EDITOR’S NOTE: The leprechauns were at work yesterday with some of our computer code, so Part 1 of Mike’s column did not get posted. We re-posted, so it will be included, and here is a link – https://www.tillamookcountypioneer.net/trying-to-see-part-one-how-democracies-devolve-into-dictatorships/
By Michael Randall
The following article is the second part of a two-part series that deals with Donald Trump’s rise to power in 2016, and his resurgence ahead of the upcoming November 2024 election. This second part discusses his plans and their potential impact on the United States and the world.
The January 6, 2021 riot that attacked the Capitol Building in Washington, DC was purposely provoked by Donald Trump. For two months, he repeatedly had been told by his senior staff members that he had in fact lost the November 2020 election. But he did not want to believe them, for he was completely obsessed by his emotional need to stay in power. He simply refused to admit what he knew to be true. What kind of soulless person takes such action against his own nation?
Equally important, why do tens of millions of his followers want him to be reelected next November? What can America and the world expect Trump to try and implement if he wins next November? Here are just a few things, of many that he plans to carry out.
First, on December 3, 2022 he wrote on Truth Social (TS) that the “fraudulent” election “allows for the termination of all rules, regulation, and articles, even those found in the Constitution.” That is what Trump said, and nothing appears to have changed his mind. In 1934, German newspapers thought Hitler would never attempt to void the constitutional protections of German citizens, but over six million people were slaughtered in his camps. Trump already used violence on January 6, 2021 to try to stay in power.
Second, Trump has vowed to “carry out the largest domestic deportation operation in American history.” His anti-immigration staffer, Steven Miller, said the plan includes deputizing National Guard units as immigration enforcement officers under Trump’s command. Other federal, state, and local law enforcement likely will be deputized and also used in nation-wide, large-scale raids to round up undocumented immigrants. They would be held in massive camps near the southern border prior to deportation. This assembly-line deportation system would eliminate due process protections and deny access to legal services to people swept up in these raids. As this despicable savagery gets underway, how many American citizens will wrongly be snatched, and which of Trump’s enemies will also be swept up? And how many good citizens will learn to look the other way, afraid for themselves and their families?
Third, if elected, Trump will be the head law enforcement officer in the nation, in charge of the Justice Department and FBI. He has promised to use Presidential power and the Justice Department against his enemies in a vengeance-driven purge of federal civil servants, elected officials, journalists, and others who have protested his actions, or indicted him for numerous crimes that he brought upon himself. If he wins and has not been tried in court prior to the election, he will have the cases against him dropped and will pardon those convicted in the January 6 riot.
Fourth, he will fire officials who resist his revenge project, replacing them with toadies who will swear obedience to him, not to the Constitution. The right-wing Heritage Foundation’s major “Project 2025” lays out plans for Trump to slash Justice Department funding, dismantle the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security, and close down the Departments of Commerce and Education.
One of Project 2025’s “Four Pillars,” is to build a data base of people to replace thousands of non-partisan civil service employees across the federal government, thus destroying the federal civil service system and replacing it with loyalists to Trump who can be fired at his whim. Look up “Project 2025.” Within it nestles “Pillar II,” the personnel data base section. If you want to apply for a Trump job, you can already do so.
Fifth, Trump has threatened numerous times to take the US out of NATO, and it is virtually certain he will do so, if elected. He sees no value in alliances such as NATO or other military agreements. Also, just yesterday he said that, if elected, the US will not provide Ukraine with more weapons to help it beat back Russia’s invasion. Ukraine simply will disappear as a free nation if Trump becomes President again.
Millions of America’s Trump supporters may think this will have no impact on their own lives, and they don’t care much if at all about the damage to foreign lives and freedoms. But there will be terrible consequences here if Trump ends the US commitment to NATO. Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, ISIS–all will witness the United States shrinking inward, refusing to honor the collective security agreements it has built since World War II. Faith in the US as a supporter of freedom will immediately evaporate. We already shook the world’s faith in the US in 2016 when we elected Trump the first time.
Worse, Trump’s action will let loose the dogs of war. Putin has said many times that he wants to rebuild Russia’s empire. When prepared, he will invade NATO member countries that used to be brutalized members of the old Soviet Union: Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Albania, Croatia, Montenegro, and North Macedonia. These and other NATO countries cannot defend themselves against Russia without US support. Also, China will take Taiwan which, without American help, will be unable to resist China’s sustained attacks accompanied by a sea embargo.
Here are more perspectives about Trump from four of his former senior Cabinet leaders. (1) “He is more dangerous than anyone could ever imagine” (James Mattis, Secretary of Defense). (2) “He will always put his own interests, and gratifying his own ego, ahead of everything else, including the country” (Bill Barr, Attorney General). (3) “His understanding of global events, his understanding of global history, his understanding of US history is really limited” (Rex Tillerson, Secretary of State). (4) “Trump has this impression that foreign leaders, especially adversaries, hold him in high regard…Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin, Kim Jon Un. In fact, the exact opposite is true. …They think he is a laughing fool” (John Bolton, National Security Adviser)
Mike Randall welcomes comments from readers (no death threats, please) at merslife@gmail.com.
