By Irv Randolph
The Philadelphia Tribune
https://www.phillytrib.com/
President Donald Trump is acting increasingly like a dictator yet his unprecedented and unchecked power grab is receiving little resistance from America’s leaders.
Since taking office in January, Trump has taken actions that threaten American democracy and pushes the country closer toward autocracy, — a system in which one leader holds unchecked power.
The Trump administration has threatened the license of broadcasting companies as well as cut funding for the nation’s public broadcasting system for perceived unfair coverage, withheld funding from colleges and universities and forced them to curb protests, unleashed the justice department on political opponents, bullied businesses and universities to change their policies on diversity and deployed the military on American cities to quell protest and combat crime.
As stated in a Philadelphia Tribune editorial:
“In response to protests over immigration raids in Los Angeles, Trump called in the Marines and the National Guard over the objections of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.
Newsome called Trump’s use of the National Guard and Marines to assist with immigration raids in Los Angeles, the start of an “assault” on democracy.
“California may be first, but it clearly will not end here. Other states are next. Democracy is next,” he said.”
Trump has already sent armed National Guard troops to Washington, D.C. to combat crime. He is threatening to send troops to Baltimore, Chicago, New York and other American cities led by Democrats with large African American populations.
The cities that Trump is sending troops into have declining crime rates. He is manufacturing a crisis to expand his power.
The Trump administration is undermining the Posse Comitatus Act, a federal law prohibiting the use of federal military forces for domestic law enforcement purposes, without congressional approval generally for emergencies or for specific tasks such as protecting federal property.
Keep in mind, Trump is the same president that pardoned hundreds of people who assaulted police during the violent Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. His pardons freed those convicted of assaulting officers with flagpoles and hockey sticks.
Trump is curbing free expression by intimidating broadcast news outlets he does not like with threats of revoked licenses and lawsuits. He hampers the coverage of the Associated Press because the wire services did not change its style policy to the administration’s renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.
Trump’s Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is investigating major broadcast outlets – except for Fox News, which is unabashedly pro-Trump.
Trump is threatening the independence of the Federal Reserve by seeking to fire board members so he can wrestle control of its board.
He is undermining the authority of congress.
The administration says it can cancel nearly $5 billion in international aid with or without approval from congress under a little-test theory called a “pocket recession.”
A recent survey of more than 500 political scientists found that the vast majority think the United States is moving swiftly from liberal democracy toward some form of authoritarianism.
“Kim Lane Scheppele, a Princeton sociologist who has spent years tracking Hungary, is also deeply concerned: “We are on a very fast slide into what’s called competitive authoritarianism” reports NPR.
NPR reports: “When these scholars use the term “authoritarianism,” they aren’t talking about a system like China’s, a one-party state with no meaningful elections. Instead, they are referring to something called “competitive authoritarianism,” the kind scholars say they see in countries such as Hungary and Turkey.
In a competitive authoritarian system, a leader comes to power democratically and then erodes the system of checks and balances. Typically, the executive fills the civil service and key appointments — including the prosecutor’s office and judiciary — with loyalists. He or she then attacks the media, universities and nongovernmental organizations to blunt public criticism and tilt the electoral playing field in the ruling party’s favor.”
Billionaire investor Ray Dalio warns the United States is sliding into 1930s-style autocratic politics.
“I think that what is happening now politically and socially is analogous to what happened around the world in the 1930-40 period,” the founder of Bridgewater Associates, one of the world’s largest hedge funds, has told the Financial Times.
Trump is manipulating some Americans deep-seated concerns about crime, illegal immigration and perceived bias and elitism of mainstream media and Ivy League universities to restrict civil liberties.
He uses real concerns about growing antisemitism to curb freedom of speech.
He twists the growing presence of women, Blacks and other minorities in the workplace as an attack on white men.
He plays on grievances and anxieties and keeps Americans divided and distracted.
In exchange for cracking down on crime and illegal immigration and preserving traditional gender roles, too many Americans appear to be willing to obey a strongman and give up their civil liberties.
So far, the courts have been the strongest bulwark against Trump’s expansion of executive power and attempts to curb freedoms.
However, the Supreme Court on Monday cleared the way for federal agents to conduct sweeping immigration operations for now in Los Angeles, the latest victory for Trump’s administration at the high court.
Too many leaders of the Democratic and Republican parties as well as business, education and media leaders have said little or given tepid responses.
More courageous leaders and citizens must speak out against the Trump administration’s unprecedented attack on the rights and liberties of Americans.
Silence is compliance.
Irv Randolph is the managing editor of The Philadelphia Tribune.
