Orb\u00e1n rival\u2019s message of courage should take root here<\/p>\n
John Shattuck, president emeritus of Central European University, offers valuable insight into the resounding defeat of Prime Minister Viktor Orb\u00e1n in his April 15 op-ed, \u201cOrb\u00e1n\u2019s loss offers US a road map for resistance.\u201d<\/a> <\/p>\n Whereas many pundits have focused on Hungarian voters\u2019 reactions to corruption and impoverishment, Shattuck gets to the heart of P\u00e9ter Magyar\u2019s strategy and victory: courage. He writes, \u201cMagyar\u2019s message, \u2018Do not be afraid,\u2019 captured the essence of Orb\u00e1n\u2019s bullying authoritarianism and the deep desire of Hungarians to be freed from fearful submission.\u201d Shattuck also emphasizes the importance of elite institutions standing up, despite threats, and the need for a big-tent resistance effort. <\/p>\n A difference here in the United States is that we haven\u2019t suffered nearly as long as the Hungarian people. A crucial question is whether Americans have had enough of authoritarian rule and its damage to our democratic institutions, government protections, rule of law, separation of powers, individual rights and freedoms, economic well-being, and standing in the world. <\/p>\n Get The Gavel<\/p>\n A weekly SCOTUS explainer newsletter by columnist Kimberly Atkins Stohr.<\/p>\n As a country, we seem to have lost track of our Founders\u2019 vision. But our nation\u2019s 250th anniversary is a good time to wake up to the benefits and promises of our Founders\u2019 dream. Let\u2019s not be afraid to exhibit courage \u2014 indeed, the protesters in Minneapolis showed us the way. Even small acts of resistance can be emboldening.<\/p>\n Marjorie Lee<\/p>\n Wayland<\/p>\n Autocratic leader\u2019s fall in Hungary signals a hit to Trumpism<\/p>\n The stunning defeat of Victor Orb\u00e1n, Hungary\u2019s autocratic leader and soul mate of President Trump, in that country\u2019s pivotal parliamentary elections has implications well beyond the borders of Hungary, as Kimberly Atkins Stohr notes in her April 16 Opinion column, \u201cLessons from Hungary for the midterms and beyond.\u201d<\/a> Uncanny similarities between Orb\u00e1n\u2019s and Trump\u2019s leadership demonstrate how the Hungarian prime minister\u2019s fall might portend a similar fate for Trumpism in the US midterm elections.<\/p>\n The party of Orb\u00e1n\u2019s rival, P\u00e9ter Magyar, won a two-thirds majority. Along with recent electoral trends in the United States, the results in Hungary signal a victory for democracy and a setback for Trump. Our president has emulated Orb\u00e1n\u2019s transformation of his country from a democracy to an autocracy \u2014 a path Trump is determined to continue pursuing here.<\/p>\n Trump and Orb\u00e1n swindled their way to virtual one-man rule in their respective countries. Both have proceeded to dismantle the very framework of their nations\u2019 democracies, concentrating executive authority, effectively disabling their governments\u2019 system of checks and balances, challenging the judiciary, dominating the lawmakers, engaging in corruption, and limiting freedom of the press. <\/p>\n Both men\u2019s demonstrated disdain for democracy allied them with Russia and Vladimir Putin,<\/a> whose values they share. Whether Hungary\u2019s rejection of Orb\u00e1n represents a turning point for the European Union and the United States remains to be seen, but the implications for the future of democracy are clearly favorable.<\/p>\n Roger Hirschberg<\/p>\n South Burlington, Vt. <\/p>\n Re \u201cLessons from Hungary for the midterms and beyond\u201d: Nearly 80 percent<\/a> of Hungarian voters turned out<\/a> to defeat Viktor Orb\u00e1n. In the United States we are lucky if we top 60 percent<\/a> for a presidential election, and at midterms turnout is 20 percentage points lower. <\/p>\n What\u2019s wrong with this picture?<\/p>\n Steven Artigas<\/p>\n Westerly, R.I. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Orb\u00e1n rival\u2019s message of courage should take root here John Shattuck, president emeritus of Central European University, offers…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":589364,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[23,2420,9174,462,3,4265,20724,111,3479,21,19,22,20,25,24,2002],"class_list":["post-589363","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-states","tag-america","tag-government","tag-hungary","tag-maga","tag-news","tag-north-america","tag-political","tag-politics","tag-trump","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa","tag-washington"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/589363","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=589363"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/589363\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/589364"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=589363"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=589363"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=589363"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}