Regime Change, The Imperial Presidency, And The Manchurian Candidate

Regime Change, The Imperial Presidency, And The Manchurian Candidate

By

Leonard Zwelling

https://www.anneapplebaum.com/

I was listening to Fresh Air on NPR the other day. The guest was a staff writer for The Atlantic, Pulitzer Prize winner Anne Applebaum. She was describing the ascendency of the Trump Presidency, particularly this second term, as true regime change in the United States. In essence, what we are seeing now is the natural extension of the activities of January 6, 2021 on Capitol Hill. This time Mr. Trump is aiming to completely change the American system of government and he is well on his way to succeeding and he is succeeding with the backing of a majority of the American people who wholly support what he is trying to do. So far.

But, what is he trying to do given what his minions were trying to do on January 6 is interfere with the normal functions of government because they did not like the result of an election?

Mr. Trump is trying to succeed where Mr. Nixon, George W. Bush, and to some extent, Franklin Roosevelt failed in cowing the Congress and negating the courts. He is attempting, as his predecessors have, to create the Imperial Presidency–as they committed crimes, went to war without Congressional approval, locked-up Japanese Americans, and played dirty tricks. Trump lied about who started a war. Make no mistake, Trump wants to turn the Presidency into a monarchy.

Ms. Applebaum’s point is that this is precisely how liberal democracies become autocracies, not through events on the outside, but through political manipulation from the inside.

Ms. Applebaum is married to the Foreign Minister of Poland. Poland is a country that neared autocracy but came back from the brink when the people managed to vote the autocrats out.

Not so much in Hungary where Viktor Orban was elected in a fair fashion then used the levers of power to clean out the civil service and replace those dismissed with acolytes devoted to him. He then turned to getting the universities under his thumb. Mr. Trump has taken many pages from the Orban play book. He is in the process of cleaning out our civil service and replacing those dismissed with “our people.” The reduction in the indirect cost rate on grants by the NIH is but the first attack on academia. Apparently, the National Science Foundation has compiled a list of words not to be used in grant applications. These are words like “woman.” Make no mistake again, the universities are next.

Now comes the best part. Mr. Trump has accused Mr. Zelenskyy of starting the Ukraine War with Russia and also is extorting him for access to Ukraine’s mineral riches in exchange for the military assistance already given. Vice President Vance has made it clear to our European allies that they have stifled freedom of speech and may well be on their own should Russia invade. So, whose side is Trump on, that of our Allies for 80 years or that of our clear adversary in Moscow? President Xi is laughing. If Putin can grab land in Ukraine, why can’t Xi take Taiwan?

It is widely known that Mr. Trump is a transactional leader, wanting something in return for everything he does. With Russia taking pieces of an ally’s country and with hundreds of thousands dying, this is not the time to make deals by extorting our friends for aluminum. This is the time to demonstrate to our adversaries what we stand for and what we will not stand for.

I do not think Mr. Trump agrees with this and I want to know why.

Why is Trump cozying up to Vladimir Putin, a vicious killer and wealthy oligarch?

Why is Trump proposing to eliminate the Palestinians from Gaza so he can build a Trump resort there?

Why has he chosen to insult and scare our European allies at the very time right wing extremism is on the rise in their countries, including, Germany?

I think that Mr. Trump’s goals are clear and have been all along.

He feels no responsibility to the NATO alliance and would just as soon quit it.

All talks with him are transactional and it is not so much what America gets out of anything. It is what does he personally get. I would very much like to know whether Mr. Putin or Mr. Musk bailed Mr. Trump out financially. We still don’t have an honest assessment of Trump’s supposed wealth.

Mr. Trump believes that he has the will of the people and that of God on his side, or at least he says so. He has emasculated Congress and packed the Supreme Court. There is absolutely nothing in his way from becoming king, enriching himself wildly, and carving up of the world with other monarchs.

This will work—for a while. When government services are no more; when taxes do not drop for the majority of the people who voted for Trump; when universities can no longer keep up academically or scientifically with our competitors in China thus constricting the discovery pipe line; and when free speech is curtailed through innuendo, extortion, and fear, then those who thought what Trump is doing is just fine will begin to understand what it is they voted for—regime change, an imperial presidency, and possibly a Manchurian candidate.

But it will be too late.