看透為何川普能在民主美國遂行獨裁與人民如何抗爭…篇幅很長但值得一讀（下接英文原文）。希望台灣沒有類似危機…

【來自美國康州參議員Chris Murphy的一封信：川普的獨裁藍圖正在上演】

川普試圖將我們的民主體制轉變為威權統治的計畫是真實存在的，我希望與大家說清楚他是如何一步步實現這個目標，因為這場危機已經正在發生。

川普正在對維繫政府對人民負責的制度發動一場陰險且有計劃的攻擊，目的是在明年秋天之前摧毀民主制度。MAGA（讓美國再次偉大運動）已經放棄了民主。我希望事實不是這樣，但它確實是。他們寧可永遠掌權，也不願參與一次民主黨可能勝出的公平選舉。

終結民主是他們掩蓋眼前所發生的大規模貪污與盜竊的前提條件。一個真正的民主體制，會讓川普為他的各項腐敗行為負責——包括川普的加密貨幣、內線交易，以及馬斯克的自肥行為等等。

有些人期待川普與最高法院之間會出現某種攸關全局的正面衝突，他們認為那會是一場五級火警級別的警訊。有人認為這已經在阿布雷戈·賈西亞（Abrego Garcia）案中發生了，因為川普無視最高法院的裁決。別誤會——對於這些人被強行帶走，我感到非常憤怒。我很早就在哥倫比亞大學研究生被未經正當程序拘留時公開反對這種做法。這就是那些小國獨裁政權才會出現的現象。

但與最高法院的對抗並不是最終目標。現代摧毀民主的方式，不再是政變、焚毀國會，或是公開對抗司法機構，而是一種經過實證的漸進式戰略。

這是一場緩慢而有條不紊的行動，目的是削弱所有能讓政治反對派贏得選舉的問責制度。這正是普丁在俄羅斯、奧班在匈牙利，以及艾爾段在土耳其所採用的策略，而川普如今也正在我們眼前如法炮製。

以下是這套計畫的運作方式：

要素一：正當化政治暴力，使批評者噤聲。
這就是赦免 1 月 6 日參與暴亂者的意圖。本週，共和黨參議員麗莎·穆考斯基（Lisa Murkowski）公開表示她擔心自己會遭到「報復」。這種氛圍令人不寒而慄。

要素二：噤聲媒體。
川普以兩種方式操作這點。首先，他拉攏媒體和資訊平台的擁有者（如貝佐斯、祖克柏、馬斯克等）。對於不配合者，他則進行騷擾。這就是美聯社因拒絕使用「美洲灣（Gulf of America）」一詞而受到壓力，或是聯邦通訊委員會（FCC）針對 CBS 等廣播公司的調查事件的由來。

要素三：噤聲法律守護者。
在自由社會中，律師是我們權利的守門人。若律師被噤聲，獨裁者便能更輕易踐踏人民的權利。川普正迫使大型律師事務所簽署類似效忠誓言的文件，來實現這個目標。

要素四：噤聲大學。
有兩件會威脅他們權力的事情發生在大學校園：青年抗爭，以及對客觀真理的堅守。這兩樣在威權體制下都是不被容許的。因此，川普非法發動行動，強迫大學壓制異議，否則就面臨懲罰。

要素五：噤聲私人企業。
關稅是川普施壓企業的手段，目的是迫使所有商業行為與他保持良好關係，以換取其政權的「寬恕」，並停止公開反對。此外，藉由扣留聯邦資金迫使非營利組織噤聲。

要素六：切斷反對勢力的資金來源。
像奧班這樣的獨裁者會讓反對黨存在，但卻讓他們無法獲得資金。川普正試圖關閉那些反對其政策的非營利與募資機構。他們正鎖定 ActBlue，因為他們知道我們這一方的競選資金主要來自像你這樣的小額捐款者，而不是億萬富翁或企業資金。

這一切發生得太快了，以至於公眾很難看出這些行動其實是同一個計畫的一部分。但它確實是。

他們不需要完全摧毀媒體、律師、大學與反對派機構，這個計畫就能奏效。他們只需要將這些機構削弱到足以讓「問責」無法發揮作用。媒體無法說出足夠的真相；律師無法保護我們的權利；校園抗議消失；反對派資金枯竭。

這就是他們可以進一步推動「假選舉」的方式——那些永遠由政權勝出的選舉。

我知道這一切聽起來像是一場毀滅性的噩夢，但我仍然相信我們能阻止它。以下是我們可以採取的行動：

第一，我們需要團結。
每一組社會機構不能各自為政，讓政權各個擊破。法律界在這方面表現得極其失敗，但大學可以樹立集體反擊並取勝的榜樣。我們現在就看到一些嘗試，例如提出中的「十大學術聯盟（Big Ten Academic Alliance）」。

第二，我們需要群眾動員。
當數十萬人走上街頭反對這類對民主的攻擊時，歷史顯示它是有效的。大規模行動具有一種奇妙的魔力，能讓政權內部的人開始倒戈。公眾壓力是有影響力的。

第三，政治領袖必須承擔風險。
如果領袖們總是在保守行事，那麼普通公民也不會冒險起身行動。

這意味著要每天對政權說出真相，並採取戰術上的風險——例如投票反對共和黨的政府預算案，或抵制國情咨文（如果有足夠多的領袖願意一同參與的話）。

我相信這三項措施結合起來，有機會阻止川普的攻勢。但如果不行，那麼我們就必須開始考慮公民抗命的可能性。這場對話恐怕會比我們大多數人預期得更早到來。

重點是：我們仍然掌握著改變的力量，但我們擁有的時間可能比大多數人想像的要少。

—— 克里斯·墨菲（Chris Murphy）

【英文原文如下】

Donald Trump’s plan to convert our democracy to autocracy is real, and I want to talk through how he’s doing this in real time because the crisis is here now.

Trump is enacting an insidious coordinated attack on the institutions that keep our government accountable to the people, designed to crater democracy before next fall. MAGA has given up on democracy. I wish it weren’t true, but it is. They would rather rule forever than run a fair election where a Democrat might win.

Ending democracy is required to get away with the thievery and corruption happening before us. A true democracy would hold Trump accountable for the mass-scale corruption — Trump’s crypto coin, the insider trading, Musk’s self-dealing, etc.

Some people are looking for some high-stakes confrontation between Trump and the Supreme Court. They think that will be the five-alarm fire moment, and some believe it’s here with Trump defying their ruling on the Abrego Garcia case. Don’t get me wrong — I’m furious about the disappearances, which I spoke out against early when the Columbia grad student was taken without due process. It’s what happens in tin-pot dictatorships.

But a confrontation with the Supreme Court is not the endgame. The modern, time-tested way to destroy a democracy is NOT a coup or burning down the Parliament or a public confrontation with the judiciary.

It’s a slow, methodical campaign to weaken the structures of accountability necessary for the political opposition to win elections. That was the playbook for Putin in Russia, Orbán in Hungary, and Erdoğan in Turkey, and Trump is copying it before our eyes.

Here’s how it works:

ELEMENT 1: They legitimize political violence to keep critics silent.
That’s what the Jan. 6 pardons are about. This week, Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski spoke publicly about her worries of “retaliation.” That is chilling.

ELEMENT 2: They silence the press.
Trump does this in two ways. First, he co-opts the owners of the media and information ecosystems (Bezos, Zuckerberg, Musk, etc.). Those who don’t fall in line get harassed. That’s what’s happening with the AP over their refusal to use “Gulf of America” or FCC investigations into broadcasters like CBS.

ELEMENT 3: They silence protectors of the rule of law.
In free societies, lawyers guard our rights. Despots can more easily trample our rights if the lawyers are silenced. That’s why Trump is forcing the big law firms to sign what amounts to loyalty oaths.

ELEMENT 4: They silence universities.
Two things that threaten their power happen on university campuses: youth protest and the guarding of objective truth. Neither is allowed in an autocracy. Thus, Trump’s illegal campaign to force campuses to crush dissent or be punished.

ELEMENT 5: They silence the private sector.
The tariffs are a means to force every business to get on Trump’s good side and stop public dissent in exchange for relief from his regime. Withholding of federal funds from non-profits forces these orgs to stay quiet too.

ELEMENT 6: They cut off funding for the opposition.
Autocrats like Orban allow the opposition to exist, but starve it. Trump is moving to shut down non-profits and donor collectives that oppose his policies. They’re also targeting ActBlue because they know a huge source of our opposition’s ability to compete with their billionaire and corporate funding comes from small-dollar donations from people like you.

This is all happening so fast that it’s hard for the public to see it all as part of one plan. But it is.

The press, lawyers, colleges and opposition political groups don’t have to be destroyed for this plan to work. They just have to be weakened enough so the tools of accountability don’t work anymore. The press can’t tell enough truth. The lawyers won’t protect our rights. Campus protests disappear. Opposition funding dries up.

That’s how they can move us to fake elections, where the regime always wins.

I know that sounds like a lot of doom and gloom, but I still believe we can stop it, and here’s how:

First, we need solidarity.
Each set of institutions can’t let the regime pick them off from each other. The legal profession failed miserably at this, but universities can model a collective strategy to fight back and win. We see some people trying that now with the proposed Big Ten Academic Alliance.

Second, we need mass mobilization.
When hundreds of thousands of people rally against this kind of assault on democracy, history shows it works. There is a strange, magic power to mass activation that makes supporters of the regime start to jump ship. The public pressure matters.

Third, political leaders need to take risks.
No citizen will take the risk to mobilize if their leaders are playing it safe. This means speaking daily truth to the regime and taking tactical risks — like voting against the Republican government funding bill or boycotting the State of the Union would have been had enough other leaders joined my efforts.

I believe those three steps, taken together, can arrest Trump’s assault. But if it doesn’t, then we’ll need civil disobedience. This conversation will need to happen sooner than many of us may be comfortable with.

The bottom line is we still have the power, but we probably have less time than most think.

Every best wish,
Chris Murphy