Tag: Trump wants to be a dictator

A Moment of National Shame and Peril—and Hope

We may be witnessing the beginning of the end of American democracy, but there is still a way to stop the descent.

The slide of the United States into illiberalism may well have begun on June 1, 2020. Remember the date. It may well signal the beginning of the end of the American experiment.

The president of the United States stood in the Rose Garden of the White House on Monday, railed against weak governors and mayors who were not doing enough, in his mind, to control the unrest and the rioters in their cities, and threatened to deploy the U.S. military against American citizens. It was a stunning moment. But, in particular, it was notable for three important reasons.

First, Donald Trump expressed only the barest of condolences at the murder of George Floyd, but he also said nothing about the fundamental and underlying reasons for the unrest: systemic racism and inequality, a historic absence of respect, and a denial of justice. All of these factors are centuries old and deeply engrained in an American society that systematically delivers white privilege at the expense of people of color. Continue reading.

James Mattis Denounces President Trump, Describes Him as a Threat to the Constitution

In an extraordinary condemnation, the former defense secretary backs protesters and says the president is trying to turn Americans against one another.

In an extraordinary condemnation, the former defense secretary backs protesters and says the president is trying to turn Americans against one another.

“I have watched this week’s unfolding events, angry and appalled,” Mattis writes. “The words ‘Equal Justice Under Law’ are carved in the pediment of the United States Supreme Court. This is precisely what protesters are rightly demanding. It is a wholesome and unifying demand—one that all of us should be able to get behind. We must not be distracted by a small number of lawbreakers. The protests are defined by tens of thousands of people of conscience who are insisting that we live up to our values—our values as people and our values as a nation.” He goes on, “We must reject and hold accountable those in office who would make a mockery of our Constitution.”

In his j’accuse, Mattis excoriates the president for setting Americans against one another. Continue reading.

Esper under fire after breaking with Trump on Insurrection Act

Fissures emerge in GOP on the issue of deploying troops to quell protesters

Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper’s implicit rebuke of President Donald Trump over using active-duty troops to quell domestic unrest may have landed Esper in hot water and is revealing splits within GOP ranks on the question.

Even as upheaval in U.S. cities has started to wane, the political fallout may still spread.

Two days after Trump said he might need to send active-duty troops to help police combat lawlessness in major cities — even if governors did not want the troops — Esper told reporters Wednesday he did not see the urgency in adding regular troops to the thousands of National Guard forces now backing up American police. Continue reading.

Pentagon chief breaks with Trump, opposes invoking Insurrection Act

The Hill logoDefense Secretary Mark Esper said Wednesday he does not support invoking a law that would allow President Trump to use the U.S. military for domestic law enforcement amid nationwide protests surrounding the death of George Floyd.

Esper’s remarks represent a break with the president, who has threatened to deploy active-duty troops to quash protests if governors do not “dominate” the demonstrators.

“I’ve always believed and continue to believe that the National Guard is best suited for performing domestic support to civil authorities in these situations in support of local law enforcement,” Esper said at a news conference Wednesday. Continue reading.

Pentagon Adviser Resigns, Slams Defense Secretary Mark Esper Over Trump Photo-Op

“Where will you draw the line, and when will you draw it?” James N. Miller, a former defense official, wrote in his resignation letter to Esper.

A member of the Pentagon’s science advisory board resigned Tuesday over Defense Secretary Mark Esper’s failure to speak out against the forcible dispersal of protesters near a church where President Donald Trump staged a photo-op a day earlier.

James N. Miller, who served as the under secretary of defense for policy from 2012 to 2014, announced his departure from the Defense Science Board in a fiery letter of resignation addressed to Esper and published in The Washington Post.

Miller accused Esper of violating his oath of office by appearing to support the use of tear gas and rubber bullets to clear a crowd of peaceful anti-racism protesters near the White House so Trump could pose for a photo holding a Bible outside St. John’s Episcopal Church. Continue reading.

Can the president really order the military to occupy US cities and states?

After a week of both peaceful protests and violent chaos in the wake of George Floyd’s death, President Donald Trump announced, “If a city or state refuses to take the actions that are necessary to defend the life and property of their residents, then I will deploy the United States military and quickly solve the problem for them.”

Is Trump’s warning just bluster? Does the president have the authority to send the military into American cities?

The answer to this question involves a web of legal provisions that help define the president’s constitutional roles as commander in chief and chief executive of the country and that simultaneously try to balance presidential power with the power of state leaders. Continue reading.

Kellyanne Says Church Photo Op Wasn’t A Photo Op

White House counselor Kellyanne Conway insisted Tuesday that Donald Trump’s photo-op in front of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Lafayette Square the day before was not actually a photo-op.

On Monday, military police fired tear gas into a crowd of peaceful protesters, including clergy members, to clear a path for Trump to walk from the White House to the nearby church.

Trump spent approximately three minutes in front of the church, posing for pictures with a Bible. Asked by a reporter whether it was his Bible, Trump responded that it was “a Bible.” Trump did not go inside the church, nor did he meet with any members of the church.

Video of the photo-op was later used for a propaganda video sent out by the official White House Twitter account. Continue reading.

How Trump’s Idea for a Photo Op Led to Havoc in a Park

New York Times logoWhen the history of the Trump presidency is written, the clash with protesters that preceded President Trump’s walk across Lafayette Square may be remembered as one of its defining moments.

WASHINGTON — After a weekend of protests that led all the way to his own front yard and forced him to briefly retreat to a bunker beneath the White House, President Trump arrived in the Oval Office on Monday agitated over the television images, annoyed that anyone would think he was hiding and eager for action.

He wanted to send the military into American cities, an idea that provoked a heated, voices-raised fight among his advisers. But by the end of the day, urged on by his daughter Ivanka Trump, he came up with a more personal way of demonstrating toughness — he would march across Lafayette Square to a church damaged by fire the night before.

The only problem: A plan developed earlier in the day to expand the security perimeter around the White House had not been carried out. When Attorney General William P. Barr strode out of the White House gates for a personal inspection early Monday evening, he discovered that protesters were still on the northern edge of the square. For the president to make it to St. John’s Church, they would have to be cleared out. Mr. Barr gave the order to disperse them. Continue reading.

Trump wanted a photo op. He delivered the most ominous message of his presidency.

Washington Post logoIt isn’t easy to invent rituals. But the president of the United States struggled to do that on Monday evening, choosing a new form of spectacle over such timeworn but effective presidential gestures as offering consolation, listening to grievance and calming the country.

After unleashing the National Guard and law enforcement agents on peaceful protesters outside the White House, Donald Trump traversed Lafayette Square to the north, where he stood for a few minutes holding a Bible outside the shuttered parish house of St. John’s Church, which was damaged by a brief fire in the basement during protests on Sunday. He held the book awkwardly in both hands, looking at it briefly as if to double check that he had brought the right one, and then held it aloft, like the raised arm of a victorious boxer. Behind him, a church sign read: “All are welcome.”

The walk, the display of the Bible and the return to the White House through a phalanx of armored law enforcement personnel were quickly edited into a surreal video with a soaring soundtrack. But nothing quite worked, and though its producers clearly aspired to the inspirational bombast of Steven Spielberg or perhaps Leni Riefenstahl, they could barely muster a ­second-rate pastiche of Charlie Chaplin. Continue reading.

Five things to know about Trump’s legal power under the Insurrection Act

The Hill logoPresident Trump is threatening to deploy U.S. troops to states and cities that don’t crack down on destructive protests that have gripped the nation amid the uproar over the killing of an unarmed black man in police custody.

In order to send troops to police the streets, Trump would need to invoke an 1807 law known as the Insurrection Act, which authorizes the commander in chief to deploy active-duty troops within the United States to enforce federal or state laws under certain circumstances.

Here are five things to know about the statute. Continue reading.