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Forget Dow 20000 the Boom Times Are Over. Is Democracy Foreign Policy (blog) With the swearing in of the Republican-dominated 115th Congress and the inauguration of Donald Trump as president, we are now faced with a series of unknowns about the future of liberalism and democracy. The politics of nationalism are one aggravating ... and more »

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Forget Dow 20000 the Boom Times Are Over. Is Democracy - Foreign Policy (blog)

Ashundreds of thousands of protesters shut down the streets of Washington, D.C., the day after Donald Trump's inauguration, and millions more marched all over the country and the world, America's new president sent his press secretary to attack the White House press corps and claim Trump's inauguration crowd was the "biggest ever." This strange and obvious lie was taken by some commentators to be a warning aimed at the press a defiant statement that Trump intends to propagate his preferred reality and vilify reporters who contradict it.

That may be true, but what Trump proudly calls his "running war with the media" obscures an even more fundamental threat to U.S. democracy: He's trying to silence and erase citizens who don't support his message and policies by claiming he alone speaks for "real" Americans and can tell us who qualifies as such. Attacking the press is a more palatable way to go after his real target: "We the People."

Trump told the country what he thinks of dissenters in a snide tweet in response to Saturday's massive protests, saying he "was under the impression that we just had an election! Why didn't these people vote?" Well, they did, as evidenced by the marchers chanting, "We are the popular vote!" past the White House. Regardless, the implication in Trump's tweet is that once you've been outvoted, you should shut up. Needless to say, that is not how democracy works.

Trump repeatedly claimed in his inauguration speech that he speaks for and will govern for "the people." He referred to his oath of office as an "oath of allegiance to all Americans." In fact, the oath he took isn't one of allegiance to "the people" he took an oath to uphold the Constitution. "The people" disagree about lots of things; the document structures how the country navigates those disagreements, and restricts what those in the majority can do to those in the minority. But Trump has made it clear he plans to justify whatever he wants to do as the will of "the people" while portraying anyone who disagrees with him as too crooked and corrupt to be among them.

Democracy requires competition among opposing ideas. There can't be a debate if those in power refuse to acknowledge facts or dissenting viewpoints. Elections have consequences, of course, but it is still the president's job to serve all the people including those who didn't vote for him, or who did vote for him but oppose particular policies (like Trump voters whodon't want him to take away their health careor defund Planned Parenthood). Trump is instead purporting to have a mandate for radical and unconstitutional acts promoting an alternative political reality in which he isn't deeply unpopular by fabricating crowd numbers, while dismissing those who've taken to the streets to express their fear and dissent in unprecedented numbers.

On Wednesday, Trump doubled down on an even more frightening strategy to deny facts he doesn't like and define anyone who doesn't support him as un-American when he repeated the widely debunked conspiracy theory that he would have won the popular vote if not for widespread voter fraud. Trump went on to call for a "major investigation" into his claim of illegal voting, for which there is absolutely no evidence.

This lie about the election represents an expansion of Trump's delegitimization campaign against Barack Obama, to new targets. Trump is claiming millions of people who voted against him are either literally not American or un-American fraudsters who voted in two states or under fake names.

This fits a pattern of trump attempting to discredit or silence those he deems enemies. After promising to release his tax returns, Trump's camp declared he didn't need to because only reporters care about them. The 74 percent of Americans who told pollsters he should release his returns, and the thousands who marched on Washington chanting, "Show us your tax returns!" or who signed the WhiteHouse.gov petition demanding transparency apparently don't count. (The petition, which is still open, quickly hit the 100,000 signatures needed for a White House response. After initially saying Trump wouldn't release his returns, adviser Kellyanne Conway now says he may release them once he's no longer under audit. Trump has refused to explain why an audit prevents him from releasing his returns, or to provide proof that he is even being audited though he will be soon, because the IRS audits the president every year.)

Trump targets individuals who question him as well. When a union leader corrected the record about the jobs at an Indiana factory Trump claimed to have saved, Trump used his megaphone to try to discredit and silence him. When women spoke out to allege that Trump did commit the kinds of sexual assaults he was caught on tape bragging about, he characterized them as lying political enemies and threatened to sue.

We can now expect official actions to keep inconvenient information out of the public sphere: The Trump administration reportedly ordered the EPA to remove its webpage about climate change and the National Parks Service to stop tweeting after it retweeted a picture comparing Trump's and Obama's inauguration crowds.

The outlandishness of Trump's crowd size and vote count claims are enough to make one wonder if he's delusional, and it's tempting to chalk up his attacks on the press to his wounded ego. But the experience of other countries suggests his campaign of disinformation and delegitimization is more nefarious. Norms protecting freedom of information, speech and the press are essential for a functioning democracy; to Trump, they are a threat. Populist dictators get away with extralegal and unconstitutional acts by claiming authorization from "the people." The first step in that anti-democratic effort is to make sure people with inconvenient facts and contrary ideas are silenced, discredited or erased. That's what Trump is doing now. Don't stop paying attention.

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Trump's Anti-Democratic War on Facts and Free Speech - RollingStone.com

TEODORO OBIANG, the dictator of oil-rich Equatorial Guinea, is used to shady guests. A decade ago, his Black Beach prison held Simon Mann, a British mercenary who was sentenced to 34 years for his role in the botched Wonga coup that tried to topple him. (Mr Mann won a presidential pardon in 2009.) In a fresh act of mercy, Mr Obiang has taken in another guest, whose quarters will doubtless be cushier. On January 21st he welcomed Yahya Jammeh, the former dictator of Gambia, whose people had tired of him after 22 years.

Mr Jammeh fled Gambia after a month-long stand-off with West Africas regional power bloc, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). It had threatened to send troops in after Mr Jammeh reneged on a pledge to hand over power to Adama Barrow (pictured), an opposition politician who won a presidential election in December.

Mr Jammeh and his new host are not known to have been close before, but they may find many reasons to get along. Both seized power in coups, and both have clung to it for decades: Mr Obiang, who has been in office for 37 years, is the worlds longest-serving political leader. Both also care little for human rights: Mr Jammeh withdrew Gambia from the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court last year; Mr Obiang never signed up in the first place. So Mr Jammeh may be free to enjoy his retirement without the threat of extradition and prosecution for all the dissidents who had plastic bags tied over their heads in his jails. As part of his luggage from Gambia, Mr Jammeh is said to have shipped out two Rolls-Royces, a Bentley and $11m in cash, so he should be comfortable too.

The allegations about Mr Jammehs last-minute looting were made by an adviser to Mr Barrow, Mai Ahmad Fatty, who claimed that the states coffers had been all but emptied. And this is only one of the problems facing Mr Barrow. As Egypt and Libya recently learned, there is more to ending a dictatorship than getting rid of the despot. Mr Barrow, who has never held office, inherits a country with little experience of democracy. He will govern via a shaky, seven-sided coalition whose only real common ground was an intense dislike of Mr Jammeh. Most Gambians also concede that for all its faults, Mr Jammehs police state managed to keep civil war, Ebola and jihadist terrorism at bay.

Mindful of the challenges, Mr Barrow plans to focus on reforming the economy and security forces rather than trying to lock up his predecessor. Instead he has proposed a truth and reconciliation commission. Though odious, Mr Jammeh has far less blood on his hands than, say, Liberias former president, Charles Taylor. Even if Mr Obiang could be persuaded to give up his guest, ECOWAS may simply deem it not worth the effort of pursuing him, particularly if it risks reopening old wounds.

Even so, the way in which ECOWAS rallied to Gambias defence is cause for cheer. It cements the principle that no one in West Africa can stage a coup or steal an election without risking sanctions or worse from the neighbours.

It might seem surprising that a region that includes some of the poorest countries in the world should be so strict about enforcing democratic normsunlike some other parts of Africa. Paul Melly of Chatham House, a think-tank in London, notes that ECOWAS has been honing its interventionist skills for more than a quarter of a century. It began in 1990, when the outbreak of the first Gulf war meant that America and other Western powers were too busy to get involved in the Liberian civil war. Instead, ECOWAS had to pick up the baton and send in its own peacekeepers. Although that intervention was not an unqualified success (the fighting continued and peacekeepers were accused of rampant looting), it broke with a tradition of turning a blind eye. Countries in the region realised that their neighbours problems could soon become theirs, Mr Melly says.

Tiny Gambia, with a population of just 1.9m, may be only a small step in the right direction, but it is still an important one. Two years ago ECOWAS tried to get its 15 members to agree that no head of state should serve more than two terms. The measure was vetoed by just two countries: Gambia and Togo. With Mr Jammeh gone, it may not be long before no leader, no matter how popular he claims to be, can dream of breaking Mr Obiangs record in office.

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After Gambia's dictator, democracy? - The Economist

Gary Grappo

Gary Grappo is a former US ambassador and a distinguished fellow at the Center for Middle East Studies at the Korbel School for International Studies,

It is time for all of Americas institutions of democracy to engage, activate the citizenry and make its democracy function as it should.

The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants, said Thomas Jefferson, Americas third president.

This quote came to mind in the aftermath of the US presidential election and Donald J. Trumps improbable victory. Not because a literal bloodletting is in the offing, though we may very well see a figurative one. But rather because Americas tree of liberty is in need of refreshing, shaking up or even repotting in more fertile soil. Its democratic roots need new nourishment. So, in that sense, Jefferson may have been on to something.

Can it be that Americans have grown complacent of their democracy? They votewell, barely half the country. They pay their taxesthough of some we cant be sure. And a very small number serve in its armed forces, less than one-half percent. But an increasing number volunteer their time and talents for a multitude of causes like places of worship, the environment, literacy and hundreds more.

But a shocking number of American adults cannot name their senators or members of Congress. Few can name more than a couple Supreme Court judges or cabinet members. Many are unaware of how laws are passed or of the authorities granted the president by the Constitution. The lack of awareness of public affairs can be appalling. Those who stay abreast of issues often follow only media that reflect their own views. One of democracys strongest defenders, Winston Churchill, once insightfully quipped: The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter. He might have added, If you can find one.

That cant be what the worlds oldest democracy is about. At least, American Founding Father Thomas Jefferson did not think so. The death of democracy is not likely to be an assassination from ambush. It will be a slow extinction from apathy, indifference, and undernourishment, said American educator, author and former University of Chicago president and chancellor, Robert Hutchins. Americas democracy needs nourishment.

Donald Trump may be just the one to get the nourishing process started. I do not for a second put Trump anywhere near the exalted category of Jefferson and Americas other presidential luminaries. Rather, the ideas hes expressed, positions hes taken and behavior hes shown ought to rile Americans to their roots and, indeed, Americas democratic roots. Could he be the catalyst that stirs Americans into action?

Thankfully, Americas democracy does not rely on any one institution and certainly not on the presidency, however important and powerful it may be.

Americas success as a democracy stems from the multiple institutions that support it: its legislative and judicial branches of government, its free and freewheeling mediaand lets not forget an explosive and pervasive social mediathe armed forces, its 4,000-plus institutions of higher learning, its many religious institutions, the many state and local governments, and the innumerable groups and organizations that make up its civil society, probably the most active and prolific in the world.

These will all be challenged under Trump. How they respond and what they do will ultimately determine what President Trump is able to achieve for or against the American interest. Most important, however, is how they embrace and activate the American public to step up and fulfill their roles and duties as citizens in a democracy.

Americas media, for example, have responded in exemplary fashion, calling Trump and his advisors out when they pose so-called alternative facts or brush lightly over critical policy issues like health care or free trade. Social media have also played a prominent role, both criticizing as well as defending the new president.

While too early to say, civil society may also be stepping up. The Womens March that took place the day after Trumps inauguration and drew millions of women and men across the nation and even abroad, demonstrated a cherished right and essential responsibility in a democracy to speak out. Especially worth noting was the mobilization that took place in so-called red statessuch as Kansas, Wyoming, Alabama, Alaska and rural areas of Virginiaas well as blue states.

Whether that impressive performance can crystallize into an organization with leadership and platform remains to be seen. But it represents a commendable start and should demonstrate to Americans and the world that Americans genuinely care about their democracy and the freedoms that come with it.

We should be on alert to Americas college campuses, whose responses to the 1960s and 1970s defining issuesthe Vietnam War and civil rightshelped galvanize the nations attitudes. As a product of that period, I can attest to the power of pro-active students making their voices heard. Watch and listen to them as well. More than17 million students are currently enrolled in these institutions, and its their future thats at stake. Will they respond?

So, in that sense, Trump may be facilitating the nourishing of Americas roots. The country may need a real stirring and a president with a transgressive penchant for sowing disorder and discord may be just the person to do that. It is time for all of Americas institutions of democracy to engage, activate the citizenry and make its democracy function as it should.

But there is another challenge America confronts. It is a country divided. Not as it was in 1861 when the southern states seceded to form the Confederacy and drove the nation into the bloodiest conflict in its history, the Civil War. The major issue dividing America then was slavery. In 2017, however, one can see many fault lines running through the countryconservative vs. liberal, red state vs. blue state, urban vs. rural, pro-choice vs. pro-life, main street vs. Wall Street, as well as the many social issues relating to race, religion, immigration, gender, taxation and others.

The divisions are palpable. Americas Congress, now with Republican majorities in both houses, has become so partisan that many of the issues on which Americans want decisions simply sit without action, aggravating the divisions.

While he did not set out to do so, President Barack Obama effectively widened the festering political divide in America. Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton also share the blame, though neither of them sought to do so. But today that divide may now be a chasm. Such divisions are nothing new in this country. In fact, they ought to be expected in any vibrant democracy. Nevertheless, it is worrisome.

As Americans begin this next and fearful chapter in our history, it may be useful to recall the words of another great in the pantheon of American presidents, Abraham Lincoln, from his second inaugural address. They were spoken at the end of the Civil War, unquestionably the single most divisive time in US history.

With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nations wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.

The reference to the nations woundscomes from one of the most poetic and moving books of the Old Testament, the Book of Psalms. He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.

Lincoln was referring not only to the mercy of God but also to that to which God calls all mankind. Lincoln, in his almost divine-like wisdom, saw the need to heal the nations wounds after that most destructive war. Sadly, the nation was deprived of that wisdom and his leadership as he was assassinated only days after having delivered those noble words.

So, now it must be asked, who shall begin the work to bind up the nations wounds of today? Who will it be to reach across the many battle lines, find common cause and do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations? Can America produce a 21st century Abraham Lincoln?

In his inaugural address remarks, Donald Trump seemed to make it clear he has no intention of binding wounds. In his administration there will be winners and losers, victors and vanquished. Despite subsequent efforts by administration officials to present his inaugural words differently, what many heard was more dividing, breaking, defying and ultimately tearing down. The so-called American carnage he described may in fact be just beginning.

But America must return to that essential and necessary work of keeping the worlds oldest and most successful democracy ever vibrant. Who will lead America in that epic, Sisyphean undertaking? For now, it seems the task remains in the hands of the American people and their cherished institutions, perhaps as it should be in a democracy of the people.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Fair Observers editorial policy.

Photo Credit:RiverNorthPhotography

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Democracy in a Nation Divided - Fair Observer

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

AMY GOODMAN: Today, President Trump is flying to Philadelphia, where congressional Republicans are on retreat. Hes going in an effort to win more support for his political agenda. Over the past five days, he has signed a number of executive orders and presidential memorandums, but many of his actions will require congressional support. In his first day in office, Trump directed government agencies to freeze all pending regulations and to take steps to weaken the Affordable Care Act. Then, on Monday, Trump reinstated the controversial global gag rule, that bans U.S. funding for any international healthcare organizations that perform abortions, advocate for the legalization of abortion or even provide information about abortions. On that same day, Trump withdrew the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership. On Tuesday, he instituted a federal hiring freeze and issued presidential memorandums to revive the Dakota Access and Keystone XL pipelines. Then, on Wednesday, Trump signed a pair of wide-reaching executive orders dealing with expanding a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, empowering state and local law enforcement to act as immigration officers, prohibiting federal funding of so-called sanctuary cities, and expanding the number of Border Patrol agents.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: The secretary of homeland security, working with myself and my staff, will begin immediate construction of a border wall.

AMY GOODMAN: And more executive orders are on the way. According to leaked documents, Trump may open the door for the CIA to reopen secret overseas black site prisons. And another executive order is in the works that would temporarily ban most refugees from entering the country and reportedly block visas from being issued to anyone from Syria, Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.

To talk more about President Trumps actions, were joined by two guests. Vincent Warren is the executive director of the Center for Constitutional Rights, and Faiza Patel is co-director of the Liberty and National Security program at the Brennan Center.

Vince, lets begin with you. Before we get into the specifics of this slew of executive orders and presidential memoranda, can you talk about thiswhat has happened this week? And how binding are these moves that President Trump has made?

VINCENT WARREN: Well, this week has really been extraordinary, because weve seen that hes just rolled out a series of actions and orders. Let me talk a little bit about executive orders. Executive orders arecan be done by the president, and they come from his Article II power. And so, he or she is allowed to move forward these orders that have the force of federal law. So some of the things that weve seen have the effect of federal law. Executive actions can be much broader and actually come from a subset of the power, and they could be things like memoranda and things like that. They have varying degrees of power.

As a general rule, theyre all challengeable, particularly if the orders or the actions are unconstitutional, they violate international human rights or they violate existing federal law. But those are actions that the president can take. And just as an example, things like interning the Japanese were presidential orders, things like that. So, theres an opportunity here to not only see what hes putting forward, but a lot of us who are in the social justice field are looking for opportunities and ways to be able to challenge these executive orders and actions. But, of course, as were going to be talking about later, some of them have not come out yet. We have to see what these things say, what they actually mean, and then we have to think about ways to challenge them.

AMY GOODMAN: I mean, and the difference between a presidential memorandum, as was the case with the reviving of the Keystone XL pipeline and moving forward with the Dakota Access pipeline, and an executive order?

VINCENT WARREN: Yes, there is. And, you know, itsyou could think about it as a game of presidential ping-pong. So, President Obama, for example, issued executive actions around DACA, and then President Trump is going toyou know, theoretically can come in and redo that. And similarly, with respect to the decision of President Obama not to move forward with the Keystone pipeline, President Trump comes in and issues a presidential memorandum saying move forward on that. These are challengeable issues. But we have to remember that theyre not the same as federal law and laws that pass by Congress. Laws that get passed by Congress are harder to enact, because it requires congressional consent in a vote, and theyre also harder to withdraw, because that also requires congressional consent. So the idea here is that presidents will move forward to move forward their agenda. In executive orders, its largely taking executive agencies and ordering them to do something. So, for example, ordering them to build a wall is a good example of an executive order, because its ordering the agencies under the presidents power to be able to do something.

AMY GOODMAN: So you had, for example, one of the first executive orders that President Obama issued in 2009 was closing Guantnamo in a year. So, its 2017, he served for eight years, and that never happened.

VINCENT WARREN: That never happened. And what were likely to see coming down the road, and at least if the leaked documents are correct, that President Trump is going to be issuing an order that says Guantnamo is to remain open and, in fact, that new prisoners that are captured can and should be brought to Guantnamo. So President Trump is essentially using his executive power to reverse the course of many of the things that President Obama did, including things like a permanent ban on torture with respect to the CIA and the Army and U.S. government officials.

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Trump's Executive Actions Reverse Obama Policies on Torture, Healthcare & Guantnamo Bay - Democracy Now!