Brian Klaas: ‘We Are Sleepwalking Towards Authoritarianism’

EXCERPT:

KLAAS: "Well, I think you can try to claim that there was a coincidence the first time this happened, but this has been going on for seven years. I mean, I think this is something where it's quite clear that he's lifting not just rhetoric, but actual plans from the authoritarian playbook. I mean, every week we get a new story about how they're gearing up to sort of politicize the Department of Justice and go after their perceived enemies. The rhetoric of the echoes of history. I mean, I studied the breakdown of democracy and I don't know how to say this more clearly, we are sleepwalking towards authoritarianism. And people are not waking up to this. And the Constitution is not written with magical ink, it is protected by the people who make brave choices during moments of political peril, and we are in one of those moments. So the question is do voters wake up as well? Because our political class is not rising to the challenge. They're not distancing themselves in the Republican Party from this rhetoric. They're just sort of pretending like it doesn't exist. And we are literally walking towards a world in which Donald Trump is going to consolidate power, politicize the rule of law, and break down democracy one day at a time. And I think that's something that we have to really grapple with as we head towards the election next year because that is the biggest story in American politics, and nothing else comes close."