Trump’s second term seems to be from the Twilight Zone. Some roads with signs promise new destinations, but they all return to the same place. Our political leaders and opinion makers do not yet recognize that we have almost lost our democracy and must develop a strategy to restore it. Instead, they are fixated on winning the next election by ensuring voters know that Trump and Musk have done something terrible. Nonetheless, in area after area, Trump and Musk are taking actions that will facilitate a dictatorial takeover.
The Democratic Party, the only political party that champions democracy, appears to be unaware of the failure of its strategy to counter authoritarian tactics in the last election. For some reason, the Democratic Party seems to take solace in how close it came to defeating Trump. Many Democrats seem to believe that because the 2024 election was close, with a bit more effort, they will undoubtedly defeat Trump in 2028 (the election he should be exempt from by law). They have lost sight of the fact that in the last election, Democrats had a president, held the Senate, and still lost to an opponent willing to do anything to win. If we are going to restore democracy, we need to determine why we lost and what we must do to stop a fascist movement that is already in control of most of the government and close to taking over the remainder.
Denial of Reality
Everywhere we look, there are examples of politicians and commentators denying the reality surrounding us. Senator Chuck Schumer, the Democratic minority leader, decided to join with Republicans to pass a continuing resolution needed to keep the government open. He argued that permitting the government to close would allow Musk and Trump to choose which agencies to close and which workers to furlough. More importantly, Schumer contended that closing the government would also close the courts and halt lawsuits seeking to prevent Musk and Trump’s alleged illegal actions. Also, Schumer did not want to risk incurring blame from the voters for shutting down the government.
Schumer’s arguments, however, fail to recognize that Trump has already captured the government. Our only chance to save democracy is to mobilize the people as quickly as possible. If Democrats had refused to help Republicans pass the continuing resolution, it could have helped mobilize people by showing a strong opposing party. Nonetheless, Schumer correctly noted that refusing to pass the continuing resolution would not have prevented Trump from acting. There will be other opportunities, perhaps better ones, to mobilize people. Hopefully, Democrats in the Senate will have another leader, as Schumer seems to lack political wisdom.
Will We Have Free and Fair Elections?
The U.S. will hold nationwide elections in 2026 and 2028. Dictators like Putin, Orban, and Maduro all hold elections. The question is, will U.S. elections continue to be free and fair? Trump has already told his voters that they will not have to vote for him again because future elections will not be necessary. In 2020, Trump demonstrated that he does not abide by the outcome of free and fair elections. To ensure that he is the winner, Trump uses voter suppression tactics like (1) purging likely Democratic voters from the registration lists, (2) requiring women to show proof of legally changing their maiden names to their married names, (3) pouring money from wealthy donors into legacy media with paid advertising, and (4) saturating social media with disinformation. Perhaps he uses other means that have not yet been recognized. Cheaters have many methods.
Some investigations of the 2024 election show improbable voting patterns. The Election Truth Alliance has found that Trump’s victory in Nevada’s 88 counties has never been duplicated by a candidate winning with as narrow a margin as Trump's. Now, with the Department of Justice and the FBI run by loyalists to him rather than the Constitution, he has more resources to rig the outcomes of elections. Still, most Democratic politicians and commentators are unwilling to openly discuss how we can try to surmount barriers to free and fair elections. Urging Democratic voters to the polls may not be enough to secure future election victories. We need to inspire people to vote and to vote for democracy. Protests, demonstrations, book clubs, and knocking on doors are all acts that show people that a fascist dictatorship is not normal, and we can fix it through our votes.
Crashing the Economy
Trump is intent on crashing the good economy he inherited from Biden. And from his perspective, this makes sense. He has increased tariffs on all goods from China by 20 percent, on most goods from Mexico and Canada by 25 percent, and on all steel and aluminum from around the world by 20 percent. Canada, Mexico, China, and the European Union have responded with retaliatory increases in tariffs on U.S. goods, especially agricultural goods. Many opinion leaders and commentators seem to know that U.S. taxpayers who buy foreign goods will pay the increased tariffs on U.S. goods. Thus, increased tariffs will reduce the purchasing power of Americans. Less obvious are other implications of these tariffs. Commentators and opinion leaders assume that Trump is ignorant of the effects of tariffs on the economy. However, Trump may want to crash the economy with a recession. Strategist Russell Kirk, a guiding light for many conservatives in the post-war period, argued that a large and prosperous middle class led to political upheaval. In contrast, the absence of a large and prosperous middle class led to political peace. Kirk argued that an affluent upper class would support the status quo while a large and struggling lower class would lack the time and resources to foster change.
Furthermore, economic constraints in the middle class may reduce the ability of the Democratic base to contribute to Democratic campaigns. Trump and Musk have established the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to trim government spending. But it is not operating in a way that will yield actual savings. The only cuts that are substantial enough to affect actual savings are those in Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and Defense. Cuts in those Departments would have enormous consequences for the country’s debt. The real purpose of DOGE is to eliminate jobs critical to the economy, such as air traffic controllers, nuclear safety monitors, and FDA inspectors.
Putin’s Man In Washington
There is irrefutable evidence that since the late 1980s, Trump has received and given favors to Russian government officials. His son Eric has openly admitted that a significant source of income for Trump’s businesses has been Russians. In return, Trump has made real estate available to Russians without the usual pre-tenant investigation. Trump, in 1987, also repeated Russian talking points calling for the U.S. to stop military aid to Japan. In effect, Trump paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in newspaper advertisements calling for the U.S. to dismantle the postwar Western alliance. From what we have seen, Trump is beholden to Russian officials. Senator Jeff Merkley asked two prospective administration officials if Donald Trump was a Russian asset. Merkley raised this question because Trump had given Putin everything Putin could wish for. (Notably, neither the New York Times nor the Washington Post had stories about Merkley’s questions about Trump being an asset.) Whether Trump is a Russian asset or merely a friend of Russian intelligence officials matters in only one aspect. If Trump is an asset, then Putin undoubtedly has some compromising material on him. The Russian playbook for its assets is to obtain material that can be used for blackmail should the asset ever try to quit.
The Courts May Not Save Us
Several groups have filed court cases to reverse or stop DOGE from accessing sensitive data to which it has no right, disrupting government operations, and firing government employees. None of these actions is within the purview of an organization that has not been congressionally mandated. So far, the courts have reason to question the legality of DOGE’s actions in some 50 cases. However, Trump will undoubtedly appeal these lower court rulings to the Supreme Court. And if he is found to have exceeded his authority, he may disobey the Supreme Court. The failure of the Trump administration to fully comply with the lower court rulings in these cases suggests that this is a possibility.
The Trump administration has been even more reluctant to comply with court orders regarding the deportation of undocumented immigrants. In one instance, a judge ordered planes carrying deportees to a prison in El Salvador to either return or not take off, but the Trump administration ignored it. The Trump administration claimed that it had the right to ignore court orders because the deportees were Venezuelan gang members who had “invaded” the U.S. at the behest of the Venezuelan government. In several cases, however, the Trump administration claimed that the Venezuelan deportees had “gang tattoos;” the tattoos were found to be innocuous. In none of the cases was the Venezuelan government connected to the deportees. Some of the families and defense attorneys for these deportees allege that their clients had not committed crimes and were either citizens of the U.S. or documented. Unless the courts can prevail and force the return of these deportees, they may remain in an El Salvadoran prison indefinitely.
Despite the apparent illegality of many of the Trump administration's actions, there is reason to doubt the courts' ability to save us. First, the Supreme Court has shown deference to the Trump administration in some critical cases, although the Court has ruled against Trump in many cases. Second, there is more than one way for Trump to obtain a favorable verdict. He can delay cases, re-file them, or revise executive orders or actions to meet the court’s objections. Third, the Supreme Court can always change the issues presented to it and arrive at an unanticipated ruling that favors Trump.
Still Reason to Hope
The reluctance of opinion leaders, commentators, and politicians to admit that we are on the verge of a fascist dictatorship is made clear by using “Constitutional crisis” to describe where our country is. In the last few days, one commentator said that we can no longer ask if we are in a Constitutional crisis; we must now ask what the consequences of a Constitutional crisis are. Those consequences have been spelled out in many works on authoritarian and fascist dictatorships. Nonetheless, I am somewhat optimistic about regaining our democracy. It has been done before. Notably, democratic movements have not been led by politicians or those who want to wait to see if what our eyes tell us is accurate. We must demonstrate, and we must do so now. The courts cannot save us, and Republicans will not save us. The media will not cover our dissent unless we command them to.
The Trump administration cannot disinform the people if our dissent is covered. Besides demonstrations, we can form book clubs and attend study groups at our places of worship, work, or union. In other words, we must understand their lies and distractions and then organize to overcome them! Civil rights and union movements can provide tried and valid templates for organizations. The recent book Spell Freedom by Elaine Weiss describes how Southern activists set up schools to teach potential Black voters how to surmount Jim Crow voter registration requirements to vote. I do not believe Americans will tolerate the new subservience. If, with more tremendous handicaps, those movements were successful, then we can also win.
We, as individuals, must believe that we can overcome the devastating destruction of our government. This is our moment to save America.
The Democratic Party, the only political party that champions democracy, appears to be unaware of the failure of its strategy to counter authoritarian tactics in the last election. For some reason, the Democratic Party seems to take solace in how close it came to defeating Trump. Many Democrats seem to believe that because the 2024 election was close, with a bit more effort, they will undoubtedly defeat Trump in 2028 (the election he should be exempt from by law). They have lost sight of the fact that in the last election, Democrats had a president, held the Senate, and still lost to an opponent willing to do anything to win. If we are going to restore democracy, we need to determine why we lost and what we must do to stop a fascist movement that is already in control of most of the government and close to taking over the remainder.
Denial of Reality
Everywhere we look, there are examples of politicians and commentators denying the reality surrounding us. Senator Chuck Schumer, the Democratic minority leader, decided to join with Republicans to pass a continuing resolution needed to keep the government open. He argued that permitting the government to close would allow Musk and Trump to choose which agencies to close and which workers to furlough. More importantly, Schumer contended that closing the government would also close the courts and halt lawsuits seeking to prevent Musk and Trump’s alleged illegal actions. Also, Schumer did not want to risk incurring blame from the voters for shutting down the government.
Schumer’s arguments, however, fail to recognize that Trump has already captured the government. Our only chance to save democracy is to mobilize the people as quickly as possible. If Democrats had refused to help Republicans pass the continuing resolution, it could have helped mobilize people by showing a strong opposing party. Nonetheless, Schumer correctly noted that refusing to pass the continuing resolution would not have prevented Trump from acting. There will be other opportunities, perhaps better ones, to mobilize people. Hopefully, Democrats in the Senate will have another leader, as Schumer seems to lack political wisdom.
Will We Have Free and Fair Elections?
The U.S. will hold nationwide elections in 2026 and 2028. Dictators like Putin, Orban, and Maduro all hold elections. The question is, will U.S. elections continue to be free and fair? Trump has already told his voters that they will not have to vote for him again because future elections will not be necessary. In 2020, Trump demonstrated that he does not abide by the outcome of free and fair elections. To ensure that he is the winner, Trump uses voter suppression tactics like (1) purging likely Democratic voters from the registration lists, (2) requiring women to show proof of legally changing their maiden names to their married names, (3) pouring money from wealthy donors into legacy media with paid advertising, and (4) saturating social media with disinformation. Perhaps he uses other means that have not yet been recognized. Cheaters have many methods.
Some investigations of the 2024 election show improbable voting patterns. The Election Truth Alliance has found that Trump’s victory in Nevada’s 88 counties has never been duplicated by a candidate winning with as narrow a margin as Trump's. Now, with the Department of Justice and the FBI run by loyalists to him rather than the Constitution, he has more resources to rig the outcomes of elections. Still, most Democratic politicians and commentators are unwilling to openly discuss how we can try to surmount barriers to free and fair elections. Urging Democratic voters to the polls may not be enough to secure future election victories. We need to inspire people to vote and to vote for democracy. Protests, demonstrations, book clubs, and knocking on doors are all acts that show people that a fascist dictatorship is not normal, and we can fix it through our votes.
Crashing the Economy
Trump is intent on crashing the good economy he inherited from Biden. And from his perspective, this makes sense. He has increased tariffs on all goods from China by 20 percent, on most goods from Mexico and Canada by 25 percent, and on all steel and aluminum from around the world by 20 percent. Canada, Mexico, China, and the European Union have responded with retaliatory increases in tariffs on U.S. goods, especially agricultural goods. Many opinion leaders and commentators seem to know that U.S. taxpayers who buy foreign goods will pay the increased tariffs on U.S. goods. Thus, increased tariffs will reduce the purchasing power of Americans. Less obvious are other implications of these tariffs. Commentators and opinion leaders assume that Trump is ignorant of the effects of tariffs on the economy. However, Trump may want to crash the economy with a recession. Strategist Russell Kirk, a guiding light for many conservatives in the post-war period, argued that a large and prosperous middle class led to political upheaval. In contrast, the absence of a large and prosperous middle class led to political peace. Kirk argued that an affluent upper class would support the status quo while a large and struggling lower class would lack the time and resources to foster change.
Furthermore, economic constraints in the middle class may reduce the ability of the Democratic base to contribute to Democratic campaigns. Trump and Musk have established the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to trim government spending. But it is not operating in a way that will yield actual savings. The only cuts that are substantial enough to affect actual savings are those in Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and Defense. Cuts in those Departments would have enormous consequences for the country’s debt. The real purpose of DOGE is to eliminate jobs critical to the economy, such as air traffic controllers, nuclear safety monitors, and FDA inspectors.
Putin’s Man In Washington
There is irrefutable evidence that since the late 1980s, Trump has received and given favors to Russian government officials. His son Eric has openly admitted that a significant source of income for Trump’s businesses has been Russians. In return, Trump has made real estate available to Russians without the usual pre-tenant investigation. Trump, in 1987, also repeated Russian talking points calling for the U.S. to stop military aid to Japan. In effect, Trump paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in newspaper advertisements calling for the U.S. to dismantle the postwar Western alliance. From what we have seen, Trump is beholden to Russian officials. Senator Jeff Merkley asked two prospective administration officials if Donald Trump was a Russian asset. Merkley raised this question because Trump had given Putin everything Putin could wish for. (Notably, neither the New York Times nor the Washington Post had stories about Merkley’s questions about Trump being an asset.) Whether Trump is a Russian asset or merely a friend of Russian intelligence officials matters in only one aspect. If Trump is an asset, then Putin undoubtedly has some compromising material on him. The Russian playbook for its assets is to obtain material that can be used for blackmail should the asset ever try to quit.
The Courts May Not Save Us
Several groups have filed court cases to reverse or stop DOGE from accessing sensitive data to which it has no right, disrupting government operations, and firing government employees. None of these actions is within the purview of an organization that has not been congressionally mandated. So far, the courts have reason to question the legality of DOGE’s actions in some 50 cases. However, Trump will undoubtedly appeal these lower court rulings to the Supreme Court. And if he is found to have exceeded his authority, he may disobey the Supreme Court. The failure of the Trump administration to fully comply with the lower court rulings in these cases suggests that this is a possibility.
The Trump administration has been even more reluctant to comply with court orders regarding the deportation of undocumented immigrants. In one instance, a judge ordered planes carrying deportees to a prison in El Salvador to either return or not take off, but the Trump administration ignored it. The Trump administration claimed that it had the right to ignore court orders because the deportees were Venezuelan gang members who had “invaded” the U.S. at the behest of the Venezuelan government. In several cases, however, the Trump administration claimed that the Venezuelan deportees had “gang tattoos;” the tattoos were found to be innocuous. In none of the cases was the Venezuelan government connected to the deportees. Some of the families and defense attorneys for these deportees allege that their clients had not committed crimes and were either citizens of the U.S. or documented. Unless the courts can prevail and force the return of these deportees, they may remain in an El Salvadoran prison indefinitely.
Despite the apparent illegality of many of the Trump administration's actions, there is reason to doubt the courts' ability to save us. First, the Supreme Court has shown deference to the Trump administration in some critical cases, although the Court has ruled against Trump in many cases. Second, there is more than one way for Trump to obtain a favorable verdict. He can delay cases, re-file them, or revise executive orders or actions to meet the court’s objections. Third, the Supreme Court can always change the issues presented to it and arrive at an unanticipated ruling that favors Trump.
Still Reason to Hope
The reluctance of opinion leaders, commentators, and politicians to admit that we are on the verge of a fascist dictatorship is made clear by using “Constitutional crisis” to describe where our country is. In the last few days, one commentator said that we can no longer ask if we are in a Constitutional crisis; we must now ask what the consequences of a Constitutional crisis are. Those consequences have been spelled out in many works on authoritarian and fascist dictatorships. Nonetheless, I am somewhat optimistic about regaining our democracy. It has been done before. Notably, democratic movements have not been led by politicians or those who want to wait to see if what our eyes tell us is accurate. We must demonstrate, and we must do so now. The courts cannot save us, and Republicans will not save us. The media will not cover our dissent unless we command them to.
The Trump administration cannot disinform the people if our dissent is covered. Besides demonstrations, we can form book clubs and attend study groups at our places of worship, work, or union. In other words, we must understand their lies and distractions and then organize to overcome them! Civil rights and union movements can provide tried and valid templates for organizations. The recent book Spell Freedom by Elaine Weiss describes how Southern activists set up schools to teach potential Black voters how to surmount Jim Crow voter registration requirements to vote. I do not believe Americans will tolerate the new subservience. If, with more tremendous handicaps, those movements were successful, then we can also win.
We, as individuals, must believe that we can overcome the devastating destruction of our government. This is our moment to save America.
