Many Of Us Are Vermin

“We pledge to you that we will root out the communists, Marxists, fascists, and the radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country that lie and steal and cheat on elections. They’ll do anything whether legally or illegally, to destroy America and to destroy the American Dream.”

— Donald J. Trump speech on Veteran’s Day 2023

In case it is not clear, the ex-president is referring to anyone that voted against him or that does not personally show their loyalty and devotion to him. Not to the Constitution. To him. In case he was not clear enough, he went on to say that “the threat from outside sources is far less sinister, dangerous and grave than the threat from within. Because if you have a capable, competent, smart, tough leader, Russia, China, North Korea, they’re not going to want to play with us.” Since I absolutely do not support the ex-president, I suppose that makes me more of a threat to my fellow Americans than Putin, XI or Kim. Who knew? And I guess that makes me, and many of you that read this blog, vermin. What happens to vermin? They get exterminated. This is not the first time that the ex-president and future hopeful dictator has used dehumanizing terminology about his political opponents, just like in Europe in the 1920s and 30s.

Hyperbole, you say? Trump being Trump, you say? I agree that it is Trump being Trump — Trump telling us what he plans to do should he get elected in 2024. As I’ve written in this space before, history reveals that dictators and autocrats tell the world of their plans before they implement them. They do not always succeed, but that doesn’t mean they don’t try. Plans are already in place and workers are already being recruited to take over the government in 2025 when Trump, or someone like him, takes over the presidency. If you doubt it, take a look at the tenets of the 2025 Presidential Transition Project commonly referred to as Project 2025. Under the auspices of the Heritage Foundation, future members of the Trump administration are putting together their playbook to take over the executive branch of the government “on day one.” The planners are adherents of the “unitary executive theory.” This theory posits that the president controls the entire federal executive branch (there are no independent agencies such as the Department of Justice, Federal Reserve, Federal Communications Commission, etc.) and that Congress cannot limit a president’s control over the executive branch because the Constitution established them as totally separate branches.

The plan has four pillars. Pillar One: Mandate for Leadership. This is a roughly 900 page book that reveals the methods to realign the administrative state and to implement specific policies. Pillar Two: People Are Policy. The “deep state” thwarted the ex-president from implementing his desired policies and activities in his first term because federal workers are inherently “liberals”. Therefore, their argument goes, they must be replaced by people that are loyal to “conservative” (Trumpian) principles. There is already a data base for future federal employees that have been scrubbed and vetted to ensure their loyalty to Trump and his views. They will replace the workers currently in the government. The goal is to have 10.000 workers ready to go to work in the federal bureaucracy on Inauguration Day. Several thousand have already been selected. (You can apply here, if you are so inclined.) Pillar Three: Training. Online courses (later, in person courses will be added) are available now in subjects such as Conservative Governance 101 and Conservative Governance: Advancing Policy. Pillar Four: Executive Orders. This section instructs future administration officials as to what, and how policies are made through executive orders. It helpfully supplies an appendix with templates for such orders impacting a variety of policies.

Among other things, this project tells me that Trumpism will survive Trump. The pillars support Trump’s view of government, but any MAGA Trump impersonator that gets elected president will be using this same approach to governing.

As the MAGA politicians feel more comfortable with their chances of winning the election, they have become more comfortable with pronouncing their plans for a Trump (or suitable substitute) administration. Besides rooting out the vermin among us, their greatest hits include the following:

• Investigating with the intent to prosecute those critical of him including former administration members General John Kelly, Attorney General William Barr, White House Counsel Ty Cobb and General Mark Milley, to name a few.
• Executive Orders to deploy the military domestically on Inauguration Day under the Insurrection Act.
• Achieve retribution by arresting his political opponents including President Biden and his family. They are doing it “so I can do it too.”
• Pardon the January 6 insurrectionists who he claims are political “hostages.”
• Appoint only sycophants to the Cabinet.
• Reimpose and expand the “Muslim ban.”
• Designate drug cartels as “unlawful enemy combatants” and use U.S. military special forces to enter Mexico and attack them.
• Deputize local law enforcement and federalize the National Guard to seek out and round up millions of immigrants. placing them in newly built “camps” until they can be deported.
• End birthright citizenship enacted in the 14th Amendment.

The list can go on and on. Remember, this is the guy that says that Article II of the Constitution gives him the power “to do whatever I want.” He is building a government in waiting that believes that is true. Of course, this is also the guy that is still whining about losing the election and saying that because of “massive fraud” it “allows for the termination of all rules, regulations and articles, even those found in the Constitution.”

The election is a year away. A lot can happen in a year. Yet, I am flabbergasted that millions of people think that the ex-president should be back in office. Given that some are delusional, some are hood-winked by the grifter-in-chief and some truly pine for an autocratic leader that will “restore” our white, Christian nation, there are still way too many people that say they support Trump. It is too early to worry about polls. At this state of the game people will express their political anger and unhappiness by expressing support for unpalatable candidates. When they get into the voting booth, most of the time, they reevaluate their choices, especially when our democracy is on the line. None-the-less, Trump clearly thinks he is the anointed one and is preparing accordingly. With lots of help.

This is not a “the sky is falling” piece. The above is a factual statement of what the MAGA folks say out loud that they want to do to our country. They are proud of what they want to do. Trump started a movement that will probably continue — at least for awhile — without him. If he sticks around, he will have lots of help. The “Republicans” in the House of Representatives are a fully owned subsidiary of Trump, Inc. They will aid and abet him. Numerous state legislatures around the country are totally in the Trump camp. They will aid and abet him. (Take the case of Ohio where voters overwhelmingly voted for an amendment to their state Constitution allowing the right to an abortion. The legislature is now working feverishly to pass legislation to eliminate any role for the judiciary in interpreting the new amendment. Only the legislature will be able to do so and they intend to put into law draconian conditions for obtaining an abortion, thus effectively eliminating it in the state despite the will of the majority.)

Some observers are not worried about Trumpian rule because, they say, the MAGA crowd tried to overturn the 2020 election and failed miserably thanks to the courts. What if Trump and his supporters refuse to abide by court decisions? How does it get implemented? What restrains him? Trump is already working overtime to undermine confidence in our judicial system. He constantly derides the judges, prosecutors and juries that try to hold him accountable. He is systematically trying to delegitimize the rule of law. In the end, court decisions only have meaning if law abiding, moral citizens abide by them. Trump and his supporters are neither law abiding nor moral. Already we have an example in our history when both President Andrew Jackson and the state of Georgia ignored a Supreme Court decision in 1832 (Worcester v Georgia). Referring to the Chief Justice, President Jackson is said to have stated, “John Marshall has made his decision, now let him enforce it.” The president then went ahead and did exactly what he wanted to do. Jackson is one of Trump’s role models.

Finally, I have no doubt that Trump and his supporters will try to disrupt and suppress the vote in 2024 by any means at their disposal. As Trump continues to dehumanize those that oppose him, it becomes more likely that political violence will spread in our country. It happened in 2020, how can we be so sanguine as to believe it will not happen again, even if we are better prepared?

In that regard, Trump and his acolytes are already telling us about the draconian measures they will put in place if he wins. What we should think about is the fact that they are not telling us what they plan to do if he loses.