Trump is like a Brat. He is going to push the envelope to see what he can get away with. Thus far he has gotten away with just about everything. Anyone with half a brain knows his takeover is not about crime. Until congress steps up we’re dealing with a full on fascist/fascism. As far as the unitary executive I don’t buy that at all. If our government was set up that way we wouldn’t need congress or a court system. It’s just a fancy way of saying a president is a king.
If this president were about fighting crime he would immediately ban all assault weapons. I'm not sure he has the authority to do that but hey, in this case I'd want him to do it.
I was raised in Ohio and was in college there when the Ohio National Guard shot and killed four students who were part of a Vietnam anti-war protest. The students were running away from the National Guard when they were murdered. Remember- four dead Kent State students because of the Ohio National Guard actions!
Why do we discuss Trump's actions as if he can be constrained, by anything, let alone the laws that exist to prevent these patently unconstitutional and immoral actions.
Nothing keeps him from doing what he wants, whenever he wants, especially now that he lives within his own delusions of grandeur.
He is not testing anyone, or any rule, guardrail, agreed-upon consensus on humane action and behavior, or societal norms. Trump has been unleashed upon us by the greedy and power mad. This ravenous beast is fed by the open and closeted racists among us. By appealing to our primitive, instinctual "fear of the other": our worst fears have come to be. There is a predator who is going to in order to take our family hostage and tie all of us to their beliefs, their culture, their language, their religion, and we must fight this takeover.
Enough with the sober discussions of what is legal, what is in Trump's power, what he cannot do legally, and so on. Do not tell me that the warrant for the search of Bolton's house is legit because it was signed by a judge or throw up your hands saying that it's too early to tell if there was justifiable cause for doing so. Are you kidding me? Are we really so dumb, or are journalists now too afraid the boss will cite them for not being "fair & balanced", or "objective". Don't dare to report that there is a "loophole" that Trump walked through, when he is crushing communities both psychologically and physically military presence, checkpoints for residents, barricades to residential streets. Eventually, as Trump/MAGA/2025 script continues to unfold, everything will be stamped and sealed as within the government's legal authority-- when it gets to the Supreme Court of course. In the meantime, as it winds through the courts, and polite discussions continue, damage that cannot be undone will continue unabated. The "disappeared" will never be returned to family, country, or community. We can only hope they are not being thrown out of planes.
I don't understand what you even want. You insist "Enough with the sober discussions of what is legal, what is in Trump's power, what he cannot do legally, and so on." "We can only hope [people] are not being thrown out of planes."
If someone doesn't present "sober discussions of what is legal, what is in Trump's power, what he cannot do legally," then how will you know? For that matter, how will you even know if people are "being thrown out of planes"?
Trump latches onto Seinfeld’s idea for “beautifying” cities as Nat'l Guard do landscaping & trash pickup in DC. Parading military units around tourist sites in DC is an expensive abuse of power. 8 of 10 states with the highest homicide rates are led by Republicans. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HRTa77OF1E
A polite analysis of what Trump is doing, gives Trump and the administration a veneer of normalcy, treating his presidency as if it is a run-of-the-mill policy for political gain.
If you require "experts" to explain legal constraints and "loopholes" you are similarly treating the administration's actions as just another grab for power. It is anything but, and ignoring the blatant climb to dismantle our government and our governing principle of "for the people, by the people, of the people" does no service to the citizens of our country, whatever their standing, or "political" views.
What do I want? I want the fire alarm ringing at every instance of illegal & unconstitutional action.
I don't know about you, but I don't want armed military personnel patrolling my streets or a military vehicle parked on my corner. Do we really need "justification" for that?
And we won't know if we've become Argentina, if this reserved discussion continues, as our democratic values crumble.
Exactly! It's time to be out on the streets, boycotting his chummy partner companies, blocking ICE agents at businesses and insisting that lawmakers actually do their jobs. I can't wait until 2026 to see just how many Americans fight back at the ballot box.
Poll this morning: 8% Democrats support federal troops in DC. 76% Republicans support it. Law and order issue rears its head. May be an election problem.
Suggestion for governors. National Guard and Military personnel need to monitor and control ICE agents to protect citizens. If necessary, use this order to your advantage. Require the Guard to uphold the constitution.
Institutional hyper-socialization refers to the process by which authoritarians manipulate social environments to foster unquestioning obedience and conformity to authority. It goes beyond simple socialization and actively shapes individuals' beliefs, values, and behaviors to align with the regime's ideology, often through propaganda, censorship, and suppression of dissent.
Authoritarian hyper-socialization doesn't simply disappear when someone grows up. The effects of such an upbringing are often deeply ingrained and can continue to influence individuals in adulthood. These impacts can manifest in various ways:
1. Internalized patterns and behaviors
Individuals may struggle to trust their own judgment, constantly seeking external validation and approval.
They might develop perfectionist tendencies, leading to anxiety and stress.
Difficulty with decision-making and problem-solving can persist due to the lack of autonomy during childhood.
They may struggle with self-esteem and confidence.
Emotional regulation issues and suppressed emotional expression can lead to difficulty forming healthy relationships and potentially result in emotional outbursts or internalized stress.
2. Relationship dynamics
Individuals may find themselves mirroring the controlling behavior of their parents or becoming overly submissive in their adult relationships.
They might struggle to communicate their needs and feelings, leading to unhealthy relationship dynamics.
A fear of conflict and authority figures can impact their interactions with others.
3. Mental health challenges
Increased risk of mental health problems like anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem is associated with authoritarian parenting.
The pressure to conform and meet high expectations can lead to chronic stress and anxiety.
4. Rebellion
In some cases, individuals may rebel against strict authority during adolescence or adulthood, seeking freedom through secretive or defiant behavior.
Mary L. Trump, Donald Trump's niece and a clinical psychologist, has offered strong opinions on his mental maturity and psychological state, in her book, "Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man."
Mary Trump has stated that Trump is essentially "stuck" at a very young developmental stage, akin to a three-year-old, and is "incapable of growing, learning, or evolving". She emphasizes that this lack of personal growth makes him potentially dangerous as a leader. Psychological traits that are foundational in Trump's vandalization of our American Democracy include:
Developmental arrest: Mary Trump suggests that Donald Trump is essentially trapped in a childlike state, unable to grow or learn, and still seeking validation from his father, Fred Trump Sr., who she describes as a "high-functioning sociopath". This, according to Mary Trump, led to a personality disorder characterized by a lack of empathy and a need for constant admiration.
Fragile ego and grandiosity: She describes his ego as extremely fragile, constantly needing reassurance and prone to grandiosity as a defense mechanism to cover deep-seated insecurities. He may believe himself to be superior and deserves special treatment, while struggling with criticism or setbacks.
Potential for several psychological issues: Beyond what she describes as a severe form of narcissism, Mary Trump has suggested that Donald Trump may also exhibit traits consistent with Antisocial Personality Disorder, Dependent Personality Disorder, and a long-undiagnosed learning disability impacting his ability to process information.
Impact of family dynamics: Mary Trump argues that the family environment, dominated by her grandfather Fred Trump Sr., fostered a lack of empathy and a focus on wielding power and making money, leading Donald Trump to mimic this behavior. His father's harsh treatment and bullying of his older brother, Freddy, shaped Donald's fear of weakness and failure.
What, then, do we also known about Trump's followers and their propensity for vandalism?
Consider the likelihood of nihilists on the far-right. Last year University of Virginia sociologist James Davison Hunter in the The Hedgehog Review wrote that he identified nihilism as the central feature of contemporary culture: “A nihilistic culture is defined by the drive to destroy, by the will to power. And that definition now describes the American nation.”
He pointed to our culture’s pervasive demonization and fearmongering, with leaders feeling no need to negotiate with the other side, just decimate it. Nihilists, he continued, often suffer from wounded attachments — to people, community, the truth. They can’t give up their own sense of marginalization and woundedness because it would mean giving up their very identity. The only way to feel halfway decent is to smash things or at least talk about smashing them. They long for chaos.
One version of nihilism holds that the structures of civilization must be destroyed, even if we don’t have anything to replace them with.
According to David Brooks, Opinion Columnist with the new York Times nihilists don’t believe in what the establishment tells them to believe in. They live in a world in which many believe in nothing. But still, somewhere deep inside, that hunger is there. They want to have faith in something. For the nihilist all of America has been a sham, that democracy and everything that has come with it is based on lies.
Faith in God has been on the decline for decades; so has social trust, faith in one another; so has faith in a dependable career path. A recent Gallup poll showed that faith in major American institutions is now near its lowest point in the 46 years Gallup has been measuring these things.
The F.B.I. now has a new category of terrorist — the “nihilistic violent extremist.” This is the person who doesn’t commit violence to advance any cause, just to destroy. Last year, Derek Thompson wrote an article for The Atlantic about online conspiracists who didn’t spread conspiracy theories only to hurt their political opponents. They spread them in all directions just to foment chaos. Thompson spoke with an expert who cited a famous line from “The Dark Knight”: “Some men just want to watch the world burn.”
Nihilism is a cultural river that leads nowhere good. Russian writers like Turgenev and Dostoyevsky wrote about rising nihilism in the 19th century, a trend that eventually contributed to the turmoil of the Russian Revolution. The scholar Erich Heller wrote a book called “The Disinherited Mind” about the rise in nihilism that plagued Germany and Central Europe after World War I. We saw what that led to.
The Purdue Policy Research Institute (PPRI) 83% of all 2024 Trump voters were either adherents to Christian Nationalism or supporters.
Many, like Donald Trump, may thus be exhibiting a form of authoritarian hyper-socialization.
According to a 8 Feb 23 research report from the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI), white voters without a college degree are twice as likely to hold Christian nationalist beliefs than their counterparts with college degrees. PRRI also found Christian nationalism adherents are nearly seven times more likely than Christian nationalism rejecters to support political violence.
"Trump’s rise over the past three election cycles “accelerated and completed this political realignment based on education that had been forming since the early ’70s, at the beginning of the decline in the middle class.”
Lack of education can leave young people feeling disenfranchised and seeking alternative avenues for belonging and validation, which can sometimes be found in rigid social structures.
Trump has gotten away with telling voters that "foreigners pay tariffs" because many of Trump's supporters are less educated. “The biggest single, best predictor of how someone’s going to vote in American politics now is education level. That is now the new fault line in American politics,” according to the “CNN Political Briefing” podcast. Why do you think Trump is attacking our universities?
Put another way, college graduates hold about three-quarters of the wealth in the US, but account for only about 40% of the population.
There's a direct correlation to politics. In 2020, according to CNN’s exit polls, voters with a college degree accounted for 41% of the electorate and they supported President Joe Biden 55% to Trump’s 43%. Trump got the support of about two-thirds of White voters without a college degree, but he lost White college-educated voters. And our education system is now reeling from his vandalization.
Finally, Steve Schmidt, former Schwarzenegger, George W. Bush, and John McCain adviser, asserted in a 24 August 2018 PRWEEK article before he co-founded the Lincoln Project that, "The Republican Party I was born into was a personal responsibility party, not a victim party. Nowadays everybody’s a victim – and Trump made this virtuous,"
This MAGA grievance may well be be fueled by an intergenerational loss of status and control, which in turn is leading these folks to blame their insecurity on the improving status of others such as non-Christians, minorities and the educated.
Feelings of victimization, as we've seen, can be used as a pretext to increase the risk of delinquent behavior.
Vandals try to destroy those things they they can't have or resent!
Trump's behaviors make so much sense when you view him as having evolved from an abused child. Democracy denies him the control he covets.
In short, the vandalistic path of destruction being wrought by Trump and his followers on our Democracy and law and order may be just beginning, as Trump quashes the legal consequences constraining such behavior in the name of getting even.
Jen, I read your essay about the presumption of regularity. It is so timely! The guy has done so much, out in the open, to completely obliterate the presumption of regularity. His blatant lies and his blatant defying of court orders and lying under oath to courts should really end that presumption of regularity for him. He is bad enough that there should now be a presumption of bad faith. And a presumption of irregularity.
I can’t believe the Ninth Circuit found, with no evidence to support his bullshit reason, that he is due deference. He is obviously NOT due any deference based on the facts of the circumstances and his own record of blatantly lying daily and defying court orders. Using the military or the national guard to suppress civil unrest is obviously to suppress protests, even peaceful protests. He is heading straight toward authoritarianism and is actually there already with the conduct he has gotten away with. The 9th circuit really screwed that backstop up.
I was in Spain in the 1970s when dictator Francisco Franco was still in power (not yet still dead). In the cities, there seemed to be a soldier at every street corner, decades after the civil war had ended. That's what an insecure dictatorship looks like.
Why can't the states act the way Trump is? If he tries to nationalize the Guard, why doesn't the governor order the Guard not to obey Trump? Why doesn't he have the police arrest the Guard members? I know those are risky, perhaps not even legal, actions, but why not act anyway?
Trump is like a Brat. He is going to push the envelope to see what he can get away with. Thus far he has gotten away with just about everything. Anyone with half a brain knows his takeover is not about crime. Until congress steps up we’re dealing with a full on fascist/fascism. As far as the unitary executive I don’t buy that at all. If our government was set up that way we wouldn’t need congress or a court system. It’s just a fancy way of saying a president is a king.
If this president were about fighting crime he would immediately ban all assault weapons. I'm not sure he has the authority to do that but hey, in this case I'd want him to do it.
I was raised in Ohio and was in college there when the Ohio National Guard shot and killed four students who were part of a Vietnam anti-war protest. The students were running away from the National Guard when they were murdered. Remember- four dead Kent State students because of the Ohio National Guard actions!
Why do we discuss Trump's actions as if he can be constrained, by anything, let alone the laws that exist to prevent these patently unconstitutional and immoral actions.
Nothing keeps him from doing what he wants, whenever he wants, especially now that he lives within his own delusions of grandeur.
He is not testing anyone, or any rule, guardrail, agreed-upon consensus on humane action and behavior, or societal norms. Trump has been unleashed upon us by the greedy and power mad. This ravenous beast is fed by the open and closeted racists among us. By appealing to our primitive, instinctual "fear of the other": our worst fears have come to be. There is a predator who is going to in order to take our family hostage and tie all of us to their beliefs, their culture, their language, their religion, and we must fight this takeover.
Enough with the sober discussions of what is legal, what is in Trump's power, what he cannot do legally, and so on. Do not tell me that the warrant for the search of Bolton's house is legit because it was signed by a judge or throw up your hands saying that it's too early to tell if there was justifiable cause for doing so. Are you kidding me? Are we really so dumb, or are journalists now too afraid the boss will cite them for not being "fair & balanced", or "objective". Don't dare to report that there is a "loophole" that Trump walked through, when he is crushing communities both psychologically and physically military presence, checkpoints for residents, barricades to residential streets. Eventually, as Trump/MAGA/2025 script continues to unfold, everything will be stamped and sealed as within the government's legal authority-- when it gets to the Supreme Court of course. In the meantime, as it winds through the courts, and polite discussions continue, damage that cannot be undone will continue unabated. The "disappeared" will never be returned to family, country, or community. We can only hope they are not being thrown out of planes.
I don't understand what you even want. You insist "Enough with the sober discussions of what is legal, what is in Trump's power, what he cannot do legally, and so on." "We can only hope [people] are not being thrown out of planes."
If someone doesn't present "sober discussions of what is legal, what is in Trump's power, what he cannot do legally," then how will you know? For that matter, how will you even know if people are "being thrown out of planes"?
An incredibly clarifying conversation on a legally complex subject.
But boy, didn't know it was possible to reach all new levels of being absolutely. terrified.
But not giving up.
Trump latches onto Seinfeld’s idea for “beautifying” cities as Nat'l Guard do landscaping & trash pickup in DC. Parading military units around tourist sites in DC is an expensive abuse of power. 8 of 10 states with the highest homicide rates are led by Republicans. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HRTa77OF1E
Send the guard into those 8 red states!
A polite analysis of what Trump is doing, gives Trump and the administration a veneer of normalcy, treating his presidency as if it is a run-of-the-mill policy for political gain.
If you require "experts" to explain legal constraints and "loopholes" you are similarly treating the administration's actions as just another grab for power. It is anything but, and ignoring the blatant climb to dismantle our government and our governing principle of "for the people, by the people, of the people" does no service to the citizens of our country, whatever their standing, or "political" views.
What do I want? I want the fire alarm ringing at every instance of illegal & unconstitutional action.
I don't know about you, but I don't want armed military personnel patrolling my streets or a military vehicle parked on my corner. Do we really need "justification" for that?
And we won't know if we've become Argentina, if this reserved discussion continues, as our democratic values crumble.
Exactly! It's time to be out on the streets, boycotting his chummy partner companies, blocking ICE agents at businesses and insisting that lawmakers actually do their jobs. I can't wait until 2026 to see just how many Americans fight back at the ballot box.
Poll this morning: 8% Democrats support federal troops in DC. 76% Republicans support it. Law and order issue rears its head. May be an election problem.
Let's all join the opposition and push back 💪 Join Indivisible.org 😊
Like Liza and Jen said, this is what it looks like and feels like to live in a police state. I am alarmed. Which is at this point an understatement.
Suggestion for governors. National Guard and Military personnel need to monitor and control ICE agents to protect citizens. If necessary, use this order to your advantage. Require the Guard to uphold the constitution.
Institutional hyper-socialization refers to the process by which authoritarians manipulate social environments to foster unquestioning obedience and conformity to authority. It goes beyond simple socialization and actively shapes individuals' beliefs, values, and behaviors to align with the regime's ideology, often through propaganda, censorship, and suppression of dissent.
Authoritarian hyper-socialization doesn't simply disappear when someone grows up. The effects of such an upbringing are often deeply ingrained and can continue to influence individuals in adulthood. These impacts can manifest in various ways:
1. Internalized patterns and behaviors
Individuals may struggle to trust their own judgment, constantly seeking external validation and approval.
They might develop perfectionist tendencies, leading to anxiety and stress.
Difficulty with decision-making and problem-solving can persist due to the lack of autonomy during childhood.
They may struggle with self-esteem and confidence.
Emotional regulation issues and suppressed emotional expression can lead to difficulty forming healthy relationships and potentially result in emotional outbursts or internalized stress.
2. Relationship dynamics
Individuals may find themselves mirroring the controlling behavior of their parents or becoming overly submissive in their adult relationships.
They might struggle to communicate their needs and feelings, leading to unhealthy relationship dynamics.
A fear of conflict and authority figures can impact their interactions with others.
3. Mental health challenges
Increased risk of mental health problems like anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem is associated with authoritarian parenting.
The pressure to conform and meet high expectations can lead to chronic stress and anxiety.
4. Rebellion
In some cases, individuals may rebel against strict authority during adolescence or adulthood, seeking freedom through secretive or defiant behavior.
Mary L. Trump, Donald Trump's niece and a clinical psychologist, has offered strong opinions on his mental maturity and psychological state, in her book, "Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man."
Mary Trump has stated that Trump is essentially "stuck" at a very young developmental stage, akin to a three-year-old, and is "incapable of growing, learning, or evolving". She emphasizes that this lack of personal growth makes him potentially dangerous as a leader. Psychological traits that are foundational in Trump's vandalization of our American Democracy include:
Developmental arrest: Mary Trump suggests that Donald Trump is essentially trapped in a childlike state, unable to grow or learn, and still seeking validation from his father, Fred Trump Sr., who she describes as a "high-functioning sociopath". This, according to Mary Trump, led to a personality disorder characterized by a lack of empathy and a need for constant admiration.
Fragile ego and grandiosity: She describes his ego as extremely fragile, constantly needing reassurance and prone to grandiosity as a defense mechanism to cover deep-seated insecurities. He may believe himself to be superior and deserves special treatment, while struggling with criticism or setbacks.
Potential for several psychological issues: Beyond what she describes as a severe form of narcissism, Mary Trump has suggested that Donald Trump may also exhibit traits consistent with Antisocial Personality Disorder, Dependent Personality Disorder, and a long-undiagnosed learning disability impacting his ability to process information.
Impact of family dynamics: Mary Trump argues that the family environment, dominated by her grandfather Fred Trump Sr., fostered a lack of empathy and a focus on wielding power and making money, leading Donald Trump to mimic this behavior. His father's harsh treatment and bullying of his older brother, Freddy, shaped Donald's fear of weakness and failure.
What, then, do we also known about Trump's followers and their propensity for vandalism?
Consider the likelihood of nihilists on the far-right. Last year University of Virginia sociologist James Davison Hunter in the The Hedgehog Review wrote that he identified nihilism as the central feature of contemporary culture: “A nihilistic culture is defined by the drive to destroy, by the will to power. And that definition now describes the American nation.”
He pointed to our culture’s pervasive demonization and fearmongering, with leaders feeling no need to negotiate with the other side, just decimate it. Nihilists, he continued, often suffer from wounded attachments — to people, community, the truth. They can’t give up their own sense of marginalization and woundedness because it would mean giving up their very identity. The only way to feel halfway decent is to smash things or at least talk about smashing them. They long for chaos.
One version of nihilism holds that the structures of civilization must be destroyed, even if we don’t have anything to replace them with.
According to David Brooks, Opinion Columnist with the new York Times nihilists don’t believe in what the establishment tells them to believe in. They live in a world in which many believe in nothing. But still, somewhere deep inside, that hunger is there. They want to have faith in something. For the nihilist all of America has been a sham, that democracy and everything that has come with it is based on lies.
Faith in God has been on the decline for decades; so has social trust, faith in one another; so has faith in a dependable career path. A recent Gallup poll showed that faith in major American institutions is now near its lowest point in the 46 years Gallup has been measuring these things.
The F.B.I. now has a new category of terrorist — the “nihilistic violent extremist.” This is the person who doesn’t commit violence to advance any cause, just to destroy. Last year, Derek Thompson wrote an article for The Atlantic about online conspiracists who didn’t spread conspiracy theories only to hurt their political opponents. They spread them in all directions just to foment chaos. Thompson spoke with an expert who cited a famous line from “The Dark Knight”: “Some men just want to watch the world burn.”
Nihilism is a cultural river that leads nowhere good. Russian writers like Turgenev and Dostoyevsky wrote about rising nihilism in the 19th century, a trend that eventually contributed to the turmoil of the Russian Revolution. The scholar Erich Heller wrote a book called “The Disinherited Mind” about the rise in nihilism that plagued Germany and Central Europe after World War I. We saw what that led to.
The Purdue Policy Research Institute (PPRI) 83% of all 2024 Trump voters were either adherents to Christian Nationalism or supporters.
Many, like Donald Trump, may thus be exhibiting a form of authoritarian hyper-socialization.
According to a 8 Feb 23 research report from the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI), white voters without a college degree are twice as likely to hold Christian nationalist beliefs than their counterparts with college degrees. PRRI also found Christian nationalism adherents are nearly seven times more likely than Christian nationalism rejecters to support political violence.
"Trump’s rise over the past three election cycles “accelerated and completed this political realignment based on education that had been forming since the early ’70s, at the beginning of the decline in the middle class.”
Lack of education can leave young people feeling disenfranchised and seeking alternative avenues for belonging and validation, which can sometimes be found in rigid social structures.
Trump has gotten away with telling voters that "foreigners pay tariffs" because many of Trump's supporters are less educated. “The biggest single, best predictor of how someone’s going to vote in American politics now is education level. That is now the new fault line in American politics,” according to the “CNN Political Briefing” podcast. Why do you think Trump is attacking our universities?
Put another way, college graduates hold about three-quarters of the wealth in the US, but account for only about 40% of the population.
There's a direct correlation to politics. In 2020, according to CNN’s exit polls, voters with a college degree accounted for 41% of the electorate and they supported President Joe Biden 55% to Trump’s 43%. Trump got the support of about two-thirds of White voters without a college degree, but he lost White college-educated voters. And our education system is now reeling from his vandalization.
Finally, Steve Schmidt, former Schwarzenegger, George W. Bush, and John McCain adviser, asserted in a 24 August 2018 PRWEEK article before he co-founded the Lincoln Project that, "The Republican Party I was born into was a personal responsibility party, not a victim party. Nowadays everybody’s a victim – and Trump made this virtuous,"
This MAGA grievance may well be be fueled by an intergenerational loss of status and control, which in turn is leading these folks to blame their insecurity on the improving status of others such as non-Christians, minorities and the educated.
Feelings of victimization, as we've seen, can be used as a pretext to increase the risk of delinquent behavior.
Vandals try to destroy those things they they can't have or resent!
Trump's behaviors make so much sense when you view him as having evolved from an abused child. Democracy denies him the control he covets.
In short, the vandalistic path of destruction being wrought by Trump and his followers on our Democracy and law and order may be just beginning, as Trump quashes the legal consequences constraining such behavior in the name of getting even.
"If you build it, they will come."
Yikes.
Jen, I read your essay about the presumption of regularity. It is so timely! The guy has done so much, out in the open, to completely obliterate the presumption of regularity. His blatant lies and his blatant defying of court orders and lying under oath to courts should really end that presumption of regularity for him. He is bad enough that there should now be a presumption of bad faith. And a presumption of irregularity.
I can’t believe the Ninth Circuit found, with no evidence to support his bullshit reason, that he is due deference. He is obviously NOT due any deference based on the facts of the circumstances and his own record of blatantly lying daily and defying court orders. Using the military or the national guard to suppress civil unrest is obviously to suppress protests, even peaceful protests. He is heading straight toward authoritarianism and is actually there already with the conduct he has gotten away with. The 9th circuit really screwed that backstop up.
I was in Spain in the 1970s when dictator Francisco Franco was still in power (not yet still dead). In the cities, there seemed to be a soldier at every street corner, decades after the civil war had ended. That's what an insecure dictatorship looks like.
Why can't the states act the way Trump is? If he tries to nationalize the Guard, why doesn't the governor order the Guard not to obey Trump? Why doesn't he have the police arrest the Guard members? I know those are risky, perhaps not even legal, actions, but why not act anyway?
Very clarifying…I have a lot of respect for the Brennan Center’s expertise in this and related areas. https://www.brennancenter.org/