The following article by Tommy Christopher was posted on the ShareBlue.com website June 24, 2018:
Trump reaches further into authoritarianism every day.
After a terrible week that saw him surrender to public outrage over his child confiscation policy, Trump let his dictatorial streak come through by demanding that his political opposition stop trying to check him.
In a series of tweets Sunday, Trump also demanded the elimination of due process, and referred to immigrants like the children he has imprisoned as “invaders.”
“Democrats, fix the laws. Don’t RESIST,” Trump wrote. “We are doing a far better job than Bush and Obama, but we need strength and security at the Border! Cannot accept all of the people trying to break into our Country. Strong Borders, No Crime!”
“We cannot allow all of these people to invade our Country,” Trump continued. “When somebody comes in, we must immediately, with no Judges or Court Cases, bring them back from where they came.”
Trump’s comments Sunday are echoes of things he has said in the past. He has previously referred to immigrants like the children he’s locked up as an “infestation,” and just a few weeks ago, mocked the very idea of due process for immigrants in an interview with “Fox & Friends” host Brian Kilmeade.
“Who ever heard of a system where you put people through trials?” Trump asked, and promised to “change the system.”
But Trump’s demand that Democrats not “resist” is a new spin on Trump’s despotic tendencies, and one which comes at an especially troubling time. Trump’s executive order on family separations was a naked attempt to escape bad press, but did nothing to solve the crisis Trump has caused.
And now, no one knows where all the kids are, or when they will be reunited with their parents, and Republicans so far have no plan to hold Trump accountable for any of it. There is every indication that the “zero tolerance” policy that caused this crisis will continue, and Trump is now looking to cut off what little recourse these vulnerable children have.
Now is the time that everyone, not just Democrats, should resist Trump and his attacks on our values.
Published with permission of The American Independent.