No Limits? No Constitution.

I have been away for awhile. If I thought we were on the path to authoritarianism a month ago, I have dropped the Pollyanna wishful thinking and now know that we are under a very real authoritarian regime. That regime no longer pretends to be doing the people’s business or even trying to couch their activities in some dressed up guise of justification. Now, they take the most blatant un-Constitutional actions and do not even try to hide it.

A quick look at what has happened over the past few weeks gives a giant red flashing light that we are in authoritarian territory. A few examples:

• The president wanted a comedian off the air and he was subsequently suspended from his late night show. A clear violation of the First Amendment. Stations he does not like should lose their broadcasting licenses. In Trump’s own words, “the stories are 97 percent bad. They’ll take a great story and they’ll make it bad. See, I think that’s really illegal, personally.” “George Slopadopolous [sic] had to pay $16 million to me because of what he said, and that’s ABC… I think that reporting has to be at least accurate to an extent. Again, when somebody is given, 97 percent of the stories are bad about a person, that’s no longer free speech… that’s just cheating, and they cheat. And they become really members of the Democratic National Committee is what they are, the networks, in my opinion. They’re offshoots of the Democratic National Committee.”
• Further attacking the First Amendment, officials in the Department of Defense (DOD) announced that reporters can no longer report on issues, classified or unclassified, that have not been officially released by DOD. “DoW [sic] information must be approved for public release by an appropriate authorizing official before it is released, even if it is unclassified.” (DOW stands for Department of War, more cosplay by Secretary of Defense (SECDEF) Pete Hegseth. Only Congress can change the department’s name.) This new requirement seriously hinders the public’s right to know what is happening in the Pentagon.
• Representative Mikie Sherill (D-NJ) who is running for governor of the state discovered that her opponent received a nearly completely unredacted copy of her complete military file, including much personal information such as her Social Security Number, home address, insurance information, performance evaluations and other highly sensitive information in an attempt to dig up damaging information to hurt her run for governor. The information was provided by the Trump Administration through the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) headed by interim administrator Secretary of State Marco Rubio. To do so is illegal.
• The U.S. claims it has now destroyed three small boats from Venezuela in the Caribbean Sea that the administration claims were operated by narco-terrorists smuggling fentanyl into the U.S. There is no legal basis for such action and the administration has provided no information to substantiate their claims. Those sized boats cannot reach the U.S. from Venezuela. (Most fentanyl in the U.S. comes from Mexico and China and is smuggled in vehicles at the U.S. – Mexico border).
• Trump broke our justice system by ordering the Department of Justice (DOJ) to prosecute his “enemies” starting with former FBI Director James Comey. Trump’s hand picked prosecutor in the Eastern District of Virginia refused to do so because of a lack of evidence. He was replaced by Trump’s personal lawyer (who also happens to be in charge of “cleaning up” the Smithsonian museum system). She has no prosecutorial experience. No career attorneys in the office would sign the paper work needed to bring an indictment. He has several more former and current officials that he is directing be prosecuted, including his own appointed FBI Director Christopher Wray.
• The FBI and DOJ dropped an investigation into “Border Tsar” Tom Homan who last year took $50,000 in cash in a paper bag, captured on tape, from FBI agents posing as businessmen looking for favors from a new Trump administration. To date, no one, including Mr. Homan disputes he took the cash, only that there is no evidence it was a crime. (Maybe because $50,000 is chump change in this administration’s many grift and graft schemes?)
• The most troubling of all developments to me in recent weeks is that Trump signed an Executive Order making “Antifa” a domestic terrorist organization. There are two problems with this. One, there are no laws in the U.S. that pertain to domestic terrorist organizations. Second, Antifa is not an organization. It is short hand for anti-fascist or opposition to fascism. It has no organizational attributes. There are no designated leaders. It is a loose coalition of individuals that protest decisions that they believe contributes to our government being run like a fascist dictatorship. There are no bank funds or identifiable assets or sources of income. Essentially it is just a protest movement and an ideology. So, in essence, Trump is trying to get the FBI and other law enforcement agencies to crack down on political dissent. Anyone, any organization, anything at all that Trump declares is part of, or contributes to, Antifa is a terrorist. Put plainly, if you do not support Trump or MAGA you are susceptible to being investigated, arrested and prosecuted at Trump’s direction. This runs counter to our Constitution in too many ways to enumerate.

The week to come is a potential historic breaking point. A few examples:

• In a very dangerous development, Trump is shopping a Congressional bill that would allow him as president to declare any individual, organization or country in the world a narco-terrorist. It would allow him to use the U.S. military to eliminate those so designated. It does not define what exactly is a narco-terrorist and it does not geographically limit where force could be used. It gives Trump carte blanche to do as he sees fit. Scary powers for any president. In this president’s hands it is essentially a license to use the military where ever and how ever he desires.
• SECDEF Hegseth ordered every general and flag officer (Generals and Admirals) in the world to come to the Marine Corps Base in Quantico Virginia tomorrow. Note that the DOD has the most secure video-conference capability in the world and that there is active conflict in some of the areas from which these officers were summoned. No one is sure about the purpose of the meeting. Originally it was just SECDEF that was going to be there. Now Trump has inserted himself into the proceedings. I am very worried about what this means. The possibilities range from forcing some sort of loyalty to Trump, to Hegseth lecturing seasoned combat veterans on what the “warrior ethos” means. That phrase is the Fox News personality’s go-to catch-all to justify whatever harebrained scheme he is promoting at the moment. I am most concerned that this is some kind of propaganda stunt to make it look like the senior military officers are in Hegseth’s and Trump’s camps on all of their un-Constitutional schemes. This has bad vibes all over it. I have no doubt that the officers will uphold their non-political professional demeanor. They will not applaud as Trump brags about his alleged macho accomplishments. They will resist every attempt to politicize the moment. However, AI, spliced video and other devious and unethical methods can be manipulated to make it look like they have pledged allegiance to Trump. Otherwise, why make them show up in person for a “lecture”?
• The government runs out of money tomorrow night. Trump has directed that if that happens, he wants thousands of people fired from their jobs. Not furloughed as in other shutdowns. Fired. How will that be used to his advantage to strengthen his regime?
• Trump is ordering the military to Portland Oregon to “save” the “war ravaged” city under siege from Antifa. A totally made up excuse justified by doctored video from years ago. He wants them to use “Full Force, if necessary” [sic]. There is nothing in any military Rules of Engagement (ROE) called “Full Force.” Nobody knows what that means but I suppose he thinks the military should shoot American citizens if he declares them to be Antifa. (Do you see a pattern building here?) The military does not enforce the law in the U.S. and they certainly do not shoot fellow citizens. This tenant is perhaps the most ingrained value in our current military. The Constitution comes first. Not a demented politician.
• Trump is sending 50 billion dollars to Argentina to save their economy. America First my…. Argentina is going into economic ruin for the umpteenth time but Trump needs to save a fellow right wing wannabe dictator. Of course, thanks to tariffs, U.S. farmers cannot sell their crops to China and are going bankrupt. So, what countries are taking up the slack to sell to China? Brazil and, wait for it, Argentina. So Trump is bailing out an economy that is using his tariffs to save their own farmers while Americans are left holding the bag. America!

There is more. Too much more. This will be an important week. The onslaught on our rights and values continues. There is hope. Jimmy Kimmel got back on the air when most Americans, left leaning or right leaning, pushed back on the limits to free speech. That is the lesson of our time. Congress appears helpless, district and appeals courts push back on Trump only to be over ruled by the Supreme Court in unexplained “emergency” rulings, but the people still have impact.

Don’t accept the lies. Don’t ignore what is happening. Keep pushing.