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While defending Confederate statues, Marjorie Taylor Greene said she is opposed to taking any down, even one of Hitler, because: Our history is our lessons and our lessons is how we learn to make our choices going forward. ... Its so that I could tell my children and teach others about who these people are, what they did and what they may be about.

This may explain why Greene and so many others in my Republican Party have drawn ugly parallels relating to Hitler from mask mandates to the education of our children.

Unfortunately, Greene and many of her congressional colleagues have either learned very little of Hitlers history or, worse yet, they choose to ignore it.

They should be reminded that Hitler was a narcissistic demagogue who, when he lost a presidential election to Otto Von Hindenburg, claimed that he was stabbed in the back by a conspiracy of his political enemies and began a course of sedition and insurrection. Not long after Hitler lost the election, the Reichstag building, which housed the German congress, was burned to the ground. It was the Reichstag fire which gave Hitler and his Nazi Party the excuse they needed to take the power that the voters had denied him.

His rationale for taking complete power was to bring security to the German people.

The day after the fire, February 28, 1933, Hitler embarked on a course of enacting decrees and urging executive orders that eliminated all political opposition and began the merciless purge of his political enemies. The following month he opened his first concentration camp at Dachau, and in the years that followed he pursued his genocidal rampage.

In Mein Kampf, Hitler spoke of the big lie ( Der groe Lge) the use of a lie so breathtaking that no one would believe that someone could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously. Hitler used the big lie to not only blame Jews and communists for every ill, real or imaginary, that beset Germany including the Reichstag fire, but also as a device to frighten and divide the German people.

You cannot reflect on this history without remembering the message delivered by George Washington in his farewell address. He warned of the demagogue who agitates the community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms to foment riot and insurrection. Our first president realized that this agitation and disorders and miseries which result gradually incline the minds of men to seek security and repose in the absolute power of an individual; and sooner or later the chief of some prevailing faction, more able or more fortunate than his competitors, turns this disposition to the purposes of his own elevation, on the ruins of public liberty.

Our second president, John Adams, was also worried about the rise of a demagogue in this country. Shortly after the British burned down our Capitol building in 1814, Adams, responding to a letter that criticized him for not patriotically applauding the virtues of democracy, cautioned that vanity, pride, avarice or ambition were irresistible temptations to individuals that led to the subversion of democracy. In his words: Remember Democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes exhausts and murders itself. There never was a Democracy yet, that did not commit suicide.

Sol Wachtler, a former chief judge of the New York state Court of Appeals, is a distinguished adjunct professor at Touro Law School.

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Commentary: The main dangers to our democracy come from within - Albany Times Union

Day one of the two-day Democracy and Constitutionalism: Civic Education Series kicked off at Constitution Hill on Monday with the terrible reality of democracy under threat from a Medusa.

Top of mind for the gathering of more than 30 global speakers turned inevitably to the Russian invasion of sovereign Ukraine that the world has witnessed in the past week. But attention to conflicts 8,500km from Joburg circled quickly back to the room at the womens jail at Constitution Hill where the topics to be covered throughout the course of the day showed that South Africa, like the rest of the world, is in urgent need of confronting the many ways democracy and constitutionalism are coming under threat.

Panellists outlined that current-day threats to democracy have manifested in a variety of ways, including the rise of populism designed to create divides of us and them; racism still untamed, but put on the back burner of issues; pressures arising from a shrinking reliable media thats also up against a machinery of fast replicating false facts and fake news.

Its also grassroots movements not getting their voices into the room and essentially shut out without resources or access. Its weakened and captured state security apparatus, evident during the July 2021 riots in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng, and unchecked abuse of power.

Underpinning it all is the mounting pressure of climate change with the reality that it will be the poorest and most vulnerable who will face the worst of the impacts of a world getting hotter. The climate justice movement, panellists said, is therefore entwined with the social justice movements aims to undo the economic structures that keep society deeply unequal and the corporate might of polluting industries that still dominate and pull political strings.

The lecture series hosted by Section27 and Casac (Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution) in partnership with Constitution Hill has at its chief aim reinvigorating broad public interest in strengthening constitutional democracy and the rule of law.

In her opening remarks, Faranaaz Veriava, head of education at Section27, spoke of a backsliding of civil society gains made in the past few years.

The grassroots activism and civic education programmes that characterised much of the struggle against apartheid, and the early days of our democracy and constitution-making all but disappeared from the South African landscape.

While the core work of Section27 has been to advocate for health and education rights in pursuit of socio-economic equality, we are concerned that our rights-based campaigns and many of our cases that we have successfully led will not be effective if government at all levels is riddled by corruption and dysfunctionality.

We now believe that it is equally important for all of us to focus on education in human rights, she said.

The disconnect between the ideals of the Constitution and the ultimate hope of creating a better life for all was also highlighted in the keynote address of Justice Jody Kollapen, who is newly appointed to the apex court.

The question arises on how the peoples struggle deeply rooted in the lived reality of the millions who drove it and gave it sustenance and legitimacy relate to the new institutional framing of the Constitution that was meant to deliver on the expectations of that struggle. But we may well have fallen short, he said.

Kollapen called the Constitution supreme, but said it was unable to provide all the answers that we need all of the time and said that parallel processes that harmonise and live in synergy with the Constitution [are] necessary in ensuring that the oxygen of a democracy is always maintained and sustained.

The first days session bought together a strong mix of panellists with the hope of being able to find more connecting points between social movements around the world and also to incorporate global perspectives with home-grown realities as a way to cover more angles, see past blind spots and start to find the strategies of growing awareness, sharing information and resources, strategic collaboration, better organising, stronger analysis and effective mobilising.

The global threats to democracy, civil liberties and freedoms from across the world have terrifyingly similar impacts despite varying mechanisms of execution and implementation.

Speakers raised alarms from their countries, including increasingly militaristic and undemocratic practices and policies under the presidency of far-right President Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil, including his denial of Covid-19 at the cost of many Brazilian lives.

In India, its a Hindu populist democracy marked by minority exclusion under Narendra Modi. Modi has severely limited the rights and freedoms of Muslims including through an exclusionary citizenship law and has defended his actions within a framework of democratic politics and within the framework of a constitution.

Closer to home, the absolute monarchy of eSwatini continues to curb political freedoms including the appointment of judges by the king. For nearly half a century the people have been denied the right to elect their leaders or just be recognised as citizens, not the kings subjects. Last years pro-democracy protests in that kingdom left at least 29 people dead and dozens of others injured and maimed.

Bringing the days session to a close was a focus on strengthening institutional democracy. This session homed in on the July 2021 riots in South Africa and insights from information that had since emerged.

It raised red flags on power struggles within state security agencies, including this past week, with the exodus of the national police commissioner from the South African Police Service, ostensibly at loggerheads with the minister of police.

The fingers now being pointed at Cabinet ministers also showed up whose power bases were weakening and it left questions on why there were not more legislative measures to push back against political power and to demand transparency. This included how budgets were used, the operational direction of departments and even which cases for investigation were prioritised.

The full recording of the first days sessions are available on YouTube, under Democracy and Constitutionalism: Civic Education Series. Day twos session will continue at Constitution Hill and will also be live-streamed on the same platform. DM/MC

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Democracy and constitutionalism under threat from unche... - Daily Maverick

What is the difference between NATO enlargement and the expansion of Russia?

While the first takes place on voluntary terms and with the agreement of its members for the sake of defending democratic countries, the second shows an authoritarian nuclear power in the grip of nostalgia for its empire trying to extend its influence through a brutal breach and self-serving interpretation of international law.

In all this, Russia has not been provoked by the enlargement of NATO, which has created a peaceful and stable neighbourhood around the Russian borders, but rather by the pain of losing a totalitarian empire and witnessing the success of its former vassals in building democratic and free societies. And that poses an existential threat to the authoritarian regime in Russia.

Some days ago, between meetings in Moscow, I took a moment to lay flowers on the spot where one of the best known democrats of modern Russia Boris Nemtsov was killed on Bolshoi Moskvoretsky Bridge in the shadow of the Kremlin.

Boris had been a good friend of mine and we had always had fascinating discussions about the present and the future of Russia. His absence is profoundly felt in Russia today. The authorities are doing everything they can to erase Nemtsov from the popular memory because a country with totalitarian leanings cannot allow the existence of freedom of expression or debates about alternative routes to development among its citizens.

Through the decades, Russia has painted democratic Western countries as scary enemy figures trying to obtain access to its riches and destroy its thousand year old civilisation.

People have been told since childhood that the United States and NATO are trying to surround Russia on all sides and annihilate its nationhood. This lie has been used to manipulate millions at home and abroad to justify Russias aggressive foreign policy vis--vis the democratic West.

Historical parallels offer us food for thought. Just like in the 1930s, Russia has come to the realisation that the situation in Europe is ripe for changing the current status quo.

In addition to restoring its empire, totalitarian Russia dreams of forcing its rules on the democratic West, setting up new zones of influence, and marginalizing the role of the United States in global politics. To this end, even the nuclear button is not out of bounds, at least in words.

One question has been asked repeatedly of late: Why is Russia ramping up the tension now of all times?

Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov said at a press conference last year that it is all the fault of the West, which has set out to destroy the architecture of international relations based on the Charter of the United Nations, with no consideration for Russias security fears or honouring its own promises.

Lavrov reiterated the Kremlin narrative of how NATO had broken its promise and enlarged, and how the coup in Ukraine was a threat to Russias security. As expected, he said not a word about Russias own aggressiveness, using force to move borders, or neutralising internal democratic institutions and dismantling civil society, which pressured Russias democratic neighbours into seeking a security guarantee by joining NATO.

Those who have witnessed the advance of the Russian war wagon with their own eyes, are probably keenly aware that it cannot be stopped by gentle words alone.

As a young journalist covering the first Chechen war from 1994-1996, I learned what Russian authorities were capable of. The carpet bombing of Grozny killed thousands upon thousands of citizens. For what? To stop the empire from disintegrating and the free will of the people from becoming the norm.

Just as the destruction of the Chechens benefited from the mass dehumanisation campaign of the entire nation back then, current propaganda is attempting to obliterate Ukrainian independence and nationhood. The Kremlins appetite has only grown in 30 years and has not been thwarted by Western diplomacy, which is built on good will and hope for peaceful coexistence.

In all of this, NATOs enlargement has not been directed against Russia, but against threats to use total force and surround us on all sides. Russian society has been taken hostage by its own history and has not succeeded in breaking free for objective or subjective reasons from the repressive grip of the deeply rooted authoritarian regime.

As the Kremlins intention to destroy a democratic Ukraine is only a part of its quest to erode European security architecture, it makes it particularly hard to find even a somewhat sustainable modus vivendi in the relations between Russia and the West.

Russias leaders seem prepared to escalate tensions to the maximum. This is done through war and use of force, as well as by permitting a public belittling rhetoric towards ones partners in diplomacy.

What is to be done? Russian authorities are fully aware that NATO is not a threat. Just like no democratic neighbouring country is a threat to Russias security or territorial integrity.

Absolutely no country can have the right to hegemony in Europe, nor a veto on how security of the continent is shaped. European security architecture has withstood the test of time well and there is no good reason to bring it down. Instead, there are always opportunities to fortify it.

The views expressed in opinion pieces do not necessarily reflect the position of The Moscow Times.

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Russia Feels Provoked by Democracy and Loss of Empire - The Moscow Times

Editors Note: This guest editorial was published early Thursday in the independent, online publication Ukrainian Pravda (Ukrainian Truth) in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

I am Ukrainian!

On Feb. 24, at 5 a.m. Kyiv time, we woke up to a new Ukraine and a new world.

A world that was imposed on us. A world that lives not by laws, but by the concepts of thugs with nuclear weapons.

The territory of Ukraine is clearly visible on the map of this world.

It is a map of the missile strikes that Russia has carried out from Lugansk to Ivano-Frankivsk, from Sumy to Kharkiv, from Kherson to Kolomyia, from Kryvyi Rih to Lutsk.

Today we are united by love and hatred love of freedom and hatred of Putins Russia together with its dictator, obedient majority and spiritual crosses.

Our only fault is that we want to be masters of our own house to find a way, to make mistakes, to correct mistakes, to build a future without regard to the phobias and complexes of our northern neighbor.

For eight years now, Ukraine has been in the club of countries that have felt the fraternal embrace of Russia.

By 5 a.m. on Feb. 24, this embrace was awkwardly disguised as hybridism and ikhtamnet (they are not there).

By now, the masks have been thrown off.

Evil has shown its unconcealed grin of peace. Only those who have completely lost the ability to see and analyze can talk about not everything is so clear-cut today.

What to do when missiles fall on our cities?

Recall British Prime Minister Winston Churchills speech on May 3, 1940, after Britain entered World War II.

You will ask me, what is our political course? I answer: to wage war at sea, on land and in the air, with all the power and strength that God gives us; to wage war against a terrible tyranny that surpasses any human crime. This is our course.

What, you may ask, is our goal? I can answer in one word: victory, victory at any cost, victory in spite of all horror, victory no matter how long and difficult the road may be; because without victory there will be no life.

At 5 a.m. on Feb. 24, along with the first Russian missiles falling on Ukrainian territory, the era of post-truth ended for the world.

Along with its hybrid worries, understatements and non-binding phrases.

Today everything is clear. It is a time of utmost simplicity and honesty.

Freedom will never become slavery.

The war unleashed by Russia is a crime against humanity and humanity, even if it is called a thousand times special operation, denazification and peace enforcement.

Dictatorship and democracy have nothing in common.

And if the world does not realize this even now well, so much the worse for the world.

On June 26, 1963, in front of the Schneberg Town Hall in West Berlin, then U.S. President John F. Kennedy gave a speech that went down in history as I am Berliner.

Kennedy flew in to be with the people of that city, who have been cut off from the world since Putins spiritual advisors erected the Berlin Wall.

May the speechwriters of the American president forgive us. We will replace just a few words in this text.

Here is a snippet of this speech, written seemingly today and specifically for us.

For 2,000 years a winged phrase has been I am a citizen of Rome. Today, in the free world, it should sound like this: I am Ukrainian.

There are many people in the world who really dont understand, or say they dont understand, what is the biggest problem between the free world and Russia.

Let them come to Kyiv.

There are those who say Putins Russia is the idea of the future.

Let them come to Kyiv.

And there are those who say that both in Europe and anywhere else we can cooperate with Russia.

Let them come to Kyiv.

And there are even those who say that yes, Putins Russia is an evil system, but this doesnt prevent us from cooperating with it in economy.

Let them come to Kyiv.

All free people, no matter where they live, are citizens of Ukraine.

Therefore, as a free man I proudly declare: I am Ukrainian!

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Guest editorial | Dictatorship and democracy have nothing in common - TribDem.com

By PTI

KOLKATA: Are media trials a curse for democracy? Or are the pillars of India's democracy best served by the trials being conducted by the country's media? Media personalities, politicians, legal luminaries and eminent physicians debated whether "Trial by the Media is a Curse of our Democracy,"at an annual debate organised by the nearly two-century-old Bengal Club here Saturday.

Eminent journalist and Editor of The Wire Siddharth Vardarajan pointed out that failure of the other three pillars of the "Taj Mahal of democracy"has made the task of the fourth estate even more difficult.

"Can any of us doubt that these pillars are crumbling?"Vardarajan asked as he pointed out that passing of laws by legislatures without adequate debate, cases of judicial delay in important federal issues, and bureaucratic overreach were undermining democracy.

"We in the media are trying to shine a light on topics that those in authority would not like light to be shone on,"he said, pointing to among other issues, media reportage on the alleged Pegasus phone surveillance.

Jawhar Sircar, former civil servant turned Rajya Sabha MP pointed out that media trails were usually tempered by a sense of mission, such as reportage on Jessica Lal murder, Nirbhaya killing in Delhi or the killing of Rizwanur in Kolkata, which in turn helped unravel those cases and brought culprits to book.

"People get demoralised when nothing happens. Someone has to shake them (system) out of a stupor, to get justice done,"Sircar said, adding that he felt it was the "incumbent duty of the media to take up trials to clean up the nation to serve democracy."

Defending the motion, eminent neuro-surgeon Sandip Chatterjee pointed out that the media at times lowers its standards by passing judgement "on everything and everybody", causing an unevenness of the platform of democracy.

"There is one thing worse than an uninformed person with power and that is an uninformed person with power who does not know when to stop using his power,"Chatterjee said.

He warned that the race for TRP rating as well as media bias was a cause for concern which could undermine the country's democratic polity.

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Media trials curse or boon for democracy? The jury is still out - The New Indian Express