A message to the non-MAGA: Are we there yet? Is Trump's rule already an autocracy? Yes to some extent... With unimaginable speed, Trump has shredded democracy and turned the government into his tool to amass more power and wealth for himself and his wealthy cronies. According to polls, nearly half of Americans think this is okay, excuse it, or disbelieve it. Over half of Trump's political party wants to replace our democracy with an autocracy (called a variety of names: Rule by a strong man, dictator, a king, a tyrant). Trump talks and acts like a dictator, abusing power, dishing out fear threats, and favors so successfully that this is no longer a free country.
Update: October 31, 2025; This is an extremely important editorial from The New York Times. It cites ten markers of what ends democracy and becomes a country ruled by an "authoritarian"based upon the study and history of authoritarians.. It makes a case of whether we are there already or it is in process. The general gist is that if we are not yet fully there in some markers, but in others, he has already done it. Please take this seriously. I am. I am gifting this for you to read. The 12 markers and reasons for it are graded by whether we are on the way, have started, and to what degree, or are already there. For the reasons and evidence regarding each of these markers, go to the text of the editorial itself: I have gifted it and hope you can access the full text. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/10/31/opinion/trump-autocracy-democracy-report.html? I like this approach because it is based on what Trump has done or tried to do, is devoid of inflammatory language, and is grounded in facts and examples. Here is a summary by marker headings.
Of the markers of Democacy's demise in terms of what markers of authoritarianism Trump has already accomplished are
-persecutes political opponents
-declaress national emergencies on false pretenses
-vilifies marginalized groups
-creates a cult of personality
-uses power for personal profit
Of the authoritarian markers Trump has already started and yet to have fully accomplish:
-stifles dissent and speech
-bypasses the legislature
-issues military for domestic control
-defies the courts
-controls information and the news media
-tries to take over universities
-manipulates the law to stay in power
Is it a great thing to give up your right to complain, disagree when you are harmed by your own government?. We are now there...a country ruled by one man who not only has gone rogue, ignores the rule of law and the Constitution, issues orders and memos he expects all to treat as the law and he will punish those who do not, abuses his power to line his family's pockets with crypto, but is already frightening the media, universities, law firms, and anyone who dissents against him now or in the past or in the future to shut up.. He is stacking the cards against opponents by political gerrymandering. Now he is demanding voting records from states...for what purpose? DOJ sues six states to hand over their voter registration lists. All six states are led by Democratic governors.
Be very afraid, you should be, but you can still take a deep breath and join the 53% of those polled who do not approve of him. The 2026 midterms may be the last chance to freely express objections without total federal control over how votes are counted and if voters are suppressed. The GOP representatives in the House, with all seats up for election, put loyalty to Trump first when his policies hurt their constituents. That the GOP representatives vote to harm their own constituents makes for fertile grounds for winning campaigns by the opposition. This is your opportunity to send a message and undo an autocracy. The courts are slow, and the final word in justice is a court tilted 6-3 to Trumpism. People's power is all that remains to reverse the Trump autocracy. There is safety in numbers, and the only real power left is the voters, you. Your only chance before voting in 2026 is to demonstrate in numbers your passion to keep this the land of the free. October 18 is No Kings, day the opportunity to show your power..
Trump's final step in destroying democracy completely is to use federal power to control what we once had, fair and free elections. He is suing 6 states with Democratic governors to force them to turn over voter rolls and information. The pretext for seizing control from the states and federalizing elections has been that the 2020 elections were stolen. That is Trump's fabricated story, and five years of trying to provide evidence of that have failed. It isn't because they are not trying. Demanding proof of citizenship is one way to suppress vote/ Unlike many other countries, we do not have a national ID number, and for many, the only proof of being born in the US is a birth certificate, requiring an effort and fee to get. A lower court just ruled against the requirement..https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/judge-rules-trump-cant-require-u-s-citizenship-proof-on-federal-voting-form#
In modern autocracies such as Russia, Turkey, and Hungary, elections are held, but they are not fair.. The outcomes are not trusted, as the opposition is suppressed by strong-arm threats and actions in advance. The media message and the voting process are controlled to benefit their leaders, and the secrecy of the voters has been compromised, and can be individually targeted. The official count is tainted by a regime that uses fear, revenge, and favor to get and keep control. The result: lifelong tenure for all three of the successful autocrats in power, Putin, Erdogan, and Orban. Once in such control, they are nearly impossible to stop.
If Trump gets his way, every single person's political affiliation would now be in the centralized, federal government's hands, controlled by this autocrat instead of being dispersed among the 50 states. Not only is it unconstitutional, but federal control also makes it easy for manipulation to skew the results, ultimately consolidating an autocrat's power or that of their successor to rule without any serious pushback.
Trevor HughesTerry Collinswriting in USA Today, believe we have already arrived at the point where Trump is acting like a dictator. Like those individuals she cites, they have been in one and now see it happening here, as I have. In addition, they provide a list of Trump's actions, not just words, that verify their conclusion. This is why I write what I write. Married to a refugee from Eastern Europe..and having spent long family visits in his homeland during the time when dictators ruled..I see Trump acting like them. I fear for the future..and I wish this on no one.
MUFTIC FORUM BLOG: Half of Republicans want a strong man president: imagine that, but got a beef? Lots of luck. A note to my MAGA friends.
- In Giant Deals, U.A.E. Got Chips, and Trump Team Got Crypto Riches - The New York Times
- Trump Is Laying the Groundwork for Stealing the Midterms
- Bright Line Watch/Washington Post poll (February 2025): Accelerated transgressions in the second Trump presidency | Bright Line Watch
- Seat of the pants guestimate of how many voters are hard core MAGA. Trump has a 43 percent approval rating per recent polls. If it is a question of democracy vs dictatorship/authoritarianism, 55% of registered Republicans want a strong man president...which is the question one poll asked. If that is the case, if I had the general feeling...not an exact estimate, but between 30% and 35% of all voters were hard-core MAGA, and the 15 percent are either unengaged, squishy, self-interested business types. The puzzle: Why does Trump continue to consolidate and energize his base instead of reaching out to add to his base? By using fear and favor and cheating, he can afford to ignore the popular vote. My guess is that he thinks that by lies, threatening with military suppression, overt racism, anti migrant mass deportation, and suppression, and limiting the ability of targeted opposition demographic groups to vote, using methods to federalize elections, and above all, political gerrymandering, he can tip the vote to him. If so he does not have to worry about the 55-plus who would turn up on election day to comprise the popular vote.
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