If there is one thing all would-be caudillos love, it is an emergency.
Or a capital-E Emergency, in some cases. In 1975, Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi declared a state of emergency throughout the country—the “emergency” being that her political support was evaporating—and she pursued the sorts of “emergency” measures one would expect: She locked up her political opponents and imposed press censorship, at first simply by cutting electricity to Delhi’s version of Fleet Street, bringing the nation’s presses to a halt.
Kevin D. Williamson is national correspondent at The Dispatch and is based in Virginia. Prior to joining the company in 2022, he spent 15 years as a writer and editor at National Review, worked as the theater critic at the New Criterion, and had a long career in local newspapers. He is also a writer in residence at the Competitive Enterprise Institute. When Kevin is not reporting on the world outside Washington for his Wanderland newsletter, you can find him at the rifle range or reading a book about literally almost anything other than politics.
