WELCOME TO THE BLOG This blog reflects my views of current political issues.. It is also an archive for columns in the Sky Hi News 2011 to November 2019. Winter Park Times 2019 to 2021.(paper publishing suspended in 2021) My Facebook page, the muftic forum, posts blog links, comments, and sharing. Non-political Facebook page: felicia muftic. Subscribe for free on Substack: https://feliciamuftic.substack.com Blog postings are continuously being edited and updated.
iMusk and theTrump regime tried to pull a fast one and destroy the consumer financial watchdog which was formed after the 2008 crash and provided a place for consumers to get relief from financial fraudsters. Musk tried to kneecap it and so did the Trump regime, but the courts said no, keep on finding it and the workers in the bureau.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-administration-suffers-legal-blow-over-cfpb-funding/ar-AA1TixrX?ocid=socialshare
My nagging question: why does fascism keep raising its ugly head? It is a failed system that leads to the eventual self-destruction of nations
I maintain many personal connections in Europe and elsewhere. I have met so many with whom I share what values we have in common. When given the opportunity to express themselves in a democracy, the extremes and the middle have a chance to be heard. A recent phenomenon throughout the democracies of the world is the small but vocal voices of neo nazis who seem to find glory in hatred. bigotry, and disharmony. Yes, I do mean elements within the MAGA movement that leave me wondering why. Fascism of the past and neo fascism today worship forms of governance that only lead to the defeat and destruction of their societies and their forms of governance. Thousands are persecuted and many die as victims of such hatred of "others." Economies dominated by fascist like leaders. whether in Russia or their allies. struggle and fail to realize the potential of the well-being of the nations as a whole. Fascism destroyed Germany, reducing it to rubble, and it lost a generation of those killed in the war. In South America, fascism brought economic stagnation and crippled their reaching their full potential. Fascism and the devotion to gaining and keeping political power make for infertile grounds for economic development. Those struggles that continue to this day, as periodic rising fascism sets back democracy until the voice of reason gains power again. In the US, the voices of white supremacy in a land that is fast approaching the time when their majority is replaced by those of many colors, are the theme of too many within the MAGA movement. Their emergence to the halls of power brings elements of destruction to domestic tranquility as the leaders favor their own racial group and try to suppress the power of "others". That is a repeat history of which brings nothing positive to our civilization, but hatred and division., Why?
Why the devotion of some to such a failed governance model is my nagging question. I just don't get it. There are studies that arrive at some conclusions. Some in academia attribute it to "widening wealth gaps, rapid technological shifts, cultural anxiety, and a loss of faith in traditional systems..." , elements that certainly exist in the US in 2025. (sources::below)
Going bonkers: MAGA claims our republic is not a democracy anyway so his power grabs are OK?Poli sci 101: we are both a republic and a democracy, called a representative democracy. It is still based upon the vote of the people. It is not either/ or. Trump supports neither. He thinks and acts like an autocrat, thinking he can do whatever he wants, including ignoring or controlling the other two branches of government and attempting to overturn or control ballot results he does not like.
Benjamin Franklin defined the new Constitutional form of government as a Republic..with a warning, "If we can keep it." I just ran across a fb posting by a MAGA loyalist that claimed a republic is not a democracy. Sorry, Ben, we are both a republic and a democracy: We are a representative democracy. My guess this"we are a republic; we are not a democracy" was a bonkers attempt to rationalize a power grab by a president as being ok, approved by the Constitution. It is not okay. The subversion of our form of a republic/representative democracy is underway in the Trump regime, as administration officials attempt to turn a republic de facto into an autocracy in front of our half-open eyes. That is open defiance of the definition of "democracy" itself as rule by the people, which means, either through their elected representatives or directly by popular vote. . In fact, the standard definition of a republic is it is a form of representative democracy. In theory, a republic is still responsive to the people who elect their representatives. We have a representative democracy. That is poli sci 101. What Trump is trying to do is have America be neither a republic nor a democracy. He is trying to be an autocrat...rule by one, himself, treating his executive orders as laws to be obeyed, ignoring or controlling Congress and the lower judiciary, while subverting the election processes. He played a major role in the attempted coup on January 6 to overturn the 2020 election. And now he ordered state GOPs to gerrymander states to get more Congressional seats for his party in 2026 and to diminish minority racial representation.
Getting in the poli sci weeds:
In America, it is both: a republic and a democracy per this learned discussion.“Democracy” vs. “Republic”: Is There A Difference? | Dictionary.com " For all practical purposes, it’s both. In everyday speech and writing, you can safely refer to the US as a democracy or a republic. If you want or need to be more precise in referring to the system of the US, you can accurately call it a representative democracy. And should you need to be exacting? The US can be called a federal presidential constitutional republic or a constitutional federal representative democracy." James Madison tried to define a republic as being different than a democracy (which he defined as mob rule), but in Federalist 39 he said that the republic still had to get its authority from broad masses, not a knot of elites . Another of many other sources: We are a blend of both a republic and a democracy: Was the United States Founded as a Republic or a Democracy? - Colonial Williamsburg
If there was anything our founders feared, and the reason for the revolution, was to keep America free of a tyrannical king...or any other tyrannical ruler. Madison feared a resurgence of a king-like ruler and was instrumental in shaping a constitution to guard against that: dividing power among three branches with checks on each other. There was an anti-emoluments clause to head off bribery.. To add more balance, the Bill of Rights was added as a compromise to protect citizen rights. A case can be made that Trump can be seen as a wannabe tyrant, uprooting even those fundamental barriers to give himself the power of a tyrant/King. That case follows:
The Trump regime pretends it is still a democracy when it is doing what it can to subvert it. and to remove the democratic elements or even ignore the support of the broad masses because it has such power. Nevermind the representatives elected by voters are forced to represent the interests of the wannabe dictator and not the interests of their constituents who elected them. Nevermind the Trump regime uses its DOJ as an instrument for him to rule by fear and favor. Never mind the independent judiciary rulings Trump does not like are placed on ice as Trump awaits appeals from "his" 6-3 Supreme Court.
Trump's own chief of staff, Susie Wiles, was quoted as saying that Trump believes" he can do whatever he wants" in an interview published by Vanity Fair. Of all the quotations in that interview, that one was the one that was the most frightening. We voters should not be shocked that a person occupying the Oval Office with that kind of megalomaniacal attitude fancies himself a dictator and acts like an autocrat by abusing his power. He is getting away with it so far. MUFTIC FORUM BLOG: List of particulars: How Trump has consolidated his dictatorial powers in eleven months
. A unitary government, the purpose and the blueprint for enactment by Project 2025, is for a president to act like the legislature and judiciary, as well as the administrator,all rolled into one big hammer.. Unitary executive, the term used by proponents of Projet 2025, is just a fancy word for autocracy/dictatorship. It is just like what CPAC admores about Hungary and this conservative action pac promoted it by even holding their meetings there.. The form of the three branches might still exist in name and form, but the control of them actually lies in the hands of a president who ignores the rule of law, abuses power, instills fear with threats against anyone who fails to comply, and appoints sycophants in place of nonpartisan technocrats to keep the administration disciplined. The author of Project 2025, Russell Vought, is now in charge of federal employees, forcing resignation or firing those not loyal to Trump. Trump has already become the de facto dictator who issues clearly unconstitutional executive orders that he expects to be treated like a law passed by a democratic process, which they are not.
The rule of law is being replaced by the rule of Trump. He appeals lower court rulings he does not like to "his" 6-3 Supreme Court ad nauseam and ad infinitum. He has virtually neutered the power of lower courts, as "his" Supreme Court overturns lower court rulings on a regular basis, often using a shadow docket that issues rulings without any hearings or public airing of the issues. What Trump has threatened to do to the First Amendment is a whole other subject, but his attempt to sue and force broadcast media to bow to his demands under the threat of losing their licenses at the hands of a compliant head of the FCC is the most recent example of attacks on press freedom this fall. Due process and minority rights are attacked daily in immigration and anti DEI measures and gerrymandering he himself orders.
