THE THREAT OF DESPOTISM
🤔 What’s the issue? Alexis de Tocqueville, in “Democracy in America,” identified troubling illiberal tendencies within the fabric of American politics that threatened the foundations of democracy. He criticized not the excess of freedom, but rather the lack of safeguards against tyranny. Tocqueville highlighted issues such as communities taking justice into their own hands, and the formation of powerful, influential groups akin to aristocracies. He warned that these trends would lead to a reduction in political rights, and a shift towards despotism, where power is consolidated in the hands of a single ruler.
🗽Why this matters? American liberal democracy is built on checks and balances, rights protection, and participatory governance. The risk of descending into an autocracy and a dictatorship is exacerbated, when we are willing to relinquish our rights to a dominant figure who promises order or revenge against perceived enemies. Such a scenario is happening now under a Trump candidacy, and threatens the very essence of democracy. Recognizing these signs is crucial to prevent the decline into despotism, which de Tocqueville feared could occur rapidly once the democratic fabric starts to unravel. Learn more
🖼️ Big Picture: To counteract these dictator-like tendencies, it is essential to draw upon historical movements that have successfully challenged threats to democracy. Movements which include abolitionism, civil rights, women rights, and antitrust (to name a few) not only fought against specific injustices, but also fortified the democratic structure by promoting inclusivity and accountability. Read more
What can we do?
📌Learn from our past to provide both inspiration and practical pathways for current and future political action.
📌Avoid complacency by acknowledging that the rise of figures like Trump, who has tapped into and expanded these dictator-like currents, is not an anomaly, but a reflection of deeper and societal issues.
📌Engage in vigilant, informed, active participation in democracy to safeguard it against the rise of autocratic and dictatorial powers.
The Criminalization of Abortion
🖼️ What’s the big picture: The criminalization of abortion is meant to punish women, not to save lives. Florida’s six-week abortion ban, instituted on May 2, 2024, reads that “any person who willfully performs, or actively participates in a termination of pregnancy” in violation of the new law can be charged with a felony. Read more
🔙 Reminder: In 2016, when candidate Donald Trump was asked whether he thought women who sought an illegal abortion should face criminal punishment, he answered in the affirmative — “there has to be some sort of punishment.”
❓Why it Matters: Increasing numbers of State statutes criminalize abortion. Coupled with surveillance methods and technologies, new and complex challenges in protecting women’s privacy and liberty interests arise. Learn more
📳 What are these surveillance trackers: Surveillance trackers include data from menstrual tracker apps, sensitive digital information (including medical records), Google location tracking, reverse keyword search warrant, and geo-location data connecting people to an abortion clinic. Read more
💁♀️ What's happening now: Lawmakers in Arkansas, Indiana, Oklahoma, and Arizona continue to propose bills that would criminalize a miscarriage as a homicide. Such bills have long been proposed by abortion opponents calling themselves “abolitionists”.
🆘 What can we do: Support organizations (links below) that provide legal advice to women under threat of arrest, and support funding for legal defenses.
🤖 AI-Backed Voting Suppression
💡What you need to know: AI tools could make it easier than ever for bad actors to wage campaigns aimed at suppressing votes. Read more
🫴 Catch me up: On the eve of the 2024 New Hampshire primary, robocalls impersonating President Joe Biden counseled voters against partaking in a write-in campaign supporting Biden, urging them to “save your vote” for the general election.
🏎️ Zoom out: Federal law continues to allow political robocalls to landlines without prior consent. (Landlines are disproportionately used by Americans over the age of 65.)
🥩 What's at stake: To file challenges, groups of Right Wing activists are now using EagleAI. At least one Georgia county has recently approved EagleAI’s use for voter roll maintenance. This means that not only can private citizens use it to challenge votes, but also it may potentially serve as a flawed official arbiter of those same challenges.
🏁 Looking forward: Federal law builds in some guardrails, but adding modest wording to the bills and legislative text could help ensure accountability for those who purposely develop AI systems designed to deceive voters about the voting process.
🤝 Support The Freedom to Vote Act: Although it does not directly address AI, the proposed Freedom to Vote Act would safeguard voters and election administration by affording voters a wide range of critical protections against vote suppression.
🔙 Upside Down and Backwards
🌵Arizona: An indictment, charging 7 allies of former President Trump and 11 “fake electors”, who tried to cast false electoral votes in an alleged scheme to overturn the 2020 election results was delivered. ➡️ One of the 'fake electors" now runs election integrity for the RNC. Read more
🍊Florida: Florida’s ban on abortions after 6 weeks went into effect May 2. This means, as Cecile Richards, former president of Planned Parenthood, writes “child rape victims [will be] forced to give birth, miscarrying patients [will be] turned away from emergency rooms and told to return when they’re in sepsis.” Read more
🍺 Missouri: A Missouri law requires women seeking divorce to disclose whether they're pregnant. State judges won't finalize divorces during a pregnancy. Advocates in Missouri are now pushing to change this law, arguing it contributes to the reduction of women's freedoms. Read more
🌸 Mississippi: In 2020, Mississippi enacted a GOP-sponsored law allowing mail-in ballots postmarked on or before Election Day to be counted for up to 5 days after the election. Now in 2024, a bill is moving through the Legislature that repeals the 5-day deadline, and instead stipulates that any ballot received after 7 p.m. on Election Day “shall not be counted.” ➡️ Repeal is being led by the RNC. Read more
📌 UPCOMING VIRTUAL EVENTS ⤵️
🗓️ JUDY WOODRUFF AND SARAH LONGWELL | WED 05.08 | 7:00PM ET
PBS senior correspondent, Judy Woodruff, and The Bulwark Founder, Sarah Longwell, will join us to discuss what’s driving American polarization. Judy will highlight her findings from her PBS show, America at a Crossroads, while Sarah will share insights from her unique focus groups, shedding light on public opinion and what issues are shaping political dialogue. 🗓️ RSVP HERE: WED 05.08 | 7:00PM ET
🗓️ YASMIN RADJY, VOTE FORWARD | TUES 05.14 | NOON ET
Executive Director of Vote Forward, Yasmin Radjy will dive into how Vote Forward determines its letter writing strategy, and how this will give us a win for democracy in 2024. Request letters as we continue to move toward our goal of writing 100K letters!🗓️ RSVP HERE: TUES 05.14 | NOON ET
🗓️ BRIAN STELTER AND ANGELO CARUSONE |WED 05.15 | 7:00PM ET
Brian Stelter, former CNN media correspondent and host of “Reliable Sources,” and Angelo Carusone, President of Media Matters for America, will discuss the profound impact of right-wing media on our democratic processes, public discourse, and the pervasive spread of disinformation. 🗓️ RSVP HERE: WED 05.15 | 7:00PM ET
🗓️ GEORGE T. CONWAY III AND NORM EISEN |WED 05.29 | 7:00PM ET
CNN legal analyst Norm Eisen and attorney George T. Conway III will discuss what’s happening with the Trump trials: their outcomes, precedents, and the future of our Democracy. 🗓️ RSVP HERE: WED 05.29 | 7:00PM ET
🗓️ BARBARA MCQUADE | TUES. 06.04 | 7:00PM ET
MSNBC legal analyst Barbara McQuade will join us to discuss her bestselling book: Attack From Within. The book is a comprehensive explanation of the ways disinformation is impacting democracy and solutions that can strengthen the public, media, and truth-based politics. 🗓️ RSVP HERE: TUES 06.04 | 7:00PM ET
📌 EVENT RECAPS ⤵️
ANNE APPLEBAUM AND KATIE COURIC delved into two crucial topics: the global rise of authoritarianism and the evolving landscape of American democracy.
| Pre-purchase Autocracy, Inc. | Subscribe to Katie Couric Newsletter
🎥 YOUTUBE RECORDING 🎧 BIGTENT PODCAST
LIZ CHENEY AND CHARLIE SYKES discussed Cheney's new bestselling book Oath and Honor, the dynamics within the Republican Party, perspectives on Trump and the Capitol assault. Additionally, they dove into ways we can safeguard American democracy. and the health of our democracy.
| Subscribe: Charlie’s Substack | Read: Oath and Honor
🎥 YOUTUBE RECORDING 🎧 BIGTENT PODCAST
🔖 Stories keeping us up at night 😳
How Far Trump Would Go - In His Words. Trump tells Time Magazine, he would “let red states monitor women’s pregnancies and prosecute those who violate abortion bans.” This is the future we’re looking at if he’s elected in November. Read the interview, the interview transcripts and the fact checker report.
In a Special Series, reporters Maggie Haberman, Jonathan Swan and Charlie Savage are joining the NYT podcast “The Daily.” Each episode will explore what a second Trump presidency would look like, and what it could mean for American democracy. Download Podcast
🎞️ “The Elected Leadership of The Republican Party is sick politically.” Liz Cheney spoke with Charlie Sykes and explained why the Republican Party has become an anti-constitution party. Listen to their full conversation.
🌐 Trump’s Trials Clearinghouse -Updated Daily | Norm Eisen - Just Security
⛑️ A Republican and a Democrat Confront Our Era of Bad Vibes | WaPo (gift)
📌 The Coming Attack of No-Fault Divorce | The Atlantic (gift)
“The best thing to do is make sure that Donald Trump is not re-elected.” -Liz Cheney