I decided the time was right to put down a marker on the early stages of Donald Trump’s administration. To do so, so early, was prompted by several factors. First and foremost, it was the fact that his administration is one month old, and I am constantly reminded that one of Trump’s heroes and models, Adolf Hitler, took only 53 days to totally demolish a democratic Germany in the 1930s and replace it with a dictatorship; that’s two months, and Trump is halfway there.
The second prompt, which exemplifies the tone and competence of his administration, and their total adoption of his whims and goals, was the naïve arrogance and myopic incompetence of his lieutenants with their speeches in Europe this past week. (I can think of no better way of describing the pronouncements of Vice-President Vance and Secretary of Defense Hegseth). Not only did they upend American foreign policy towards Europe in a way not seen in decades, if ever, they completely sold-out Ukraine without Putin having to do anything – he must be laughing all the way to the bank!
All of that deserves a marker in the U.S.’ rapid decline into Dictator Trump’s world and goals. As I said in a blog last week, “53 days, and we’re at 27 and counting”.
If you need anything else to convince you that Trump will actually do what he has indicated all along, namely, that his plan to stay out of goal for the rest of his life and copycat/cultivate his heroes, including Putin, Xi and Orban and McKinley, just look at his role in revoking the indictment of New York’s Mayor this week. If that’s not a clear indication of how he will react to any judge’s decision against him, or any legal restraint for that matter, I don’t know what is.
I listened last evening to two “experts” on PBS television, who among other things reacted to an audience question about the direction of Trump’s goals. They had to be pushed to give a solid answer and then they said, “it will result in a constitutional crisis if he disregards the courts’ decisions.” Given all the evidence, for god sake, CALL A SPADE AND SPADE. It’s not just a constitutional crisis, which sounds so academic and detached that most of the electorate won’t understand or care, IT IS A TOTAL TAKEOVER OF DEMOCRATIC AMERICA BY A WANABEE DICTATOR…AND HE’S GETTING AWAY WITH IT BECAUSE NO-ONE IS STANDING UP TO BE COUNTED, INCLUDING CONGRESS AND THE PRESS.
I understand that the Democrats have plans to let the courts do their work while they, the Democrats, plot to regain the House and the Senate in the mid-term elections, but that’s 18 months away – that gives Trump has 16 months to consolidate his dictatorship, even on Hitler’s schedule. By that time, there may not be a Congress or a free press.
WE NEED PEOPLE TO BE SCREAMING FROM THE ROOFTOPS NOW AS WELL AS PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE.
If we don’t have some people with backbones to do that, all the planning in the world may well be redundant by the time the mid-term elections roll around, even if Trump hasn’t decided by then that all elections are a waste of time and money, and cancels them. That’s what dictators do.
As for the statements in Europe this week, I still can’t think of a better way of describing them than “naively arrogant and myopically incompetent”. Putin’s goal has always been the recreation of the USSR and, better, the recreation of the Tsarist Russian Empire…and possibly even expanding that. As I said, he must be laughing all the way to the bank after last week. He is now in the driving seat going forward. He has gained a major part of what he wants without giving up anything, or even doing anything. Look out Poland, the Baltic states and even the rest of Europe. AND, don’t forget, Xi watching all this closely as he plans when to invade Taiwan and the rest of the South China Sea – naïve arrogance and myopic incompetence.
I won’t even mention the personally-self-centered vision of Trump saying he will take over Gaza and turn it into a Trump Resort. It’s the same naïve arrogance and myopic incompetence/stupidity that his lieutenants’ mimicked in Europe this week.
ON FURTHER THOUGHT, THIS IS NOT JUST A MARKER, IT IS A CRY FOR HELP TO SOME AMERICAN HERO WHO CAN STAND UP AND BE COUNTED. THERE MUST BE SOME-SUCH PERSON SOMEWHERE IN A NATION OF 350 MILLION WHO IS WILLING TO MAKE THAT SACRIFICE TO SAVE THE NATION.
