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Hitler was elected democratically and consolidated his dictatorship after seizing power. Donald Trump just won a fair election. Is he plotting to subvert American democracy?
There are signs that suggest “yes.”
Presidents may only serve two terms, yet Trump repeatedly suggests that he ought to run and win a third term. A “Third Term Project” was announced at CPAC. This past week, Trump called himself “The King” and quoted the French Emperor Napoleon, who argued, “He who saves his country does not violate any law.”
More materially, Trump fired the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and two other top military officers. He will be replaced with a MAGA loyalist. History shows that the military is key to a successful coup d’état or revolution. And Trump has a strong reason to want to stay in office: if and when he steps down, he again becomes vulnerable to criminal charges.
Is it 1933 in Germany? Editorial cartoonists Ted Rall (from the Left) and Scott Stantis (from the Right) talking about the prospects for democracy under Trump on today’s DMZ America Podcast.
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I doubt it’s 1933.
Trump might be, as the phrase goes, “a useful idiot,” in that he is distracting everyone from the real goings on, but the people he’s taking his orders from? They’ve been in charge since Reagan. And they’ve directed the actions of both parties.
My best guess is that we’re getting right up to the edge. Imagine you’re Alfred at stately Wayne Manor. If you plan it right, you can pocket quite a bit of swag. If you take the time to get hold of passable knockoffs, you can replace the gems in the jewelry, swap out the gold for gold-plate, etc. You can, a bit at a time, take one heck of a big chomp from the carcass. But you can’t steal the solid mahogany dining room table. You can’t make off with the genuine two-ton Rodin casting in the front hall. Some of it, you have to leave behind.
That’s where we are, I suspect. And, much like Alfie would set a fire to cover the thefts as he drives toward JFK to get his one-way first-class seat on an express flight to somewhere far, far away, the neoliberals in charge are letting Trump and Musk run wild to distract everyone. And it’s working. Just wait until we rush to the bank in a panic only to discover that Trump and Musk got to the safe deposit box weeks ago.