Donald Trump wants to be America’s first dictator.
His playbook follows all the rules in shifting democracy to autocracy. His mentors are people like Putin, Erdogan, and Kim Jong-un. With the help of Republicans frozen like deer in the headlights, power-hungry leaders like Mitch McConnell and Ron DeSantis, America is succumbing to the will of the political minority.
“Each day, Trump’s approach looks more like the autocrats I warned about as an analyst,” Kyle Murphy, former senior analyst with the Defense Intelligence Agency, wrote in Just Security.
Do you believe it can’t happen here?
He pledged to restore prosperity, create civil order, crush demonstrations by communists and socialists, eliminate minorities, and find jobs for the unemployed. The people that disagreed with him faced violence and removal. Adolph Hitler, 1933.
Sound familiar?
“We’ll make America Great Again,” Trump roared. He told state governors, “You have to dominate [protestors], and you have to arrest people, and you have to try people, and they have to go to jail for long periods of time.”
Dictators use lies and promises as weapons.
He clamps down on domestic communications from the Internet to newspapers, radio stations, and TV. State-aligned news outlets are rewarded; independent outlets are pushed into extinction. “It’s a simple transactional equation: whoever owns the media controls what it says.” Jill Dougherty, How the Media Became One of Putin’s Most Powerful Weapons.
Sound familiar?
“Any negative polls are fake news, just like CNN, ABC and NBC.” Trump tweets. “The press are the ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE.”
Dictators spread fear and assert control with military and (secret) police.
“Brutality is respected. Brutality and physical strength. The plain man in the street respects nothing but brutal strength and ruthlessness . . . [The people] want someone to frighten them and make them shudderingly submissive.”
Adolf Hitler, 1933
Secret federal agents attacked peaceful protesters in Portland, Oregon. They made arrests, used tear gas, and violent assaults without identifying themselves. Michelle Goldberg wrote in the New York Times, “Trump’s Occupation of American Cities Has Begun.”
It’s classic authoritarian tactics. Think Hong Kong, Franco’s Spain, and Stalin’s Russia.
Trump claimed that cities run by “liberal Democrats” – like Portland, Chicago, and New York - “were afraid to act.” He added proudly that his Federal Officers “have done a fantastic job in a very short period of time. They grab a lot of people and jail the leaders.”
Think Hitler’s Gestapo and China’s Red Guard.
Dictators twist the law to suit their needs.
“The only stable emotion is hate.” Adolf Hitler, 1926
“Force creates right.” Nazi broadcast in occupied Belgium, October 1941
“I can shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and get away with it.” Donald Trump
It’s all in plain sight.
“To conquer a nation, first disarm its citizens.” Adolf Hitler
Elections are the heart of democracy. A dictator rigs elections with a litany of tools. Vladimir Putin was granted the right to extend his rule until 2036 after a landslide election. U.S. citizens were forced to wait up to 8 hours in lines to vote. Georgia’s Brian Kemp purged 309,000 registered voters so he could win the governor’s race.
Similarly, Donald Trump sabotaged the United States Post Office, blocking funding to stop mail-in voting. “They need money in order to have the post office work so it can take all of these millions and millions of ballots,” Trump said proudly.
Trump believes that mail-in voting benefits the Democrats.
Rachel Maddow, MSNBC, calls it “a deliberate sabotage . . . block access to voting when your re-election effort takes place in the midst of a pandemic when people may not be able to vote safely any other way.”
As Hitler said, “I will tolerate no opposition . . . only subordination.”
Trump appointed Louis DeJoy as Postmaster General. DeJoy quietly and quickly got rid of the USPS senior leadership. Delivery hours were slashed, many street side mailboxes removed, and overtime cut. Millions of dollars in equipment was removed or deactivated, including 671 high volume automated sorting machines and over 500 bar code sorters. Mail is piling up and post offices will be not be able to handle large-volume mail ballots. According to The Washington Post, the United States Post office “recently sent detailed letters to 46 states and D.C., warning that it can’t guarantee all ballots cast by mail for the November election will arrive in time to be counted.”
Millions of American votes might not be counted.
Heil Trump.
People are already feeling the pain – delayed medicine, equipment deliveries, financial papers, social security checks . . . the list is long. Has Trump taken a misstep? As Rachel Maddow put it, the USPS is “more American than apple pie. “
What can YOU do? Vote early or vote in person if possible. Support the many groups and organizations working to defeat Trump. Make your voice heard – get involved even when sheltering-in-place. Pressure your local representatives. Join or create online groups, volunteer, and make your support known on social media. Write letters, donate, and buy products that promote Biden/Harris.
Most important: don’t support America’s first dictator.
