Tag: Trump wants to be a dictator

Trump’s Wag-the-Dog War

New York Times logoThe president is looking for a dangerous domestic enemy to fight.

Some presidents, when they get into trouble before an election, try to “wag the dog” by starting a war abroad. Donald Trump seems ready to wag the dog by starting a war at home. Be afraid — he just might get his wish.

How did we get here? Well, when historians summarize the Trump team’s approach to dealing with the coronavirus, it will take only a few paragraphs:

“They talked as if they were locking down like China. They acted as if they were going for herd immunity like Sweden. They prepared for neither. And they claimed to be superior to both. In the end, they got the worst of all worlds — uncontrolled viral spread and an unemployment catastrophe. Continue reading.

Conservative media helps Trump perform ‘law and order’ in Portland, with risks for November

Washington Post logo“Disaster”

“War zone.”

“Carnage in American cities.”

The descriptions of events in Portland, Ore., were emblazoned this week across scenes of mayhem playing in a loop on Fox News and pumped out by right-wing influencers on social media. The dystopian portrait has turned the liberal city into a test case for President Trump’s latest performance of “law and order” — the catchphrase he is making a focal point of his flagging reelection campaign by portraying Democrats as presiding over urban battle zones in which demonstrators are desecrating federal property. Continue reading.

Trump wants to be king. Did John Yoo just hand him the crown?

Washington Post logoPresidents rely on John Yoo for legal advice at their peril. Ask George W. Bush, who used Yoo’s memos from the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel as justification for his program of “enhanced interrogation.” The memos were later repudiated by Bush’s own Justice Department.

Now another president is poised to seize on Yoo’s work as justification for . . . well, God knows what. President Trump, who likes the lawyers who tell him what he can do, not the ones who instruct him what he can’t, has seized on Yoo’s contorted argument that the Trump administration’s loss at the Supreme Court in the “dreamers” immigration case is actually a win — albeit a misguided one — for presidential power. Yoo, now teaching law at Berkeley, can find presidential power anywhere, for anything. But this argument is a stretch even for Yoo.

Yoo’s argument, in National Review, goes like this: President Barack Obama lacked the legal authority to implement, by executive fiat, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program to protect from deportation dreamers brought to the United States as children. The Supreme Court, in a 5-to-4 decision by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., joined by the liberal justices, found that while Trump had the authority to revoke DACA, he hadn’t gone through the proper administrative procedures to do so lawfully. Continue reading.

Trump is threatening to send federal agents to various cities. The mayors are fighting back

Across the United States, protests have showed no signs of stopping following the Memorial Day police killing of George Floyd. In response, the Trump administration deployed federal forces in cities like Portland, Oregon, where they reportedly snatched protesters off the streets. Now, the mayors of several major cities have penned a letter condemning the “para-military type forces”.

It’s clear that President Trump is eager to quell protests as the election approaches. Over the past few days, reports of masked agents in Portland have grown. One protester, Mark Pettibone, told Oregon Public Broadcasting about his detainment, stating, “I am basically tossed into the van. And I had my beanie pulled over my face so I couldn’t see and they held my hands over my head.”

The problems in Portland stem not only from the government utilizing snatch-and-grab tactics but also from the fact that, as Business Insider reported, there is no discernible chain of command. Federal agents are out in unmarked vehicles and nobody knows who they are or what agencies they’re working with. Continue reading.

Kayleigh McEnany’s word games on the controversial scenes in Portland

Washington Post logoFederal law enforcement is currently clashing with demonstrators in Portland who say the officers have declined to identify either their agencies or themselves and have thrown the protesters in unmarked vans. But Kayleigh McEnany offered assurances that there is no “secretive” effort afoot. Oh, and she would also like to suggest that perhaps that Navy veteran who was beaten by police had it coming.

That was the gist of the White House press secretary’s Tuesday comments on the controversial and legally suspect scenes in Portland. The White House news briefing was the first since questions have been raised about the constitutionality and appropriateness of law enforcement failing to identify itself during a crackdown.

McEnany offered some very carefully worded and suggestive thoughts about the situation, and it’s worth breaking them down. Continue reading.

Trump’s acting Homeland Security secretary just made a damning admission on Fox News

AlterNet logoAppearing on Fox News Tuesday night, acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf — who has not been confirmed to his position by the Senate — made a damning admission about his department’s conduct in Portland.

Federal officials in Portland have prompted a fierce backlash for aggressive and legally dubious tactics against protesters in the city. Local officials have demanded that the federal officials, some of them using unmarked vehicles and wearing camouflage without identifying insignia, leave and let police handle law enforcement. But President Donald Trump and Wolf seem intent on using the Homeland Security forces to intimidate, rough up, and apprehend protesters to make the federal government appear tough.

And while he was speaking to Fox Host Martha MacCallum on Tuesday, Wolf seemed to confirm what many had accused his agency of doing: making unlawful arrests. Continue reading.

‘MomBloc’ and protest first-timers march into Portland streets, moved by the aggressive tactics of federal agents

Washington Post logoPORTLAND, Ore. — Kim Brolutti was on his knees, he said, when federal agents in Portland sprayed him in the face with chemicals at point-blank range.

It was the first demonstration in a long time for the retired 66-year-old nurse and father of two, who was compelled to join Portland activists who had called on parents from around the region to stand on the front lines after days of clashes with federal officials in the city.

As Brolutti’s eyes burned and his vision blurred, his adult children led him out of the crowd and away from an advancing line of federal police. He found a bench and sat. A volunteer street medic flushed out his eyes with water, and Brolutti’s head leaned back into his daughter’s open palms. Continue reading.

As Trump Pushes Into Portland, His Campaign Ads Turn Darker

New York Times logoThe Trump campaign is spending millions on ads that promote a dark and exaggerated portrayal of Democratic-led cities, a tactic that reinforces his “law and order’’ campaign message.

As President Trump deploys federal agents to Portland, Ore., and threatens to dispatch more to other cities, his re-election campaign is spending millions of dollars on several ominous television ads that promote fear and dovetail with his political message of “law and order.”

The influx of agents in Portland has led to scenes of confrontations and chaos that Mr. Trump and his White House aides have pointed to as they try to burnish a false narrative about Democratic elected officials allowing dangerous protesters to create widespread bedlam.

The Trump campaign is driving home that message with a new adthat tries to tie its dark portrayal of Democratic-led cities to Mr. Trump’s main rival, Joseph R. Biden Jr. — with exaggerated images intended to persuade viewers that lawless anarchy would prevail if Mr. Biden won the presidency. The ad simulates a break-in at the home of an older woman and ends with her being attacked while she waits on hold for a 911 call, as shadowy, dark intruders flicker in the background. Continue reading.

Facing unrest on American streets, Trump turns Homeland Security powers inward

Washington Post logoIn Portland, Washington and other U.S. cities shaken by protests in recent months, the Trump administration has leaned on the considerable authority and assets of the Department of Homeland Security — an agency formed to prevent another Sept. 11, 2001, attack — to spearhead the federal response.

Images of militarized Border Patrol agents clubbing protesters and stuffing them into unmarked vehicles have alarmed civil liberties advocates and administration critics, and the displays of government power echo tactics long associated with authoritarian rule.

Legal analysts say that while the department has broad authority to enforce federal laws, officers’ actions — especially in Portland, Ore. — seemed to be pushing the boundaries and pulling DHS into a domestic policing role. Continue reading.

Legal experts slam Trump’s ‘blatantly unconstitutional’ attempt to corrupt the census

AlterNet logoPresident Donald Trump on Tuesday signed a memorandum declaring undocumented immigrants are not to be counted when the number of U.S. Representatives for each state is allotted. That process, called “apportionment,” occurs every ten years after the official national census is conducted.

The U.S. Constitution mandates the census, which is being conducted this year, count “the whole number of persons in each state.” It makes no distinction as to their citizenship status.

What Trump is doing is claiming he has the authority to bypass the Constitution and declare undocumented immigrants are not “persons,” and therefore, literally, do not count. Continue reading.