The Dictatorship is Here

It seems like a lot longer, but it's only been slightly more than a week since Trump once again took over the reins of government. The recurring theme from the rare Trumpist that I hear from is how much he has done in a short period of time, sometimes comparing his "accomplishments" to Biden's supposed lack of them. But exactly what has he accomplished?

If you measure "accomplishment" by the number of pieces of paper that he has signed, then he can definitely be crowned the most accomplished president ever, accomplishment the likes of which the world has never seen. But is that what is happening?

Speed was not the priority for the people who wrote the Constitution. They purposely built in institutions that demanded consensus to move forward, different institutions that were to serve as checks and balances, or even roadblocks to the others. They were very clear about not empowering a king-like figure and specifically created a Congress that was entrusted with the responsibility to enact laws and a court system whose job was to interpret them. The president has not been granted the power to unilaterally enact laws. His powers, according to Article II of the Constitution, are:

• To be Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces (although Congress has the exclusive power to declare war)
• To make treaties with foreign governments (with the concurrence of 2/3 of the Senate)
• Appoint Supreme Court Justices as well as various other officials
• Grant pardons
• Faithfully execute the law

It could be argued that some of his Executive Orders (EO's) involve executing laws that are on the books but not enforced, but most involve Trump taking unilateral action to carry out his own priorities, whether they are in the best interests of the nation or not. And "his own priorities" overwhelmingly involve retribution and revenge against those individuals and institutions that he believes have wronged him, without anything that can even charitably interpreted as being in the best interests of the people of the United States. 

There's a lot of cheering from the Trumpists about the immediate ICE raids and deportations, and supposedly the first targets for deportation are the undocumented criminal gangs. Who could argue against ridding the nation of those kind of people? But when they raid workplaces, schools, and neighborhoods, who are they likely to round up? Not gang members, but mothers and fathers working hard to provide for their families, paying taxes and contributing to their communities. Many of those are actually here legally as part of various path-to-citizenship programs that have been unilaterally cancelled by Trump's EO's. So why are these places getting raided? Because they are here as part of a government sanctioned program, ICE knows where they are. 

There are EO's firing Justice Department investigators who were part of Special Counsel Jack Smith's prosecutions. There are EO's suspending anyone in government even remotely connected to DEI initiatives. There are EO's removing protective details from former government officials who have received credible death threats, who "coincidently" have spoken up in opposition to Trump. There are EO's cancelling all government hiring. There are EO's cancelling all government grants. There are EO's removing civil service protections from senior and policy officials in the federal workforce. There is an EO to unilaterally invalidate part of the Constitution. Of course, the most insidious action of all, pardoning those who took part in the January 6th attack on the Capitol.  

Executive Orders have become more and more widespread over the last few administrations as Congressional gridlock has become the norm. But these actions by Trump indicate that he doesn't even want to pretend to wait for Congressional action, but is unilaterally pushing ahead. In fact, he threatens to end the careers of anyone in Congress who doesn't vote his way one hundred percent of the time. And the Republicans in Congress largely look like they are complying. 

Our government is not slowly becoming a dictatorship, it already is. 

Day One Dictator

One of the things that irritate me about the Trump Cult is their dismissal of our opposition to their leader as "Orange Man Bad" or our feelings are hurt about "Mean Tweets". That and the invention of "Trump Derangement Syndrome" as if every day some other Trumpian outrage doesn't present itself as a reason to oppose him. During the 2020 campaign Trump said, in an attempt to debunk the claims that he would govern as a dictator, that he would "only" be a dictator on Day One. Well, Day One has come and gone and the dictatorial groundwork has been laid.

The way that government action is supposed to work is that Congress passes bills and the president, after signing the bill making it law, executes and enforces the law through the various executive agencies. However, in recent years, especially if Congress and the president are of different parties, little gets done. The solution for breaking the gridlock is executive orders (EO's). Some EO's are simply communications of a president's policies, others are treated as replacements for laws. But they do not have the force of law and can be reversed without ceremony by the next president. EO's have multiplied in frequency over the last several administrations - and this is not a good thing, despite the temptation to applaud "something getting done". Trump issued a pile of EO's on his first day back in office, as well as pardons and commutations. Some of them were innocuous, or plain ridiculous, but some were an in-your-face power grab to "own the libs" and still others were unconstitutional or illegal. 

The complete list, with links to the actual text of the EO's can be found here.

In the ridiculous column is the EO to rename the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America. Reverting Denali's name to Mount McKinley seems to me more of an insult to Alaska natives - a typical petty Trump move.

One of the most egregious, albeit unsurprising, is the pardon of virtually all the participants in the January 6th attack on The Capitol. Not only did he escape accountability for his own role in that day, but members of a violent mob, whose goal was to stop the certification of electoral votes in order to overturn an election, has had their records wiped clean. Any pending cases have been dropped by the Justice Department. (* Some of the participants had their sentences commuted without receiving pardons). Even on the day of his inauguration Trump was still lying about the 2020 election being rigged and stolen from him. 

The EO to nullify the birthright citizenship clause of the 14th Amendment is unprecedented. Trump has griped for years about children of undocumented immigrants becoming citizens from birth. But there is a process for changing the Constitution - and it's not an easy path. What scares me about this one is that it will ultimately end up before the Supreme Court, a court that has, despite its claim to be originalist/textualist, had no problem overturning precedent or reinterpreted the Constitution in new ways. But even if implementation is stymied, the very fact that he is attempting to nullify the Constitution by fiat is dictatorial by definition.  

There are several EO's with overlapping requirements. "Clarifying" the military's role on the southern border; designating drug cartels as terrorist organizations; "securing our borders"; declaring a "national emergency at the southern border" and "realigning" the US refugee program. Taken together Trump means, by way of classifying the drug cartels' as foreign invaders, and illegal immigration as a national security threat, to illegally use the military for domestic law enforcement. Immigration is a complex issue. Congress couldn't get it's act together for three years of Biden's term, and when they did come up with a bipartisan plan, Trump demanded that they kill it. Biden put too much faith in Congress' ability to do its job and waiting until illegal crossings were at record levels before taking executive action. The action that he did take resulted in current level being the lowest in years - it's in this climate that Trump wants to militarize border security. 

The delay of the TikTok ban may seem inconsequential, but it's another example of dictatorial tendencies. Whether you agree with the ban or not, it was passed according to how laws are supposed to be passed. Congress overwhelmingly voted to ban it if it were not sold to someone outside of China. The president signed it. There was a legal challenge. The end result was that the Supreme Court (whatever you think of them) affirmed that the law did not violate the Constitution. Executive orders can be reversed by the next president with the stroke of a pen - laws can not. This EO sends the message that Trump believes that he is above the law. 

Some of the EO's are in the "own the libs", culture war category. Ending DEI hiring and programs in the federal government; withdrawing us from the Paris Climate Agreement and World Health Organization; and a slap at transgender people by defining gender as only male or female and constraining anyone from claiming anything other than their sex at birth. These EO's are not only a direct attack on transgender and non-binary people, but a claim to "Make America White (and male, and Christian) Again". 

Sucking up to the oil companies are a feature of several EO's. Declaring a "national energy emergency"; withdrawal of permission for offshore wind farm leases; opening up previously off-limits areas for oil drilling, including in Alaska; ending a non-existent electric vehicle mandate.

Trump's paranoia about a so-called Deep State fuel several EO's regarding government agencies. Withdrawing security clearances from intelligence officials whose conclusions were at odds with Trump; specifically withdrawing John Bolton's security clearance;  making it easier to fire senior agency officials; making it easier to fire "policy influence" federal employees; and freezing new regulations. 

While he's rescinding security clearances, another EO waives the background check necessary for unnamed officials who have not yet received theirs.

Other EO's include reevaluating foreign aid (about the only marginally sane one in the bunch); promoting "beautiful federal architecture"; rerouting water from one part of California to another; putting "America First" in various aspects of government (as if that doesn't already happen - but Trump has his own unique definitions). 

He's pulling us out of a "Global Tax Deal" whereby multinational companies were prevented from hiding their profits in low tax havens to avoid taxes. Something I'm sure his billionaire buddies suggested. 

There had been a lot of chatter about the "Department of Government Efficiency" (DOGE) and whether it existed or could be created by fiat. What the DOGE EO does is take an existing organization, the United States Digital Service and renaming it The Department of Government Efficiency. Within this renamed service will be the actual DOGE. Within each agency there will be "DOGE Teams" tasked with identifying ways of cutting expenses. 

There's an EO supposedly ending government censorship and restoring freedom of speech. 

Finally, there's an EO directing all agencies to deliver "emergency price relief", whatever that is. The EO claims that President Biden's policies cost the average household $50,000 and Trump's first term policies saved $11,000. (A year? Over 4 years? What is this based on?)

I read every single one of these executive orders. (I did not however read the Biden EO's that he rescinded, so I do not know what was taken away. I have read that one of them was the Biden EO allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices) I am very skeptical that Trump understands the words in them. Most of them are most charitably described as aspirational, and don't accomplish much on their own. Several of them are dictatorial and unconstitutional. Others are aimed at punching down on underserved and vulnerable members of our society. Still others are gifts to his wealthy donors. Some EO's are just nonsensical. It's plain that unlike in his first term, he had a team thinking things through so he could hit the ground running. I'm still of the opinion that he is ignorant and incompetent, but it's obvious he has hired and appointed competent people this time around. 

American Voters Are Stupid

I apologize in advance if you are in fact an American voter and aren't stupid, but if you aren't stupid, you're part of a small minority. The odds are that if you are an American voter you're stupid. What brings me to this conclusion? Are you aware of the election results?

When I say that voters are stupid, I'm not just saying that because I disagree with the results, no I have come to this conclusion because an even cursory review of a candidate's policies often indicate the impossibility of carrying out those policies.

Mainly, but not exclusively, I'm talking about Trump voters. Since he has been out of office he has been held liable for sexual assault (rape, but not falling under the strict New York statutory definition of "rape"), has been convicted of felony falsification of business records with the intention of covering up a bribe intended to influence an election, and has been indicted for unlawfully retaining government records, obstructing justice relating to his refusal to return those records, attempting to pressure Georgia officials to falsify election results, and the big one, an indictment in federal court for his scheme to overturn the results of the 2020 election. But, "I think he's the best one for the job", a Trumper might say. Even if you believe that under a Trump presidency inflation will disappear, the border will be secure and all will be right with the world, is there anything in those hopes and dreams that any other Republican couldn't accomplish? Trump had challengers in last year's Republican primaries. Conservatives could have had Nikki Haley, who despite being derided as "birdbrain" would have governed as a conservative, without the incompetence and ego stroking that we will surely see under Trump. Even that socially awkward dipshit, Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, has proved that he could advance a MAGA agenda in his state. I would have opposed him, but he at least would have been reasonably competent. Anyone who is an actual conservative could govern according to conservative principles without the baggage that Trump brings to the table. 

One of the hallmarks of the stupidity of the American electorate is its reduction of politics to the level of rooting for one's favorite sports team. Support for your team doesn't have to be rational. Although I don't follow sports of any kind any longer, I grew up rooting for the NY Mets and still have a Mets hat that I wear often. I didn't root for them because I admired their philosophy of baseball, or thought they were all good, Christian boys, who loved their mothers, or even that they were any good (I was 11 years old when they stopped being terrible) but...just because. I wanted them to win no matter what. For the typical American voter the political parties are like rival baseball teams. They want their "team" to win, and they want to humiliate their rivals. The phenomenon of the Trump cult is only the most extreme manifestation of this trend. 

Having become rabid loyalists, American voters, even if they concede that their own team isn't perfect, will believe the most bizarre characterizations of the other side. Here in Nebraska statewide elections usually lean 60-40% in favor of Republicans. And it doesn't matter who the Republican is. The last election saw an unqualified pig farming veterinarian, who refused interviews, town halls in unfriendly areas and debates, get elected. We had no idea what he stood for, except apparently guns, based on his campaign ads. He beat out two other Republicans in the primary because one was credibly accused of sexual harassment and the other of being a liberal. Once advancing to the general election, 60% of Nebraska will reliably vote for a ham sandwich if there's an "R" next to it on the ballot. Why, because 60% of  Nebraskans believe the characterization that all Democrats are Communists who want to take our guns, force our children to undergo sex changes during gym class, want open borders and outlaw Christianity. Policies don't matter, even if anyone could understand them. 

Not all voters are on a team. Some enjoy their status as swing voters. These people like to believe that they vote for the person and not the party. But they're as stupid as any of the slavering partisans. The most common reason that voters who were undecided gave for eventually voting for Trump was the economy. In particular, the fact that there was high inflation for part of Biden's term and low inflation during the Trump years was given as a prime reason for voting for Trump. Trump also promised in his campaign to not only get inflation under control, but to actually lower prices to pre-2020 levels. Anyone who wasn't stupid would recognize that presidents have little control or influence over prices. There were numerous reasons for the high inflation of 2021 and 2022 - supply chain disruptions after Covid, increased wages due to low unemployment and good old corporate greed. Anyone who wasn't stupid would also realize that Trump's campaign promises were applause lines that he had no intention of delivering on. Even if there were actions that he could take to lower prices or control inflation, he's too lazy and doesn't care enough about anyone other than himself to look into ways to get it done. He admitted a few weeks ago that he couldn't lower prices. Pick any Trump campaign promise at random and you'll find that it's either impossible to make happen or the consequences of the policy to fix the problem are worse than the problem. Or you would, assuming you're not stupid. 

Where do these stupid people get their information from? Not from organizations staffed with professionals who have the know-how and access to find out what the facts are in a given situation. Not from fact-checkers who investigate public statements of politicians and assiduously research their claims and compare them to actual facts? No, these stupid people distrust everything that major media sources have to say, not because they have evidence to debunk them, but just because. Instead they get their information from podcasters and social media accounts who traffic in conspiracy theories and batshit crazy ideas. Not only get their information there, but swear by it. It's part of why they stay stupid. 

I have no expectation that the stupid ones will become less stupid, all I can do is be less stupid myself.

Campaign Promises? What Campaign Promises?

Tomorrow is Inauguration Day. The unqualified lunatic who was defeated in 2020 after botching the Covid response, somehow convinced just under 50% of voters that he was best qualified to lead the nation for the next four years. He's going to take the Oath of Office that he has no intention of honoring, and will spend the next 1461 days stoking his own ego, insulting not only his opponents, but his friends and supporters who aren't sufficiently obsequious, and trying to make money from his perch in the Oval Office. 

He made a lot of promises on the campaign trail, in between court appearances. It's a testament to his ability as a con man that he was able to convince so many people that he had the power to affect things that no president has the power to affect, or that he cared enough to make the effort, or had the attention span required to follow through on anything he said at his rallies. 

One of the complaints about the Biden administration from people who might have been expected to vote Democratic was Biden's support for Israel's war in Gaza, characterized as genocide by many. Did anyone seriously think that a Trump administration would be any more kindly disposed toward Palestinians? President Biden's team has been working with Hamas and Israel to broker a cease fire and a return of the surviving hostages, while at the same time providing Israel with the very weapons they have been using to prosecute the war. Trump threatened that "all Hell will break out" if Gaza does not return the hostages by Inauguration Day. A deal has been agreed upon the day before the inauguration, with Trump claiming that his remarks somehow incentivized Hamas to accept the agreement. While I'm glad that Israel will, at least temporarily, stop bombing Gaza back into the Stone Age, and the surviving hostages will go home, what "Hell" does Trump think is worse than what Israel has been inflicting upon Gaza for over a year? Does he think that Hamas will stop calling for the eradication of the State of Israel? That Israel will stop attempting to absorb Palestinian land in the occupied territories and treating Palestinians as second class citizens? It will give him an opportunity to claim credit for a "deal" that he had nothing to do with, but that changes nothing. 

What about illegal immigration? There's no doubt that our immigration system is broken. It's not arguable that President Biden waited too long to take action due to his misguided belief that Congress would come together and address the problem with legislation. Trump promised to deport every person who is here illegally. Even if he does this, it doesn't solve the problem: that there are millions of people who are desperate to escape the situations in their home countries and our immigration and asylum system is not equipped to handle the demand. Deport them all and others will replace them. Meanwhile our economy will be disrupted because most of these people are working and contributing to the economy and paying taxes. My prediction is that there will be some high profile raids, arrests and deportations, causing fear and chaos, but when the dust settles nothing will change. 

Ending the war in Ukraine? Other "deal" that Trump thinks he can make. His initial promise was to end it "within 24 hours", even before he took office. That hasn't happened. About the only way he can force an end to the war is to totally cut off U.S. aid to Ukraine, and even then, the European NATO nations may step up to fill in the gap. Zelensky isn't going to negotiate away part of his country, with the specter of Putin coming back for more after he has a few years to regroup. Putin's not going to back down, because how's that going to look for him if he accepts a "deal" that is essentially a loss for him? Remember that the goal was to incorporate Ukraine into Russia. 

I don't think I even need to dwell on the impossibility of lowering grocery prices - he's already admitted he can't do it. 

About the only campaign promise that I believe he has any intention of following through on is retribution against his perceived enemies. At least opening investigations against them. Of course he'll have compliant allies in Congress who will be investigating the investigations. The Congressional investigations will be little more than a toothless annoyance. There was a "weaponization of the government" committee, that made Gym Jordan a household name, but accomplished nothing other than making the right wing believe that Hunter Biden was important. Pam Bondi and Kash Patel have made statements indicating that they will be "going after" many Trump opponents, although no mention of what laws they are suspected of breaking. 

For most Trump supporters it doesn't matter whether he follows through on his campaign rhetoric, as long as he's in charge. It doesn't matter what he does or doesn't do, because by definition, he's right. That's how cults work. 

Surprised At Unequal Justice?

So Donald Trump was finally sentenced for his conviction on 34 counts of falsifying business records in New York State. But since he would be inaugurated as President of United States ten days after the sentencing, there would be no consequenses...at all. The sentence of "unconditional release" means no prison time, no probation, no restrictions, no conditions at all. Trump was whining on his social media site Truth Social that this someone meant that he was innocent...just another example of his ignorance on so many fronts. His conviction on these 34 counts (which were really piling on, since each of the counts traced back to the same crime: falsifying records in order to influence voters in the 2016 election - it was a separate count for each ledger entry, each check, each memo) were just one of the indictments. He was indicted by a Georgia State grand jury for his attempt to "find" enough votes to flip the states electoral votes to him. It's unlikely that this case will ever proceed since the prosecutor was banned from continuing with the case. Of the two federal indictments, one was for retaining federal documents and refusing to return them. The judge in the case dismissed the charges on the grounds that the position of Special Counsel was unconstitutional, despite there having been several Special Counsel appointments, at least one of which was confirmed as legal. The other federal indictment was for election interference for his actions not only for inciting the January 6th Insurrection, but for the numerous other actions he took to overturn the election results in 2020 and in January 2021. This case was delayed while the Supreme Court mulled over the concept of presidential immunity. Both the federal cases were effectively moot when Trump was re-elected - Department of Justice policy is such that the president cannot be prosecuted for anything while in office. The delays ran out the clock. 

Anyone who is surprised at this isn't paying attention.

There's several factors involved. His cultish following and compliant judges with novel interpretations of law, certainly. But the fact that someone with a lot of money to spend and/or with powerful connections can avoid or delay consequences for their actions is nothing new. Look at the whole concept of cash bail. In some jurisdictions people accused of crimes spend months, if not years sitting in a jail cell waiting for their trial. Not because this is what happens to everyone, but because many people have no financial resources and cannot afford even the most insignificant level of bail. Many will plead guilty just to get released. Meanwhile they've lost their job and have a criminal conviction on their record and have trouble getting a new job. But if you have a few million or billion in the bank, bail is seldom going to be a problem. 

Access to lawyers is another obstacle to equal justice. How many people who are reading this article have a lawyer? I have used a lawyer a couple of times in my life, but I don't have one in my smartphone contacts (I almost typed "speed dial"). If I was arrested I would need to use my one phone call to call my wife or other family member and ask them to Google "criminal lawyers in Lincoln NE". And I'm not poor. Even so, I would quickly drain my bank and retirement accounts to pay for any kind of defense. This doesn't just apply in criminal cases. Bringing suit in civil court is expensive. An ordinary person trying to sue a big company or a wealthy individual soon finds out how expensive delays can be. This is how people like Trump are able to avoid paying contractors - they don't have the resources to outlast the myriad delaying tactics. The delaying motions don't even have to be reasonable, but unless they're completely frivolous the judge has to consider them, and eventually the plaintiff runs out of money. Of course there is pro bono attorneys and public defenders exist of course, but many of them have such large case loads that they are no match for the gold-plated lawyers that billionaires have on retainer. 

Trump's escape from any consequences for his actions shine a spotlight on a problem with our legal system., but it's not new. And in nine days he will be in charge of the federal law enforcement apparatus, and has promised to use it to go after those he perceives as his enemies. Maybe it's just bluster, crazy talk to gin up support from his rabid base. But is that better? Marginally. 

But just the threat of retribution has inspired some to comply in advance. 

A Distraction, Or Just Batshit Craziness?

There's a lot of opinions going around on what Trump's plans are. Or if there are plans. Whether his talk about acquiring Greenland, Canada and the Panama Canal is real, or just a distraction from some other nefarious scheme. 

There's two streams of politicking going on, and only one has anything to do with Trump. There's no doubt that the Republican Party has become less and less democratic, less genuinely representative, over the last decade or so. It doesn't take too much Googling to uncover plots by Republicans to keep themselves in power in state legislatures even when the majority of voters choose Democrats for statewide office; lawsuits to throw out thousands of votes when it looks like a Democrat will win; frivolous challenges to elections only when Democrats win. Mitch McConnell and his allies have been working on turning the federal judiciary into an arm of the Republican Party for as long as he's been in office. The Republican Party has abandoned any pretense of working for the good of all Americans and his intent on using their hold on power to do two things (1) Further enrich the ultra-wealthy among them and (2) Play upon the ignorance and bigotry of a significant percentage of the electorate to turn back the clock and erase people's hard-won rights. The cabal behind Project 2025 and similar lines of thought see Trump as an easily manipulated vehicle to put their plans into action. They'd be there and pushing their agenda no matter what Republican was in office.

Trump on the other hand cares only about himself. He allies himself with the far right only insofar as it feeds his ego and grows his bank account. Everything that he does is to shine a spotlight on him. He doesn't care about this country or its people. He takes no time to educate himself about the myriad issues that he is entrusted with overseeing. He doesn't even take care to install people with the necessary expertise into positions that affect millions of people here and abroad. His picks for high ranking positions are nothing more than a "screw you" to those he perceives as "enemies within". So does all his talk about annexing other countries, exacting retribution on his political enemies, or slashing one third of the federal budget  mean anything? 

The statements that he's been making are dangerous. They're dangerous if he means it. These other countries aren't going to sit by idly as we try to take them over. What will that do to the system of international alliances? We just got done with an ultimately useless intervention in Afghanistan, does the country want another war? Already? What if it's just talk? On many occasions in his first term and during the last four years Trump made outrageous statements, but then, when challenged about them, he claimed he was "joking", or being sarcastic (think about the whole injecting disinfectant debacle). Is this what we want the president to be doing? Talking nonsense about serious issues? Either way he's going to be doing things that are incredibly disruptive to the country, or he's joking about doing things that are incredibly disruptive to the country. I guess joking is marginally better than carrying them out. 

I've written a lot about Trumpism being a cult. Many people justified their vote for Trump as voting for economic stability, including low prices. He's already abandoned that "promise" and he isn't even in office yet. Some of his advisors are even now backing off the campaign rhetoric about deporting millions of people, "clarifying" that they're prioritizing deporting criminal illegals...which we're already doing. Not to mention expanding programs that will bring in more immigrants to fill jobs that theoretically would go to Americans. He'll break every one of his promises, but his cult will still love him. 

The best that we can hope for is that his mental decline and overall incompetence, paired with Republican Congressional infighting and unseriousness, will result in a four-year gridlock.