America was once the envy of the world. Now the enemy of the world.
Trump’s tariffs attack every country (except Russia!) as an enemy. All concretely harmed, making everyone poorer. Some may negotiate, under duress by this mafia bully, to reduce the damage, but they won’t forget. Eighty years of building a global network of friends destroyed overnight. China is chortling.
We’re made poorer too, everything will cost more. And all this for what? Supposedly for bygone 1950’s-style metal-bashing jobs. Totally delusional.
Maybe he truly believes it. But it’s really more about flaunting raw power, an ego trip. He boasted countries are “kissing my ass.” Actual quote.
Meantime Trump uncannily follows the authoritarian playbook. Marx said history repeats, first as tragedy, then as farce. Recall too 1984’s Orwellian catechism: “War is peace, freedom is slavery, ignorance is strength.” The whole Trump schema is no less grounded in lies.
An authoritarian regime’s first task is to eviscerate rule of law. Thus the Abrego Garcia case — really a test case, the administration digging in on a blatantly indefensible stance just to demonstrate it can — courts be damned.
Real authoritarians, like Putin, just have opponents killed. Trump isn’t quite there (despite the Supreme Court’s egregious immunity ruling), he uses a semblance of legal procedure. Unprecedentedly ordering individuals to be prosecuted, like Miles Taylor whose “crime” was writing critically, and Chris Krebs for rejecting the lie of a stolen 2020 election.
Also following the authoritarian playbook is neutering the free press: disallowing reporter presence, flinging baseless lawsuits, threatening license revocation. Similarly bringing to heel other key independent societal institutions: big law firms, universities, corporations. And now even charitable organizations.
Again, it’s really all about preening power. Proving he can do anything. Even sending lawful U.S. residents to a stinkhole foreign prison. Even citizens, he’s mused.
The real culprits are the witless fools who voted for him. And still venerate him!
