After watching Donald J. Trump go through four years of hell simply trying to exercise his duties as a duly elected President, one would hardly think his tenure was the coronation of a dictator. But that is what Democrats and Never Trump advocates would have voters believe.
A recent article by Matt Taibbi from ‘Racket News’ on Substack and published on ZeroHedge.com, the 2024 electoral fix may already be in.
Now that we have entered the primary season, on Jan. 14, NBC News ran a piece on “Fears grow that Trump will use the military in ‘dictatorial ways’ if he returns to the White House.” One good thing, at least they don’t think he’ll use the FBI or Department of Justice to do it.
Apparently, President Joe Biden issued a memo stating that “Trump is an existential threat to democracy.” Nothing new there, but it did trigger a re-election strategy titled Transition Integrity Project (TIP). What they fear is retribution, not a dictator.
Former CIA and defense chief Leon Panetta helped stoke the fires with this diatribe, “Like any good (good?) dictator, (Trump’s) going to use the military to basically perform his will.”
Trump already did that when he suggested to then Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi to use the National Guard in case the Jan. 6 protest in Washington, D.C. got out of hand.
Nancy declined and everyone went to jail instead. Except for Ashli Babbitt, who was shot and killed.
Does Trump have a score to settle with his former colleagues along the Beltway, it would seem so. But like all the ”insurrection” trials that Trump’s been dragged into, including two impeachments, his demeanor’s been anything but dictatorial despite TIP’s raging paranoia.
The 75 million who voted for Trump in 2020 must have been blind not to see the former president’s inclination for tyranny. Democratic Congressman Dean Phillips, in a recent interview, referred to these delusional MAGA Trumpers as “thoughtful, hospitable, friendly,” wait … what?
In fact, Phillips went on to say “My party is completely delusional.”
Now wait a minute, everybody can’t be nuts! Oh, but they can be.
To close, please read this insightful piece from a book review by “First Things” writer Robert Carle, taken from Jack Fowler’s “Civil Thoughts,” jfowler@amphil.com.
In her new book, Red Memory, Tania Branigan describes the clashing memories of the Cultural Revolution. Those who suffered under the brutality of the Red Guard describe an infernal decade when Mao turned his murderous paranoia on his own people, leading them to tear each other to pieces. Children denounced their parents, and students murdered their teachers. In Mao’s campaign against the four “olds” (Old Ideas, Old Culture, Old Customs, and Old Habits), traditional Chinese culture and morality became targets for destruction. . . Red Memory is full of chilling stories of brutality and betrayal. Fang Zhongmou witnessed the torture and beating of her husband by adolescent Red Guards. She endured years of interrogations at her workplace because her father had been a landowner. One night in 1970, while doing laundry at home, she launched into a tirade against Mao. Her son told her, “If you go against my dear Chairman Mao, I will smash your dog head in.” He reported her to officials. After two months of violent “struggle sessions,” Fang was executed. The son grew up to be a guilt-ridden adult who agonizes over his mother’s gravesite.
Considering the anguish Fang Zhongmou’s son now goes through, be very careful when choosing who you want to be your next dictator.