Sign the League of Women Voter’s Petition “I stand with the League to ensure that elections are always free, fair and accessible. “To accurately cover what is happening, the media would have to accept four unpleasant facts,” Hughes told me: First, it is highly likely that Donald Trump has a dangerous narcissistic character disorder that makes him psychologically incapable of functioning within a rules-based democratic system. “We are now a country where war criminals are pardoned and celebrated while innocent children are kept in cages, and this is considered normal,” Mika noted. As people of faith, we believe that this impeachment process is imperative to affirm the U.S. Constitution and preserve our democracy. ,” by physician and psychiatrist Dr. Frederick "Skip" Burkle, cited half a dozen examples, from Idi Amin in Uganda to Slobodan Milosevic in the former Yugoslavia, who “have emerged first as saviors and then as despots, or as common criminals claiming to be patriots.”. 2012 Abuse Advertising Backgrounds Barack Barack Obama Blog change cheating checks choice coalition Competition Criminal Deaths debt democracy economy employment. But ultimately, it’s ours. “Ordinary people, on the other hand, were left to pay the price in terms of lost homes, reduced salaries and unemployment.”, Both because of the crisis and the failure to hold those who caused it responsible, this sequence of events "had the effect of destroying public confidence in elites in general and in politicians in particular,” Hughes added. The minimal definition of democracy, however, raises questions about whether these remedies can tackle the real sources of democratic erosion. Quakers and Friends are changing public policy. I think there are clear parallels between Stalin’s systematic destruction of the central pillars of democracy there and what is happening under Trump today. Three business groups are calling for the attack on the nation’s Capitol to end and for a peaceful transition of power, with one telling President Donald Trump’s Cabinet to consider ousting him. That said, it can do a lot to define the direction of the nation's politics. After all, once things get bad enough, being paranoid is almost rational. Consider the large number of questionably-qualified cabinet members Trump has appointed, the even larger legion of “acting” appointments he’s made as a means to avoid even cursory Senate scrutiny and the alt-right media sphere that has blossomed in support of him. Before turning to their responses, here's what I have already learned from Mika. These are tough times for independent journalism. “Reducing the structural violence of inequality and tackling or removing the causes of mental illness, depression, racism, incarceration, and other social problems," Hughes said, reprising a key point from his book, "must form the basis for a new, more humane and caring ‘normal’ after Trump.”, Any return to the old normal is “impossible now,” Mika agreed. Which brings us to his third offense, obstruction of justice–which clearly falls under the category of an impeachable offense. The extreme level of inequality in the U.S. is a form of structural violence that is resulting in enormous levels of the so called, I asked about similar examples of pathocracy from other countries, and Hughes turned to the example of Stalinism in Eastern Europe — the example that. It’s well recognized that there’s an ongoing wave of democratic erosion or backsliding around the world — and that the United States today is caught up in that wave, not standing apart from it. But there are still too many who yearn for a “return to normal,” as if everything had been fine before Trump. The Republicans' behavior during the impeachment hearings illustrate to me that segregation in terms of pathology within the GOP is now virtually complete. The U.S. Constitution authorizes Congress to remove a president from office for “treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.” The impeachment inquiry by committees of the House of Representatives has resulted in two articles of impeachment – abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. "Tyrannies are three-legged beasts," she wrote: There is the tyrant, his supporters and the society as a whole. Jason Sattler, Opinion columnist Published 3:15 a.m. Now Trump wants the pardoned war criminals to campaign with him. “This is true not just in the U.S. but in Europe also. Diane leads FCNL’s staff to effectively educate and lobby for the policies and legislative priorities established by FCNL’s General Committee. Associated Press articles: Copyright © 2016 The Associated Press. "Tyrannies are three-legged beasts," she wrote: There is the tyrant, his supporters and the society as a whole. center talks with fellow managers and staff after the close of their arguments on the third day of the Senate impeachment … And as a result, the narrow approach of the articles of impeachment keep the Democrats from having a full hand. I will work with the League to stop voter suppression tactics that threaten our democracy and the right to vote.” 2. And if civil society could be so deeply damaged in nations as disparate, as historic and as culturally rich as those of Eastern Europe, then it can be similarly damaged anywhere. We see it everywhere when the pathological political leaders give people permission to act on their primitive instincts. We need a new, healthier normal, instead, he suggested. “Trump's pardons of war criminals and the subsequent ouster of the Navy secretary is very much in line with the developing pathocratic takeover of what we considered our democracy.”. Democracy Now! Her contribution, ) was arguably the most significant of all, as I, , because it places Trump into the larger context of what’s enabling him. The tyrant and his supporters join together in a “narcissistic collusion ... driven by the latter's need for revenge," she wrote, "for the tyrant is always chosen to perform this psychically restorative function: to avenge the humiliations (narcissistic wounds) of his followers and punish those who inflicted them. Four ways you can preserve democracy for the next generation. Again, Trump’s sycophants are working hard to realize this objective in the U.S. Rick Perry, Mike Pompeo and Sarah Sanders have all said that God chose Trump to be president.