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The concept of democracy is in retreat across the
globe. We know that human history is
cyclical and that there are periods when civilization turns and follows
sometimes unexpected paths as it moves through time. It seems like the last 50-75 years have been
a time of great upheaval and change across the globe.
After WWII there was a great movement toward principles of
democratic government, and then about 30 years ago, the trend reversed and
autocracy and dictatorships began to gain the upper hand. What we all hoped was going to be the 21st
Century of enlightenment is instead becoming a darkening period where human
civilization is drifting toward demagoguery and autocracy.
The United States is not immune to this drift. The time of Trump is a manifestation of this
new direction. Trump is not an
aberration of politics, he is the result of the decaying of belief in truth and
rule of law. So what we see every day in
his actions and the actions of his minions is the growth (like bacteria in a
petri dish) of lies, misdirection, and foul behavior based on greed, money and
power.
I watched the coverage of Trump’s meeting with the
‘spymaster of North Korea’ last week and marveled at the change in direction of
the erstwhile Summit meeting plans. It
became clear to me that the motives of these two men were completely different
from what we all HOPED the motives were.
It has become clear that Trump is a mob boss. He only cares about what he can acquire and
corrupt in the service of his own aggrandizement. There are no limits to his boundaries with
regard to right and wrong. His
counterpart from North Korea has the same motives. What all of us hoped motivated these
cockroaches was the reduction of terror and nuclear danger in the service of
uplifting human beings. Not so,
everyone….these guys are only interested in finding a path that will reduce
possible warfare so they can continue to oppress and take personal advantage of
humanity. Trump and Kim want to neutralize
what appears to be a threat to their continued march toward autocracy,
corruption and tyranny.
Who are Trump’s heroes?
Kim Jong Un, Vladimir Putin, Rodrigo Duterte, King Abdullah of Saudi
Arabia, and Recep
Tayyip Erdoğan. He talks about them as
‘strong leaders’. He wants to emulate
them. He praises them in terms that we have not heard about these people in
decades. He wants to show off his
military hardware in a big parade; he wants to investigate all his adversaries and throw them in jail,
starting with Hillary Clinton; he wants to muzzle the free press; now he
threatens to pardon all the bad actors, including himself! He is patterning himself after his heroes.
To try to get a measure of just how far we have fallen, imagine Barak
Obama doing all the things that President Trump is doing. How long would it be before impeachment
proceedings would begin? Nanoseconds.
So where does this lead us? My
fear is that Trump and all his tyrant role models are going to carve up the riches
of the planet for their own gain. Just
look on a macro level at all the parts of our society that have been
compromised and destroyed. Everything
from the rule of law to the end of myriad regulations put in place to serve the
needs of the people is in jeopardy.
Trump’s concept of Article 2 of the Constitution is that he has unlimited
power, including the right to assassinate an FBI Director and not fear
indictment! The recent 20 page
‘letter/memo’ that Trump’s lawyers sent to the special prosecutor outline all
kinds of situations where the Executive is untouchable: from subpoena to
criminal action to unrestricted pardoning.
Trump is attempting to re-write the Constitution.
I guess the real question is whether he will succeed…..
If we don’t, as a nation, come together to preserve the ideals that our
founders tried to imbue in the Constitution, then our drift over the edge will
continue. I cannot say it loudly or
often enough….our moment of clarity is approaching in November. Vote the bums out!
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