As of right now, I don't believe Trump has the ability to take over the United States as a dictator, but I also don't think he's smart enough to realize that.
Mussolini's rise to power was facilitated by established leaders, in his case the Italian king who helped undermine the legally elected liberal Prime Minister in 1922, as well as Italian politicians who helped Mussolini consolidate power in 1923. He then used the military, which the king basically handed him, to attack Greece, followed by him turning the military proudly upon his political opponents, something Mussolini took credit for in 1925. And Mussolini claimed (albeit false) that he got the trains back to running on time. Italians rejoiced, although it was the inevitable rebuilding and improvements made to the Italian train service after WWI which were the real reason for the return of timely trains, improvements begun prior to Mussolini's rise to power. Regardless, the Fascists credited Mussolini, and most of the population seemed to go along with the military crackdown.
Trump's biggest problem for a viable path to becoming dictator is the populist message which would cause the majority of Americans to unite behind him. These would be issues which would immediately change his poll numbers. If Trump were to embrace one of his campaign promises, cheaper and better healthcare, he'd have an issue people would follow him for. The problem is to deliver on that promise, he needs to install a single player expansion of government healthcare which covers all Americans and all illnesses. There's no way on the planet the Republican Party would allow him to even entertain this idea. Imagine, after Election Night in 2016, prior to taking office, Trump would've demanded single payer become the law of the land on his first day in office, regardless of Republican obstruction. This would be a very different country right now.
But Trump is stupid. Not only did he not take advantage of populist initiatives he promised, he's actually taking on popular programs and stances which are only damaging his ability to win over the majority, like turning on The Dreamers, imposing deficit exploding tax cuts for the wealthy, and getting into bed with the gun industry. One of the dumbest things he's doing is dismantling the internet's net neutrality. When Americans start getting cable TV like internet bills, his approval numbers will be in the single digits.
There are some far right politicians who feel as if it's time for the US's Democracy experiment to come to an end with the appointment of Dictator Trump, politicians who have whole heartedly bought into their 'vilify the Democrats' election strategy, forgetting it was just a marketing ploy. Thankfully, it's only a few dozen. Don't get me wrong, plenty of Republicans saw a man who mocked a disabled man, threatened violence constantly and bragged about sexually assaulting women and eagerly voted to put that man in the White House, and plenty of Republicans have remained quiet and complicit as Trump has irreparably damaged the United States, but when push comes to shove, I think the majority of the Republican Party would not want to go along with the dismantling of the government as it's existed for 242 years. Still, it would surprise you how many Republicans would put party loyalty over country...
As far as a military/police force to help Trump rule with an iron fist, he's actually had success with this. He has taken ICE, the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, an obscure federal law enforcement agency, installed a Trump worshipping leader, given them an immediate budget upgrade, tasked them with hiring far more agents, and have dispatched them across the country to round up any person, American citizen or undocumented worker, whose only crime is looking slightly Hispanic. They detain people illegally, including US citizens, and when they get caught, their attitude is "it sucks to be you." They seem to take tremendous joy and pleasure at breaking up families, even using sick kids as bait. They raid offices, relentlessly looking for people to deport, even people who have been major contributors to their community. They laugh at the idea of deporting people to countries where they face certain death. ICE has become Trump's brown shirts, and I feel as if some in their chain of command are just waiting for the order to start rounding up Democratic Party members, either to be jailed or executed.
Still as scary as ICE has become, they wouldn't be able to take over the country. The US Military would never allow them to do it. The military realizes it has a very sweet gig in the USA, and the last thing they want is to be responsible for the day to day operations of this country. Just look at the level of pushback Trump has gotten from military circles for his banning of transgender troops and the use of National Guard troops to guard the border. On top of that, you have police departments nationwide who would not go along with a military take over.
Trump's chances of becoming a dictator, regardless of whether he harbors the desire, are almost nil, but he still might try. Why? Because the buffoon seems to be following the direct advice of Fox News hosts, and Fox News is full of rabid, power hungry, anti-American zealots who see opportunity.
A report out says Trump is now ignoring most of the Presidential power checks, removing critics within the White House, as he fills his time "...watching Fox [News], and eating dinner with people who feed his ego and conspiracy theories, and who drink in his rants." To our knowledge, we've never had a President detach from reality like this. We've had a fair share of alcoholic Presidents (Grant, Cleveland), and Wilson was not fit for office after his stroke in late 1919, but for Trump to intentionally wallow with the conspiracy theory gutter snipes who are only looking at the President as a ticket to money and power is terrifying.
Fox News hosts Jeanine Pirro and Lou Dobbs are getting more attention from the President today than the Chief of Staff and the Commander of the Joint Chiefs. Pirro, a woman who has counciled Trump privately, last weekend blamed Republicans for not punishing Hollywood, Saturday Night Live, Late Night Hosts and anyone who dared to disrespect Trump, asking "how did we get so lost?" Jeanine, we can begin by looking at how you and your political party treated the Clinton's and the Obama's, focusing afterwards on how you and the Republicans so hated Democrats, you turned to someone completely unqualified to be President, out of spite. Pirro's clear message to Trump; time to start cracking down on anyone who doesn't praise you. Dobbs threw a temper tantrum demanding Assistant Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and Special Council Robert Mueller both be fired for the raid on Trump lawyer Michael Cohen's office and house, a raid which had NUMEROUS Republican's and Trump appointees sign off on. Dobbs even called Attorney General Jeff Sessions "incompetent." Dobbs, realizing his words have power, did tell Trump directly, "not that I'm suggesting the President should do it, because there would be political fallout because of it." It's sad to see the Fox News Hosts have to talk to the President like a four year old being told to pick up their toys before they can get their snack.
There are many comparisons to this kind of dictatorship enabling throughout history; media people and journalists who one day are fawning over an up and coming political firebrand, and two years later are wearing a military outfit standing over a pit while an assassination squad guns down all their perceived enemies. I do not trust Pirro, Dobbs, and many of the people at Fox News. It feels like they all have an enemies list and their measurements for a military outfit ready to go.
If Trump, realizing his secrets and crimes are about to get exposed to the public, decided to try a dictator-like power grab, watch out. I don't think he'll get close to being successful, but a lot of people might get killed proving him wrong. Trump doesn't have the foundation for a dictatorship in place, but he sure has the evil cast of characters every dictator has ready to go, and many of them are currently telling him to 'go for it.'
Charlie Chapin's phenomenal speech from the end of The Great Dictator:
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please feel free to leave a comment. I'll review it and as long as it's not dirty, I'll post it (even if you disagree with me).