Authoritarian sirens from Day One
Executive orders for vengeance and oppression... God has chosen Trump... Full-on authoritarianism... No one stands in the way.
Tonight, Donald Trump has been busy signing dozens of executive orders that will—and this is not an exaggeration—alter the course of American life in the immediate future. I’ll be here to sort out these executive orders in the days and weeks ahead, and I’ll be ready to deploy to any places that will be affected by Trump’s actions. I imagine that means the border. That’s fine; I haven’t been to Juárez in a few years anyway.
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Now, on to the news…
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There was no designated survivor at Donald Trump’s inauguration as the 47th President today. No member of his administration was set aside from today’s proceedings in the event he and the highest-ranking members of our government were killed—and we don’t know why, as Kelly O’Donnell of NBC News reported.
This tells you all you need to know about the state of democracy in this country. Faced with a logistical—if grim—requirement of the official transition of power, Trump and Republicans apparently chose simply to not designate a survivor to lead the nation in the event of a catastrophe. That’s because Republicans, much of America, and Trump himself believe he has been ordained by God to lead the nation and the world into the next era of history. All the rest of us are just along for the ride.
“I was saved by God to make America great again,” Trump said in his official inaugural address, one of three sets of remarks he gave throughout the day and evening.
With each appearance, we got closer and closer to the real Trump. His actual inaugural address was a formal, teleprompter-aided affair. Following that speech, he then spoke to supporters and dignitaries in Emancipation Hall, taking the mask off a little further to complain about Jan. 6 investigations, Joe Biden’s pardons and the 2020 election, among other favorite grievances. During his remarks, he continuously mentioned that he wanted to discuss these perceived wrongs in his actual inaugural address but had been convinced to avoid those subjects by his wife and JD Vance.
It’s not that he was scared of saying these things to the faces of those he’s deemed responsible for them, you see. No, Trump is certainly no coward. They were all there for his formal inaugural address—Obama, Biden, Harris and others—but Trump instead took the high road, he said. After his formal remarks, while speaking in front of his people, Trump said some of the things he wanted to say about Biden and others. Then he ratcheted it up a little more when he got to Capital One Arena, surrounded by the safety of his most hardcore supporters.
Prepare for the wars to come
By the time he took to the stage at the arena, Trump had devolved into the full, unbridled version of himself that he really wants to be. He kicked off his remarks by noting that one of his first orders of business will be to issue pardons for what he calls the “J6 hostages”—his supporters who have either been convicted of or are awaiting judgment for a variety of crimes they committed in attempting to overturn the 2020 election.
That’s the real Trump, in case you didn’t already know. First he’ll release his goons from prison, then he’ll set them to work with all the other people backing what can now only be described as an authoritarian push to consolidate power, and oppress, silence and punish political enemies.
It is here, people. After many dalliances with the matter—violent opposition to the civil rights movement, Nixon in ’68 and ’72, George Wallace, David Duke, Rush Limbaugh, Newt, and on and on—the Republican Party is now a full-throated authoritarian political organization. No one will stand in Trump’s way.
And why should they? Trump has been chosen by no less than God himself to lead us through this historical moment. He said so today, in words that represent the most forceful and direct claims yet that he was saved from two assassination attempts by divine providence.
Even more so than his coronation at the RNC over the summer, Trump’s comments today were further evidence that many of our elected leaders view Trump and themselves as part of a holy movement to reclaim America.
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Not satisfied with gaining control of the entire American right, Trump is now coming for the rest of us. Among the executive orders he signed on stage in front of his supporters tonight is this one, subtly titled “Restoring Freedom of Speech and Ending Federal Censorship.” We’ll call this the Misinformation Executive Order, because misinformation is what it seeks to support.
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