He’s making an offer we must refuse
B. Jay Cooper warns of creeping authoritarianism under Donald Trump, likening his leadership style to mob tactics — marked by vengeance, coercion, and disregard for democratic norms, institutions, and Constitutional protections.
A re we on the road to fascism? Losing our democracy?
Maybe.
One thing for sure, though, we are experiencing a wanna-be mob boss as President.
Having grown up in the real estate/construction business in New York City and mentored early on by Roy Cohn, who advised Sen. Joseph McCarthy, and was infamous for his mob-like style, Trump was exposed to the thuggish approach of management early in his career.
Examples of his mob-like behavior?
Oppose him in a political campaign? Revenge! See Adam Kinsinger, Liz Cheney. Or any other Republican he quickly dubs a RINO (Republican in Name Only).
Betray him by serving as an appointee and carrying out his policies against dangerous countries. Then being fired or resigning in protest. Then being targeted by those countries you attacked on his behalf, having your life threatened by them. Then see your protection detail removed by Trump as your punishment for defending his policy? See former NSC Advisor John Bolton, targeted for assassination by Iran.
Warn the country about the dangers of COVID while serving as his pandemic advisor, saving millions of lives in the process? Take away the security needed to protect him against potentially violent Trump supporters and erase his name from government departments. See. Dr. Anthony Fauci.
Not move fast enough when he points the finger at you for allowing protests on your campus? Take away funding. See Columbia University.
Want to expand U.S. territory? Say you are going to annex/seize/invade an ally. Hello Greenland, Canada.
Want to turn long-time friends into adversaries? Lay tariffs on them. The more the better. Pound them into submission. Hello Mexico, Canada.
Anyway, you get the idea.
His foreign policy is transactional; that’s why he seeks so many “thank yous” from other countries when he defends them against attacks on their democracies. He views helping other countries as a “favor.” You can almost hear Marlon Brando’s Godfather voice coming from his lips.
He doesn’t see that help as accruing to the United States’ world leadership; he sees it as a debt to be collected.
Columbia University does have issues on its campus involving anti-Semitism, but is withholding a private university’s funding the way to deal with it, stopping important research? Should Columbia have caved and made the deal they did rather than fight it when sitting on a $15 billion endowment, beaten into submission by the bully rather than dealing with its own campus issues?
Or the Paul, Weiss law firm. The firm caved to Trump rather than do what a top white-shoe law firm does – litigate. Take the President to court and challenge his illegal order to remove your security clearances and access to federal agencies because he doesn’t like who your firm represents. It’s not like the firm can’t afford the fight. In the last year, it generated more than $2.6 billion in fees and worked on $359 billion worth of mergers and acquisitions.
If he can make universities and law firms with that kind of financial clout kowtow to him, who can’t he bring to their knees with threats and illegal “punishments?”
And, notice, please, that whether it’s Trump’s side or the law firm or Columbia’s side, the bottom line is – money. Or, when it comes to his political foes – power. The law firm didn’t fight because they would lose clients. The university didn’t fight because it didn’t want to lose $400 million in grants. The Republicans in Congress for the most part don't oppose him in fear of losing their seats.
He’s already brought a successful law firm to its knees and now is ordering his attorney general to crack down on any law firm that files what he calls “frivolous lawsuits” against his government. Trump being the King of Frivolous Lawsuits, by the way.
He has already brought the Republicans in Congress to their knees. They can’t (won’t) do their Constitutional obligation of oversight anymore.
He learned from his first term that he needs Trump loyalists as his appointees. So, he controls the Executive and the Legislative branches. No one around to tell him no.
Now, he’s taking on the judicial branch. So far, it’s holding – especially with Chief Justice John Roberts’ statement last week that didn’t mention Trump, but the President clearly was the target.
Trump is now challenging and demanding the removal of Judge James Boasberg, who is hearing the case involving the Administration’s deportation of people without providing the due process they are guaranteed under the Constitution.
Do Boasberg or those who oppose the lack of due process want to see hardened criminal, illegal immigrants living in our communities? Of course not!
But they do want to see the evidence that they are criminals. Are most of those deported and sent to that El Salvadoran prison gang members? Probably. But show us the evidence. It should be provided before they are imprisoned in another country’s prison with a reputation for brutal treatment, and the likelihood they’ll never get out.
Due process is there to protect the innocent, and you can bet that among those deported, there were mistakes made, and innocents are now sitting in that dangerous prison. If that means, for example, that 98 hardened criminals were put away for every two innocent people... is that okay with you?
That’s why we have due process. To prevent that from happening.
If the Administration can detain and deport people without due process, they can move on to do that to others.
That’s not what America is.
We are the land of freedom and Constitutional rights.
Not omertà.
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