke about helping Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), who joined Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) in staging the overthrow of the 2020 election. </p><p>Former Congressman Beto O'Rourke (D-TX) attacked Cruz, saying that he should be denied entry to the inauguration given his efforts to promote the insurrection.</p>
<div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="fc41d4a3ca689117a8078147fe5a2250" id="8661a"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-partner="rebelmouse" data-twitter-tweet-id="1350201813534957571"><div style="margin:1em 0">Don’t let Cruz attend the inauguration. His attempt at sedition and his incitement to violent insurrectionists shou… https://t.co/Wg1NJzgEkR</div> — Beto O'Rourke (@Beto O'Rourke)<a href="https://twitter.com/BetoORourke/statuses/1350201813534957571">1610748172.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>"Mr. Trump never could have spread the big lie on his own without Mr. Cruz, without Mr. Hawley," said Snyder. "Without a number of other Republicans, that big lie would have never made it out of November into where we are now. No. 2, if you are a legislator, if you were elected and then you call elections into question, you're inviting an attack on the people's house. You're inviting an attack on the Capitol. That is exactly what those Senators and Congressmen did who doubted the election. So, I think there really is a point here. The final point is that people who call into question American elections, what they're asking for is another chance for themselves. It didn't work in 2020 but maybe it'll work in 2024 to lose an election, cry fraud, and then ask for violence. That has to be cut off now. And so the point about Mr. Cruz and by the way also about Mr. Hawley, I think is a very strong one."</p><p><span></span>See the interview below: <br/></p><p><br/></p>
<p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube">
<span class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="70a0556a49472c49fe8d05e3aed44d61" style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;"><iframe frameborder="0" height="auto" type="lazy-iframe" scrolling="no" data-runner-src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qv9iQ8kNbSY?rel=0" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;" width="100%"></iframe></span>
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">Tyranny expert blames 'small lies' for the march toward Trump's 'big lie' leading to an insurrection</small>
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qv9iQ8kNbSY&feature=youtu.be" target="_blank">www.youtube.com</a>
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'Podium is still working': CNN reporter trolls Trump for claim he can't apologize to America without Twitter
January 17, 2021
White House communications aide Hogan Gidley whined to Fox News on Sunday that President Donald Trump would really like to apologize to the American people for last week's insurrection at the U.S. Capitol but he can't because he doesn't have Twitter anymore.
"On the one hand, [media says] he should be censored by big tech and not be allowed to talk," Gidley said. "He also shouldn't say anything because it's divisive. And then when he doesn't say anything and can't say anything because the platform(s) have removed him, they says, 'Where's the president? Why aren't we hearing from him?'"
<p>But CNN reporter Jeremy Diamond double checked on the press room and everything there seems to be in working order. </p><p> "The idea that the president's lack of a Twitter account now prevents him from making statements is absurd," he said. "You can see the White House podium there still in working order though it hasn't been used in weeks now at the White House. The president could step out at any time. He has a press corps ready and willing to listen to his comments and report them out but the president not doing that. Staying behind closed doors in his final days in office."</p><p>See the video below: </p><p><br/></p><p><br/></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube">
<span class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="18cd89defc841c1e820d545f7386bd59" style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;"><iframe frameborder="0" height="auto" type="lazy-iframe" scrolling="no" data-runner-src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/S0kcXTVLFH4?rel=0" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;" width="100%"></iframe></span>
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">The embarrassment of Hogan Gidley</small>
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0kcXTVLFH4" target="_blank">www.youtube.com</a>
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It's hardly a news flash that Donald Trump's approval numbers have been cratering since the political meteor of the Capitol riots hit. His previous bottom of above 36 % approval has been lowered in several recent polls.
Recent findings reported by the Pew Research Center were stark:
<p>"Donald Trump is leaving the White House with the lowest job approval of his presidency (29%) and increasingly negative ratings for his post-election conduct. The share of voters who rate Trump's conduct since the election as only fair or poor has risen from 68% in November to 76%, with virtually all of the increase coming in his "poor" ratings (62% now, 54% then). </p><p>But even more ominous for Trump in the poll was <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2021/01/15/donald-trump-leaves-white-house-lowest-ever-approval-rating/4173571001/" target="_blank">an indicator of long-term damage to his standing</a> among his dreaded political base. By that same 68-to-29% margin, respondents said "no" to the question, "Would you like to see Trump remain a major political figure for many years to come?"</p>
<p>In normal times, one might quarrel with the wording of that question. But in the context of <a href="https://www.rawstory.com/2020/08/trumps-presidency-is-a-cult/">Trump's cult-like cadre of followers</a>, it's a spot-on indicator of atrophy. It would appear that <a href="https://www.rawstory.com/sedition/">the sedition of January 6</a> may have driven away even some supporters who would have been cool if he shot someone on Fifth Avenue.</p>
<p>Even within the Republican Party, respondents wanted Trump to remain a major political figure by just a margin of just 57-to-40%. Compare that to the 90-%-plus stranglehold he's held on the party through the worst Presidency in American history. As further evidence of the Republican civil war to come, those describing themselves as "moderate or liberal" want him out of their lives by 56-to-41 %. His long-term presence is only desired by 68 % of self-described conservative Republicans.</p>
<p>(In case you're wondering, Democrats described as liberal were apparently unanimous in saying "no" to Trump in this context, which those labeled "conservative-moderate" wanted him gone by 90-to-9%.)</p>
<p>To be clear, Trump's fall from grace does not imply that he hasn't done lasting damage to the American political system. Even among those who have had their eyes opened by the Capitol riots, <a href="https://www.rawstory.com/fact-check-trumps-claims-of-georgia-election-fraud/">the fraudulent claims of election fraud </a>have left a stunning percentage of Americans with lingering doubts.</p>
<p>"Deep divisions extend to opinions about the election result itself. Biden will be inaugurated Jan. 20 with a large segment of Trump voters viewing Trump as the winner of the election, despite scores of failed court challenges to the election brought by Trump's lawyers and Congress' confirmation of Biden's Electoral College victory in the early morning hours of Jan. 7," the Pew Research Center reported.</p><p>"Among voters overall, 65% say Biden definitely or probably "received the most votes cast by eligible voters in enough states to win the election"; 54% say he definitely won the most votes. But 34% incorrectly say Trump definitely or probably was the rightful election winner."</p>
<p>Pew also said the great ideological divide applied to how much Trump was to blame for the Capitol riots:</p><p>"Only about half of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents (52%) say Trump bears any responsibility for the violence and destruction in the Capitol and 79% do not think he should be removed from office before Jan. 20. Virtually all Democrats and Democratic leaners (95%) say Trump bears at least some responsibility for the riot– and 83 % favor his removal as president."</p><p>With no disrespect to Pew, the fact that Trump is blamed at all for the Capitol riots by slightly more than half of those categorized "Republicans and Republican-leaning independents," should not be described as "only." After four-plus years of enduring the grunts of Trump's base, that number seems like progress.</p>
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