Political Irony

Here are a series of articles about how Donald Trump, Republicans, and right-wing media are trying to destroy our democracy.

First is tonight’s article by Heather Cox Richardson. She goes through a list of the things that democracy depends on, and then gives examples of how they are being attacked and even destroyed:

• The rule of law. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy coerced his employees to contribute to the Republican Party, and then reimbursed them by giving them bonuses. Not only did he buy an election, he bought himself a cabinet position.
• Equality before the law. Minorities, especially Blacks and Latinos, are discriminated against by the courts and by the police.
• Reality-based policy. Today Trump claimed “Our Economy and Jobs are doing really well.” We are in a recession and unemployment is 8.4%.
• History itself. This weekend, Trump demanded that schools change their curriculum, or they will lose federal funding. He is trying to rewrite history.
• Universal suffrage. First Trump, and now Attorney General William Barr are spreading false statements (which are the same as false statements being spread by the Russians) claiming that mail-in ballots will lead to massive fraud. At the same time, Republicans are fighting to suppress Democratic votes.
• Elections must provide a choice. Republicans are attempting to delegitimize the Democratic Party. Today, Trump tweeted “The Democrats, together with the corrupt Fake News Media, have launched a massive Disinformation Campaign the likes of which has never been seen before.”
• Checks and balances. The Trump administration is blocking the long-established right of Congress to investigate and subpoenas the executive branch.
• Transition of power. Trump keeps suggesting that he will not relinquish power, even if he loses the election.

Second is an article in the Daily Beast, pointing out that one of the reporters of the One America News Network (OANN), Trump’s favorite news source, is actually an employee of the Kremlin.

Trump is now even attacking Fox News, because they sometimes don’t buy into Trump’s constant lies.

And finally, Trump is attacking the widow of Steve Jobs, because she is the majority owner of The Atlantic, which recently published an article detailing how Trump disparaged soldiers (especially dead or captured ones) by calling them “losers” and “suckers”. The White House claims the article is completely false, even though there is plenty of video and other records of Trump doing exactly that, and multiple news outlets have confirmed the facts in the article, including Fox News.