Is the world's best democracy "sliding towards autocracy"?
It certainly seems so....
Since embarking on his second term less than three months ago, President Trump has been working hard to defy conventions and remove restrictions on his authority. So far his administration has
- jailed protesters without due process;
- sought to stifle free speech on college campuses;
- withheld federal business from law firms considered hostile;
- replaced senior generals with more ideologically friendly replacements
- and fired military lawyers.
A couple of weeks ago, Trump invoked a wartime power to deport 238 Venezuelan migrants to a brutal Salvadoran jail, in defiance of an oral order by a judge. Trump labeled the judge "a radical Left lunatic" and demanded his impeachment, prompting a rare rebuke from Chief Justice John Roberts. David Frum, a vociferous ex-Bush speechwriter, believes Trump is stress-testing the constitution with deliberately illegal actions, risking that system is "too broken to stop him".
Trump has thus put loyalists in charge of what Russians call the "power ministries" – the police, the military and the intelligence services – and Republicans in Congress are either with him or too afraid to antagonize his base. Almost none of them had the courage to protest when Trump vindictively stripped security clearance from his former aide John Bolton, even though he appears on an Iranian death list. Nor have they challenged the chaotic agenda of his efficiency tsar Elon Musk.
America’s voters would once have baulked at this “strongmanism”, but polls suggest Trump still enjoys considerable support. What we’re witnessing today in America is “not so much a political revolution as a cultural collapse”.
Whether Trump can maintain this is unclear. The Maga faithful feel they have "much to celebrate" at present. Illegal crossings on the border are significantly down; Europe is having to pay more for its defense; the "Washington Blob" is taking a kicking.
Final thoughts...
Trump is having an easy time of it to date, but he may be undermined by the economy....As the economic effects of Trump's trade wars work through, the mood may shift. US shares have already decreased, and Republicans have been catcalled at town hall meetings by angry voters.
Posted Using INLEO
Spot on. This is the most startling part of the Trump phenomenon for me, as a citizen of the U.S. People elected him, knowing who he was. Knowing what he promised. For some reason, many people in my country want a strongman. They fear change--cultural, demographic--more than they fear losing the legacy of democracy. They fear the 'other side', however they perceive that, more than they fear losing their own liberty.
They have to first get visited in their homes late at night because of an errant social post. Or they have to experience a family member being arrested and held without explanation before they realize what they have given up. They don't grasp what due process means to them, personally. They are willing to see it stripped from others, and never suspect that action also applies to themselves.
Scary times.
People never think that bad shit'll happen to them. It is scary. Too many people with too little to lose.
In waiting? He seems to be quite active at it.
If yesterday’s massive nationwide protests (all but ignored by the mainstream media here) are any indication, I would not be surprised if later in the summer we got to a revolutionary crisis at least on the scale of 1968, maybe even more.
Yes fair enough maybe it is a little more advanced!
He's gone straight in on trying to take over everything and is not meeting enough resistance. It looks like plenty of people turned out yesterday, but the Dems need to get more vocal. Of course we see different coverage in the UK. There was a lot about the protests on Mastodon, but I didn't see much on Hive. I do think Hive leans right a bit, but most people will not be extremists.
Would you travel to the US right now? I wouldn't.
You can come visit. He's only deporting the brown people
It seems that anyone can be detained at the border, so I won't chance it.
I wouldn't be happy going to the States, no! Maybe the tied will turn when the economy truly tanks, that's what usually gets most people!
We must embrace democracy.
He certainly does seem to be trying to install himself as Dictator.. I believe the will be several attempts on his life during this stretch.. and when the impact from the tariff kick it.. it will be to late.. the damage will already be done.
Murica
I can really just see America tearing itself apart at this rate!
We're already divided from the last time he was president..
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May you live in interesting times.
I give him 12 months
We'd be better off without him for sure!
yup