In Front of Our Noses: Dictator Talk
“To see what is in front of one’s nose needs a constant struggle.”-George Orwell.
For previous entries, click here.
Via the NYT: Deploy National Guard to Chicago? Trump Says He Has ‘The Right to Do Anything I Want to Do.’.
“You have a guy in Illinois, the governor of Illinois, saying that crime has been much better in Chicago recently and Trump is a dictator,” Mr. Trump said. “Most people are saying, ‘If you call him a dictator, if he stops crime, he can be whatever he wants’ — I am not a dictator, by the way.”
[…]
“Not that I don’t have — I would — the right to do anything I want to do,” Mr. Trump said. “I’m the president of the United States. If I think our country is in danger — and it is in danger in these cities — I can do it.”
In case anyone is wondering, claiming that he has “the right to do anything I want to do” is claiming dictatorial powers.
In terms of any additional wonderings, the word “dictator” means, literally, one who issues dictates. A “dictate” is a command or order. Trump continually centers all power in his person and then issues dictates.
He is governing as a dictator. Our system is supposed to slow, if not stop, such behavior primarily via checks and balances from the other two branches. As I have noted before, partisanship is stronger than institutional jealousies, so the Republican-controlled Congress has no interest in containing him. Some elements of the judiciary have tried, but SCOTUS keeps allowing things to play out before any final adjudication can be rendered, meaning the damage is being done as we await a final dispensation from the courts, which can take years.
Oh, and SCOTUS has made the president immune from prosecution for actions undertaken in pursuing his official duties. So, can someone tell me what the penalty is going to be if he violates the Posse Comitatus Act?
Let’s return to this:
“Most people are saying, ‘If you call him a dictator, if he stops crime, he can be whatever he wants’
This is classic dictator stuff. It is the promise of order, and order easily obtained. People don’t like crime. They are, in fact, irrationally afraid of it and are especially convinced that big cities are brimming with crime. That this is also a racialized conversation exacerbates the fear and the willingness to see “those people” kept under control.
And Trump is sadly, and frighteningly, correct. There is a chunk of people who will say “he can do whatever he wants” if they think that what he is doing is making them “safe.” Dictators promise order, and people like order, never mind if what National Guard troops in DC are doing is picking up garbage.
If elderly Fox News watchers who never leave their small town, and perhaps rarely leave their houses, feel safer, well then it is all worth it, right?
The Mike Duncan Principle states: those in power will do what they want unless someone stops them.
In modern democratic states, what stops them is the rule of law. That’s why even dictators like Orban and even Mad Vlad change the laws, so they won’t be stopped any more.
But if you have a fixer court that rationalizes how to allow the dictator to do what he wants, rather than exercise its independence as a co-equal branch of government, the dictator can just do as he wants from the start.
How dictators keep themselves dictators:
The 2026 elections will occur but many seats, if won by anyone with a “D” behind their name, will be judged by the US government as the result of a fraudulent election.
Heather Honey, the certifiable loon in charge of “election integrity” for America, United States Of, will find irregularities in many (if not most) of those districts, and all will have to be processed through the Supreme Court. A process that may well span years.
https://www.propublica.org/article/heather-honey-dhs-election-security
@Kathy:
… The Mike Duncan Principle states: those in power will do what they want unless someone stops them.
… In modern democratic states, what stops them is the rule of law. That’s why even dictators like Orban and even Mad Vlad change the laws, so they won’t be stopped any more.
_______________________________________
By now it should be very clear, this Republican Congress is NOT going to stop Trump.
They do not have to change or make new laws, no need for that. Trump does as he pleases.
@al Ameda:
Oh, it’s crystal clear. I won’t even engage in a fantasy for the lame duck period* after the midterms.
IMO, they’re going along because: 1) they want to, 2) they are afraid to even think of opposing El Taco, and 3) when he inevitably screws up the economy they figure they won’t be blamed.
On his first term, we hard a lot about how many Republicans in Congress opposed him, and would dump him and bury him as soon as they could. Seeing they had several chances to do just that, and they didn’t, it was some residual shame from a dying party.
*Besides, there won’t be a lame duck period. If El Taco is still alive by late 2027, and not so obviously demented that even his die-hard deplorables can’t ignore it, he’ll try for a third term and no one in his party will lift a finger to stop him.