Realpolitik: USA turning authoritarian?
The world is full of authoritarian regimes, some good and some bad, but all functioning under a Constitutional system that suits their interests.
Regardless of abortion, our Swiss cheese southern border, and illegals among us, if we vote for Joe Biden we are voting for a succession of endless wars, requiring ever changing villains, to feed the fake prosperity of a militarized economy. Kitchen-table Americans who reject the values of the pronouners know what it means to live on the edge of bankruptcy and see the wealth of the nation being expended in a national debt that we cannot pay back. That’s not a winning combo for Biden or whomever he is swapped out for.
Biden can still rescue his candidacy. First, he must go before the American people and admit his octogenarian slippage. Forgetting names, confusing places, missteps - these are all within the normal aging. He needs to stress the bizarre: he’s not mistaking the kerosene for Coke, he takes long bike rides without getting lost, and other negotiated challenges. He should declare for a cognitive test that he will share only with his family. Our main concern, that he does not live in the present, won’t be assuaged, leaving the deep staters with too much control. He cannot shake that Cold War persona which needs “bad guys” to craft foreign policy. His confusing, contradictory approach to the Gaza situation has us scratching our heads. Finally, ne need a new Veep.
Donald Trump is another case. He faces the headwinds in four political jurisdictions in a coordinated effort to take him down. Did we think the deep staters and the neocon, with the support of the military-industrial-congressional complex, would not continue their illegal invention of Russia-gate with another scheme? Not even die-hard liberals can deny their consciences any longer. Katie Tur, the liberal MSNBC host, shocked her guests in referring to NY’s draconian ruling against Trump when she asked “Is this fair?” Some have suggested that Trump deserves this because he wasn’t “fair” in refusing to pay the small business suppliers who contracted to work on his Atlantic City casinos. They forget that in NYC Trump had to toe the line with a highly unionized construction industry and tough consumer laws, all lacking in NJ. His base supporters aren’t buying it and have started a Go Fund Me site to help pay the $350+ million fine a liberal NYC judge added on to the jury verdict.
The real mantra against Trump is that, “He will destroy our democracy.” Now the same kitchen tables are being thumped with laughter. He had four years to do it -NOTHING! However, all those allayed against him, and Trump keeps notes, live in fear of the vengeance that will defrock their un-elected power. None of them can understand that Trump is not an ideological person; he’s a businessman. He sees the USA as a business and would run it as such. Remember the old slogan, “What’s good for General Motors is what’s goo for the country.” You can forget MAGA. Trumps new promise I’d “What’s good for business is good for America.” And Trump means big and small. Trump understands branding; all decisions should be presented to him within the context of “branding America.”
Yes, Trump is signaling he wants to head an authoritarian regime, one in which the administration controls all executive departments, including the CIA, DOJ, and FBI. This does not preclude democracy, as nominations and elections would be held as usual, minus ubiquitous mail-in ballots. In fact, Congress is now maneuvering to reclaim its constitutional authorities to retain the balance of power envisioned by the Founders. Thus Democracy will flourish under Trump as the Uniparty will break up and the two parties will return to their consensual ways. And the scope of Executive Orders will be severely limited.
How did America ever stray from the humanitarian ways that gave us FDR’s New Deal? The anti-humanitarians were able to undo FDR’s intellectual lineage and legacy by blocking the nomination of his alter ego, George Marshall, from the vice-presidency. The smoke-filled Convention back rooms picked a southerner, Harold Truman, a Missoruri politico whose only business background was in running a retail haberdashery store. When FDR died, Truman faced huge international decision for which he was ill-equipped. So he depended on state department professionals to create policy and guide his decisions. Thus was born the deep state, and it is a power never surrendered and an open opportunity for neocons to join their ranks. If Trump can cleans these ranks, slowdown the transferring of former public employees into critical industries, and limit the power of the elite donor class to buy legislative votes, federal and state, Trum will have done a service that returns democracy to relevancy.
Trumps ranks of supporters will grow as a backlash against these unprecedented prosecutions of an ex-president. Finally, the public is shaking off the idea that a presidential candidate must be a baby-hugging church-going do-gooder. if one can hold one’s nose and ignore the amoral self-aggrandizing stench, a vote for him will not be as dire as the Dems portray. Like all transformative presidents, he has to watch his back.
But the indomitable Trump has just created a line of sneakers, which are bound to enter his foot-loose political lexicon replacing MAGA hats. Of course his critics will only see jackboots.
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