"Trump and Vance are simply Russian operatives."

~ Michael MacKay

#Trump #Vance #Putin #Russia #autocracy #authoritarianism
/5

https://www.bettedangerous.com/p/trump-and-vance-are-simply-russian

"There is also almost no parallel in a highly developed democracy for a leader to try and overthrow the government in a 'self-coup' and, rather than end up banned from politics, or stand trial, is elected to a second term, with a major political party as his personal tool, and legal, business, media, and other elites capitulating to him as though that coup attempt and insurrection had never happened."

~ Ruth Ben-Ghiat

#Trump #autocracy #authoritarianism
/4

https://lucid.substack.com/p/is-america-now-an-autocracy

"The autocrats have a simple plan: tear everything down and give them control. Let them use technology and artificial intelligence to optimize our lives, realizing efficiencies through the consolidation of power. They decide who's a terrorist and who goes to globally centralized prisons and concentration camps. Indeed, are we not already here?"

~ Dave Troy

#Trump #immigrants #DueProcess #dictatorship #autocracy #authoritarianism
/3

https://america2.news/convergence-is-here-and-were-not-prepared/

"Whatever you want to call what emerges here as the vision that animates the MAGA Right, 'democracy' it sure ain’t. It’s not a republic either. Despotism is on the rise. ...

Whatever label or concept we think best describes this reality, a 'democracy' it certainly is not.

Where does this end? Who is at risk? Anyone who stands in the way of the MAGA vision of purging the nation."

~ Thomas Zimmer

#Trump #dictatorship #autocracy #authoritarianism
/2

https://thomaszimmer.substack.com/p/how-the-republic-falls

@CindyWeinstein

Or as Nemik (played by Alex Lawther) says in “Andor” (Disney+):

“It’s so confusing isn’t it, so much going wrong, so much to say, and all of it happening so quickly. The pace of oppression outstrips our ability to understand it – that is the real trick of the Imperial thought machine. It’s easier to hide behind 40 atrocities than a single incident.”

Earlier this month, #Trump issued 2 #ExecutiveOrders revoking the #security clearances of #ChrisKrebs, who led #CISA under during Trump’s first term & rebutted his claims that the 2020 election had been rigged & stolen, & #MilesTaylor, who once served as chief of staff at the #DHS. Taylor anonymously wrote a NYT opinion essay in 2018 accusing Trump of rampant “amorality” & telling of an internal government “resistance.”

“It brings to mind the abuses of power that characterize #authoritarian nations, not the #UnitedStates. No matter one’s party or #politics, every American should reject the notion that the awesome #power of the presidency can be used to pursue individual vendettas. Behavior of this kind is more to be expected from a royal despot than the elected leader of a constitutional republic. This is the path of #autocracy, not #democracy.”

President #Biden rescinded the order after he took office, but after taking office again in Jan, #Trump signed a new EO reinstating & renaming it.

Trump & his allies laid the groundwork for a new admin stocked w/ #loyalists. #ScheduleF was a significant part of that plan.

Many of the Trump allies who pushed for Schedule F now have key roles in the admin, including Dpty Chief of Staff #StephenMiller & #OMB Dir #RussVought.

Such #CivilServants in #nonpartisan roles traditionally have had #JobProtections that shielded them from the political whims of whoever was in the White House.

But #Trump & many of his backers have long believed the #ConspiracyTheories that a "deep state" of Washington bureaucrats was undercutting his agenda.

Toward the end of his first term, Trump signed an EO establishing a #ScheduleF category for federal employees.