A Promised Land

America as a Developing Country

The One Good Thing About Covid

The pandemic and about 45,000 votes saved U.S. democracy.

If Not for a Financial Meltdown…

The 1997-98 Asian financial crisis caused economic havoc across much of the globe, with Indonesia one of the hardest hit nations. But it triggered a chain of events that discredited the country’s corrupt, repressive ruler, Suharto, and led to his 1998 resignation after over 31 years as president. His downfall signifies a lesson America learned this month: how even a disastrous development can rescue a nation from dictatorship.

Suharto oversaw significant economic reforms and growth while in power. In other regards, his record was repugnant.

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How Trump Could Still Steal the Election, Part Two

And why he’s unlikely to succeed, though that's a weak basis for complacency.

A Mess, Not a Process

Last week, I discussed how Donald Trump could try to steal the presidential election through voter suppression, voter disqualification and court decisions, and how Republicans planted the seeds of such an effort long ago.

I’ll now address how, even though Joe Biden is president-elect, Team Trump could seek to reverse the result by taking the fight to state legislatures, Congress and the Supreme Court. The strategy would exploit archaic, arcane aspects of our electoral college system that are even more nonsensical than you might imagine.

I’ll also sketch why Trump will most likely fail, not least because it might not be in the interests of many Republicans or the Court to see this battle through to the bitter end.

But “most likely” leaves no basis for complacency. That’s especially the case since Trump, like other would-be and actual autocrats elsewhere, has shown us who he is.

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An Indian Broadcaster’s Coverage of Biden’s Win and Trump’s Conduct

With some input from Yours Truly.

Here’s an extended clip presenting part of how a major Indian broadcast outlet, WION (World Is One News), covered today’s breaking news about Joe Biden winning the election. The show features joyous American street scenes, reporting by WION’s international correspondents and commentary from Indian and U.S. experts. It also includes some attempted punditry by me.

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How Trump Could Steal the Election, Part One

He's already started to try.

Tyranny and Complacency

Historian Timothy Snyder’s 2019 book, On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century, offers numerous insights on preventing and battling authoritarianism. But the dominant thread running through the volume is this: Don’t be complacent. Don’t despair. And be prepared.

That’s the point of this post. While Joe Biden could sweep to a landslide – a reassuring possibility to which I return below – Election Day could instead unleash a lengthy legal, political and media fight comprising state-by-state trench warfare.

Rather than despair over that possibility, we should prepare for it. The first step is to understand what looms.

I’ll accordingly summarize here how Donald Trump, his allies and appointees could steal the election.

In fact, they’ve already started to try.

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