Bimgo: The best relatable words to describe Trump yet. Mob boss. It lexplains his appeal and danger.

Former federal prosecutor Barbara McQuade came up with a word description of Trump that avoids some of the baggage of other words when she was discussing her new book MSNOW this morning: Mob Boss...I have used a mob boss myself as an analogy to what a fascist dictator is like, but perhaps it is time to just call him what he is: a mob boss. https://michigan.law.umich.edu/news/5qs-mcquades-new-book-details-fix-democracy-us.          Mcquade recogizes that defying the rule of law harms us even though it appeals to some.  Bravo Mcquade. You hit the nail on the head, including that it takes away the rule of the people called democracy.  We the people lose the ability to govern ourselves. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ihiH-SSY-vA

Here'i iss my case to brand him with those two words.Given Trump's lifelong modus operandi is mob boss-like, which I too have noted.  

 Calling Trump a fascist just raises the hackles. ;It is too close to  Hitler. and Auschwitz. (Trump is not: his concentration camps full of those of Hispanics do not have ovens.as the end game. On the other hand, he does have his paramilitary ICE and J6 militia thugs he can activate as he has done it. But if you dare cross him, he will get back at you in devastating ways, filing frivolous, unproven criminal charges or primaring you. Fear of his awful power on steroids is his chief weapon. He threatens and makes examples of his targets. to keep his supporters in line.  

Trump feels unchained from the rule of law since he believes he has legal immunity from criminal acts. (Mob bosses spend a lifetime figuring out how to avoid prosecution for criminal acts they know they are committing. The Supreme Court gave Trump a gift: a get-out-of-jail-free pass for a criminal act. The flood of examples of corruption flaunted and in the open, no bid contract his awarded to his cronies, and changes in regulatory laws including IRS scrutiny or rules governing crypto,,  padding his personal pockets in crypto and gifts from foreign powers, his schemes that benefit his kids and loyalists, and punishment meted out to those who only support him 90% not 100% percent of the time,, are like classic mob boss behavior that sticks a third finger into the rule of law.  Loyalty to him is his most treasured value of those deserving his favor and awards, the classic mob boss modus.

However, per many sources often cited in this blog, he may fit a "classic definition" of a fascist,but calling him that is a political unncessary falme thrower . Calling him an autocrat or a wannabe autocrat seems a bit too academic, but still could include the other hackle-raising word "dictator".  Mob boss avoids all of that, but it fits, per McQuade, with a background in prosecution of mob cases.  She makes her case in her book, just released today, which includes guidance on how to stop someone governing like Trump.

While there are stacks and stacks of books and words from his former military aides that call Trump a fascist, perhaps the best text of reference is the Godfather series movies and the Sopranos...Nothing academic or hackle raising there, but for some, a mob boss is a hero figure and may even explain his cult-like followers who excuse his every deed and defiance of laws.

Trump and now his RNC tools are fascists. Ok, they deserve the title.

 Who is a fascist? Biden or Trump, and now the Republican Party/RNC, too?  With Trump's takeover of the RNC, the GOP now becomes the US Fascist Party. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/apr/08/rnc-trump-takeover-republican-strifeToo harsh? Let us start that conversation. 

Update from a June posting:  a political philosophy, movement, or regime (such as that of the Fascist ( from Merriam-Webster )that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition.

• Racism is key to Trump's rise; Biden's is not.
• Trump wants to limit the civil rights of individuals in rewriting the Constitution; Biden adheres to civil rights for everyone.
• Trump wants to concentrate all powers in the executive branch, beginning with Project 2025; Biden honors the separation of branches and checks and balances;
• Trump wants to use active military to put down civil demonstrations; Biden does not;
• Trump has a long record of supporting political violence to achieve a goal; Biden does not
• Trump supports and applauds white Christian nationalists to regiment society; Biden does not;

Shall I go on?

Trump called Biden the Gestapo because he himself had been called a fascist https://ktvz.com/politics/cnn-us-politics/2024/05/04/trump-says-democrats-are-running-a-gestapo-administration-at-republican-national-committees-annual-retreat/. Vintage Trump. When accused, he tries to turn the tables on the accuser.  It is similar to the juvenile taunt: You call my mother a (bad name), so is your mother. When he is called a fascist, he calls his opponent the Gestapo. Now, he has a new twist. "You call me a bad name? That is really a good thing."When called a wannabe dictator, he calls dictatorships a good thing because they get stuff done (though only for himself and those currently loyal to him.). 

So let us see whose shoes the definition of fascist dictator fits. This is my challenge to the Trump lovers on this. Tell me how Biden is proposing to do the same thing or has already done it that fits into the definition of a  "wannabe fascist dictator."   I know, I know, calling anyone a fascist is inflammatory.  If the bird walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it probably is a duck. Trump is quacking like a fascist, and others are walking, quacking,  and acting like fascists on his behalf. What part of this do we not understand?  So, who is the fascist: Biden or Trump and his GOP? And who is a wannabe dictator?

The dictatorship part is pretty clear. The pussyfoot term in use in the polite and liberal press has been "autocrat." That is way too kind for someone who now promises to imprison his opponents and is already making his enemies list that he will use for (his) Department of Justice loyalists to indict and jail, which he adds to daily. He asks the Supreme Court to give him absolute immunity (turning him loose to violate laws and commit crimes in the future). Maybe just "dictator" alone is enough.

How about the fascism part? Fascism of the 1930s differed from communist dictatorships, though the techniques to gain and keep power were similar: oppression of free press and political opponents, use of political and police violence and threats, and state control of personal lives and behavior, and demand for total loyalty to the big guy in public and private speech and thought. The major difference is that one touted a Marxist ideology and claimed to favor the dictatorship of the proletariat. In fascist dictatorships, it was powered by crony capitalism, and in modern times, in Hungary, and by Putin's Russian oligarchs. Hitler began his rise to power by first garnering the support of big business. Taxes and regulations are promised or activated to benefit wealthy businesses. 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/03/29/trump-billionaires-gop-donors/essmen and donors. The billionaires are crawling back to support Trump. The Trump promise, as reported in the TIME interview and repeated often, is that the tax cuts to the rich would not be rolled back (even though that was the major contributor to the deficit.)  It was appropriate that the May 4 Mar-a-largo had those in attendance. The problem with crony capitalists for the participants? The highest bidders for Trump's affection win, and the cost of gaining his favors and screwing their competitors rise in the jockeying around for position. https://mufticforumblog.blogspot.com/2024/03/crony-capitalism-magas-threat-to.html  It is institutionalized corruption of the highest order.

 How does Trump plan to run a fascist regime? There is nothing hidden or secret. It is right out front in the TIME interview, a trail of recorded social media posts and public pronouncements, and even in such documents as Project 2025, the takeover of the executive branch by those pledging allegiance to the Boss instead of the rule of law. When he threatens to imprison any general who refused to call up the active military to put down demonstrations against him abusing the insurrection act, what does that describe? If he promises to use the FCC to shut down media news that does not support him, where have you heard that before?Right out of Trump's playbook threat.  If he describes those opposing him as "vermin" and says that illegal immigrants will contaminate "our blood," he took a page from the German fascism of Goebbels and Hitler? That is how fascists get citizens to go along with their persecution by making them these targets less than human or lesser than their ruling class. Empathy has no place in that society. Even better, make the lesser than your race or class to blame for your ills and deserving your hatred and oppression. Examples of that are Jewish bankers and, now, personified by George Soros by contemporary anti-semites. Few buck fascism or use their wealth for charity or for supporting democracy. Gates is one of the outliers, as is Warren Buffet, both returning their wealth to charitable endeavors. 

For Trump, the target is the "deep state" who dared during his first term to tell him "no." That includes General Milley, who refused to use the active military to put down domestic protests and who abided by the Posse Comitatus Act.  Root it out, Trump says, and replace it with his loyalists. Those not loyal to the Boss are traitors. If f you tend to excuse this as just demagoguery, bloviating, and entertaining, you are a fool because the plans are already there and being funded to replace every executive decision appointee identified as "disloyal to Trump", including more of the judiciary and lists of the loyal are being gathered, he can do it within four years. Won't the Civil Rights Act or the Constitutional amendments protect minorities' access to the ballot? Not if yesterday's federal judges ruled that complaints about such violations can only be brought by the Justice Department, not citizens. That one will eventually make it to the Trump-appointed Supreme Court, which already gutted the rest of the Voting Rights Act. Violence in support of Trump is approved and justified, not just on January 6. If there is no rule of law, there is the rule of Trump, and that one raised alarm bells even among conservatives. https://www.theguardian.com/.../anti-trump-conservative...

Trump Vows to appoint a special prosecutor to ‘go after’ Biden if the former president wins in 2024  https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4045934-trump-vows-to-appoint-special-prosecutor-to-go-after-biden-if-former-president-wins-in-2024/       This is still after the House committee charged to find Biden Crime Family proof has died a quiet death when all of their informants and witnesses failed to materialize.

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Messing Around Political Name Calling: notes to myself

I am fascinated by the various verbal and media slings and arrows levied at opponents.  They backfire if they are too inflammatory, so some semantic dithering occurs. These are notes to myself to keep in mind as I write opinions that may include criticism of Donald Trump.

 Some verbal combat slogans are justified if, for example, there are actual court findings to back them up. Others are just various degrees of nasty and insulting words hurled at a candidate's personality traits or appearance. Whatever terms are used should be precise and tied to well-known, acknowledged behaviors relevant to governing as a president. 

Others are naive about Trump's behavior and character problems but, while ignoring and/or acknowledging these issues, see it in their business as ideological evangelism or political interests to support him. Character will be on the ballot in 2024 to some extent, as well as other controversial issues and behaviors in contention. Update 4/29/23: Barr, McConnell, and Desantis have announced they will support Trump in spite of all of these issues. These chicken chickens are all going home to roost as they come to the aid of their party.  Barr, when pressed, said all of Biden's issues and progressives were a disaster for the country, and he even said it with a straight face. Clearly, ideology and party loyalty are way above democracy's future or any other consideration. Barr should be pressed to deny any and all of Biden's accomplishments.  Sick. Those business interests still support Trump because they think he will keep their taxes low,  give them a financial advantage, and keep regulatory agencies off their backs. They have traded their business interests for a con man and sleazeball, a demagogue, a thug boss,  an adjudicated liar, fraudster,  and rapist,  and a wannabe self-admitted "dictator on ( or for) day e one."Other names with enough evidence from professional or professorial observers may be justified, but need an explanation and definition.  I will use those sparingly and in context. Some of those are wannabe fascist and narcissistic sociopath. 

Update: 5 16 2024

A puzzle that probably answers itself:  The GOP was once the party of the Moral Majority, but the white Christian Evangelicals have looked the other way, excusing their favored candidate of winning the award for his indecent behavior. They even see Trump as their Second Coming. My guess? The issue of abortion. On that one issue alone, the Moral Majority has become the  A-moral Minority. https://www.kff.org/womens-health-policy/poll-finding/kff-health-tracking-poll-march-2024-abortion-in-the-2024-election-and-beyond/

An essay on Trump's contribution to American culture: indecency   https://mufticforumblog.blogspot.com/2024/04/trumps-greatest-contribution-to.html

To become a dictator requires being the king of chaos in the short term. That is a formula for strife as he uses and abuses his power and tries to violate laws. and deal with legislatures not yet fully in his control to amass big government, federal, and local political power for himself. His ability to abuse the judicial process is on display every day now, and with more appointments to the federal bench and Supreme Court, it will only be worse in a second term. Note updated: while he has been indicted in multiple federal and state criminal cases, he has also been suspected as being a suspected twice unindicted co-conspirator in criminal cases:  the most recent Ariaona state fake elector case, and in the already completed first Stormy Daniels case that landed his fixer , Michael Cohen, in jail.  It is fair to call him a two times unindicted co-conspirator because those  will never go to trial. 

This chaos is not conducive to a good business climate. However, busines see short-term benefits. They are not a naive bunch, but I think since the polls show today that Trump, the supporter of crony capitalism, still has a good chance to win, and they want to count themselves into his crony capitalist club.   

Dictator or autocrat? Trump now owns the word of how he wants to govern: dictator.  He used it himself. Most media prefer to call his plans to take over the executive branch and continue his takeover of the judiciary "autocratic."  It is less inflammatory and implies even one-man rule has its limits, in not totalitarian control over some freedoms once enjoyed,  or is a kind of power grabbing without the ovens of Auschwitz. I prefer " dictator "because that is how Trump sees himself: becoming a strong man above the law like Putin and keeping himself in power by taking control of all the branches of government and the media. He rationalizes why he can get stuff done without significant opposition from either a minority or a majority. That is not a democracy I ever heard of.

 He is no law and order person, promising to use the DOJ for retribution and persecution against his opponents.  He is for law with oder of corruption and bias and not even a pretense of fairness or protection of civil rights. That just stinks. He supports political violence and suppression of protests using active military.  He has used fear and threats of strong-arm tactics to get himself where he is, calling the shots even from exile in Mar-a-Lago. It works. Bully is not a kind term, but fair.  When bullying crosses over to threats of violence, pardoning violent political acts, and encouraging known violent actors to do his dirty work, as on January 6, that is more like the characteristic of a Mafia boss-style thug. That is a formula for being king of chaos and strife as he uses and abuses his power and tries to violate laws. and deal with legislatures not yet fully in his control to amass big government, federal, and local political power for himself. The trial of January 6, now delayed until after the November elections,  will provide more insight into his role in its planning. However, his words, come to DC, it" will be a wild time," and "Go fight like hell, or you won't have a democracy anymore," are hardly coded exhortations to commit violence. That is a formula for being king of chaos and strife as he uses and abuses his power and tries to get others to violate laws on his behalf risking violating their own laws. (Just find more votes for me in Georgia and Zelensky, go find more dirt on Hunter and Joe Biden, and for thuggish militia leaders to fight like hell to stop Pence from certifying the 2020 election).  The violent thugs ended up in jail (convicted of felonies or pleading guilty in courts of law), and Trump plans to pardon them because he considers them "hostages." Zelensky is paying for his failure or refusal to dig up dirt as Trump tells his minions in the House to vote against aid to rescue Ukraine from a Russian takeover. (Fortunately, he failed when the Democrats and rational and national security-minded Republicans joined hands to fund Ukraine on April 20.)

There are some examples of failures and examples of opponent partisans trying to tie Biden into the admitted actions of a son and then calling it the "Biden Crime Family." Saying it often did not make it true. That one fell out of vogue when the GOP House committee lost its witnesses to any gain or conspiracy related to Biden's avarice.  No, Biden is in no way an accused criminal subject to impeachment or prosecution. Still, Donald Trump and his profiteering son-in-law(given cushy funds management of Saudi investment funds even though he never had funds management experience)after leaving the White House are given a pass by Democrats. Funny how that works.  

Is Trump a liar? He is not the first sitting president to tell a lie. It is not simple to just call him a liar. Political lies are protected as free speech. Calling out and proving lies are the duties of political opponents.  Being unethical is not a crime; not every act violates the law. If it causes damage to someone, it may or may not end up in court, but the damaged party has to have proof and attached proof of the damages. Calling a person a liar is free speech, but whether it is relevant to an illegal act is a different issue. In Trump's case, fact-checkers have a field day, but do voters care? Some do: A classic line that will live forever came from the mouth of a prospective juror in the hush money trial: "I wouldn't believe him if his tongue was notarized." The phrase has a history, but it became a legend in the trial when a prospective juror applied it to her opinion of Trump.  

 Sometimes lies have consequences that lead to court suits and legal actions that find proof of intentional lies and have relationships to other related laws, civil and criminal.  Trump can be called a liar because he has lost court cases lately in which it was judged he lied. The findings in the Trump University were that fraud was involved, and restitution was required.  Trump and his company's real estate have been found liable for misrepresenting property values, and the E Jean Carroll trial found Trump lied and Carroll was truthful, given credible evidence. Do these findings and judgments relate to the ability to govern in a democracy?  In the case of Nixon, lies were a part of the Watergate cover-up that led to his resignation under threat of impeachment. That is the significance of the hush money, January 6, Georgia elections, and document cases. Except for the hush money case, these may not be adjudicated until after the November elections. They all relate to the constitutional provisions of the election process.  If there is a criminal law involved, the proof required is beyond a reasonable doubt that the lie was intentional to break the law. The burden is on the prosecutor to prove it. The advantage goes to the defendant, who does not have to prove innocence.

It is fair game for Trump to be called a con man. That was the significance of both his real estate fraud cases and the Trump University case, where he was found liable. He is usually so convincing with his oratory he could sell coals to Newcastle (the one in England or Colorado coal mining country)."Don't believe what you see on Jan.6; they were just innocent, not violent assaults on police," he tells his followers, who then a close their eyes and tell themselves such tall tales no Constitutional process was nearly upended by violence egged on by Trump. I am not sure whether Trump gets away with it because he is so convincing or if those who believe that are fools or are cynically pledging allegiance to "the Boss," but there is truth to the saying attributed to PT Barnum, an epic huckster," a sucker is born every minute. " Juries have found his business enterprises to be frauds in recent high-profile court findings and have levied crushing fines.  All of this is on appeal, but the attacks are still valid if a jury of peers found him liable, or guilty,  for fraud and lies,  and calling Trump a con man or a fraudster is  fair game 

 Trump so far has been able to delay, delay, and delay the Special Council Jack Barr's two federal crime cases concerning records and Jan.6 with appeals and claims Trump is not subject to any law while in office. Some of the delays have been due to finding a sympathetic or inept judge in Florida, and the other is a sympathetic majority of justices in the Supreme Court delaying a trial on Trump's outrageous immunity claim until it is too late to hold the trial before the November election.  The Georgia criminal case against Trump's actions in 2020 has been delayed or damaged due to the misbehavior of the prosecutor's personal life spilling over into the process.  

There have been those. both professionals and lay people who had worked with him, from Conservative attorney George Conway to his niece Mary, who has called Trump narcissistic and a liar and a sociopath, and others have tagged Trump with being a...hole, an idiot, a dope, a moron.   Calling him that alone must be coupled with why he should not be a president again, such as being a demagogue or a dictator ruling like dictators he admires.  

We have had liars and corrupt politicians aspiring to be president or even occupying the Oval Office before. Andrew Jackson was one, and Nixon was not a truth-teller. Jackson was famous for the corrupt system of spoils, so abusive it inspired the creation of the civil service system. Project 2025, the plan funded and already being prepared by the Heritage Foundation to enact day one to turn Trump into a dictator., wants to replace civil service with the corrupt spoils system, firing all who are not loyal to Trump and replacing them with Trump loyalists. The spoils system is an institutionalized opportunity for corruption. Bribery is unnecessary; loyalty to benefit the boss is reason enough to rule one way or another.  Trump tried that same stunt with an executive order when he was president but failed.

 However, the goal to amass power like a dictator using the demagogic oratorical skills of Donald Trump, and civil court cases ruled against him for being a con man and a rapist, puts him in a totally different class of narcissistic sociopath that is relevant to how he intends to govern as President of the United States if he wins in November.  He will use all means to give himself more power and to control the power centers of government to support his power-lusting quest to claim he does not have to abide by any law while president and is immune from prosecution for any crimes he commits. It is" me, me, me, mine," and "only I can fix it."

What about fascism?  Is it fair to call Trump and the GOP fascists?  It is, but so inflammatory in need to define what fascism is at the same time,  it may not be the best strategy.  However, both Trump and the MAGA faction of the GOP walk like a duck and quack like a duck, which is classically fascist.  https://mufticforumblog.blogspot.com/2023/11/no-longer-pussyfooting-around-calling.html   No less than the New York Times has made a case for calling Trump a fascist.  He is at least a wannabe fascist, which I think is ok, but I will use that one sparingly. 

My own seat-of-the-pants shorthand definition of fascism is that it is just like the communist dictatorships of the Cold War without the "communism" ideology.  Nationalism becomes the driving ideology, often joined with religion and crony capitalism. Dictators are required to put it into practice. The techniques of governing and control of its citizens are similar to those used by communist dictators, sometimes including violent and military-aggressive actions.. What is different is that racism and mutual coziness to big business or oligarchs also are the drivers of most modern fascist dictators.. Crony capitalism is also a characteristic of modern dictatorships, from Hungary to Russia. Perhaps a better word is the Russian one for crony capitalists:  Oligarchs.  There is a recent book making the case that American oligarchs are the new political class. https://www.press.uillinois.edu/books/?id=p082825  

Current fascists and dictators may not include the ovens and genocide or central control of the economy, but to be called a fascist does not need to go that far.  You do not need to be a Hitler to be a fascist. Trump's idol, Vladimir Putin, fits my definition of a fascist dictator.  Edergan of Turkey has elements of fascism, controlling all the power centers of government. The military once was poised and activated if the government got too oppressive, but Erdogan got control of them, too. I am not sure if Erdogan has an ideology above a lust for power and control and a fear of extremists in his own Muslim religion sabotaging and invading his country.   Orban of Hungary is a "fascist light," using the levers of government to do his work in a country that is already 95% pure ethnicMagyars and afraid Middle Eastern immigrants would contaminate their blood. Where have I heard that one before? Like all of his related fascists, he controls the media, the message, and the "news", and as he gathered the reins of power,  his first goal was to destroy the freedom of the press. This just illustrates the problem: the definition and case/reasons/evidence need to accompany any designation of Trump and MAGA as fascists and should be made at the same time the tag is applied..  https://mufticforumblog.blogspot.com/2023/08/is-trump-fascist-now-his-followers.html

  https://www.thedailybeast.com/donald-trump-and-the-success-of-the-narcissistic-sociopath  

https://www.britannica.com/topic/spoils-system    

  https://apnews.com/article/trump-trial-jurors-hush-money-criticism-b4fe05a61ed566a587523d1120b46a76

https://www.amazon.com/Assholes-Theory-Donald-Aaron-James/dp/0385542038Asshole theory of Trump

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/09/04/trumps-insults-idiot-woodward-806455

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-plan-gut-civil-service-triggers-pushback-by-unions-democrats-2023-12-

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-plan-gut-civil-service-triggers-pushback-by-unions-democrats-2023-12-22/

https://azmirror.com/2024/04/25/who-are-the-five-unindicted-co-conspirators-in-arizonas-fake-elector-criminal-case/

https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2018/08/22/cohen-plea-deal-trump-watergate-prosecutor

A classic line that will live forever came from the mouth of a prospective juror in the hush money trial: "I wouldn't believe him if his tongue was notarized." The phrase has a history, but it became a legend in the trial when a prospective juror applied it to her opinion of Trump.   https://www.google.com/search?q=tongue+notarized+quote&rlz=1CAJFMC_enUS1016US1016&oq=tongue+notarized+quote&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOTIHCAEQIRigATIHCAIQIRigATIHCAMQIRigAdIBCjIyOTI1ajBqMTWoAgiwAgE&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#ip=1&vhid=6HE2sDKVxk0rGM&vssid=l

Why Trump only needs to be dictator on day one to be dictator for years to come update 4 4 2024

Update 4 4 24   This is an attempt to block Trump's day one implementation of Project 25, making it harder to replace career service employees with Trump loyalists. This is rule making, but if Trump also controls the Supreme Court, he can get around this, too.  It would make it a bad day on day one for him, though.

https://apnews.com/article/biden-2024-government-regulations-democrats-6badc3b424b9eff3ba51e0ec35a8d824?utm_source=Email&utm_medium=share  Former President Donald Trump has plans to radically reshape the federal government if he returns to the White House, from promising to deport millions of immigrants in the U.S. illegally to firing tens of thousands of government workers. 

Cont'd.Here is why Trump only needs to be a dictator on day one to be a dictator for years to come. He is old, just turning 80. The biological clock is ticking. There is a plan to accomplish much of that in the first 180 days of his administration. This is no "conspiracy theory" but a plainly written and documented plan, Project 2025, that is well funded and already being implemented to be ready to go on Day One 2025. The executive orders and appointments signed on Day One triggers the rest of the Project 2025 implementation and both  kinds of documents are now being prepared. This gives Trump the ability to execute the laws of this land, but not faithfully to the intent or the purpose of those laws, but to manage them to implement policy dictated by an ideology influenced by White Christian nationalism and self-serving corporate anti-environmental interests. The power it gives him will be policies that last years beyond the four years he is in the Oval Office with plenty of leverage and ability to keep himself or his successors in power with  appointments to the "administrative state."  

 Most current dictators, Orban of Hungary, Putin of Russia, and Erdogan of Turkey, took several years and some traumatic events to exploit (mass migrations ethnics fleeing Middle Eastern violence (Hungary, Turkey, Russia (Breslan massacre by Islamic terrorists..related to the concert hall massacre this past week) to amass enough power to qualify for the title of dictator.  All three are there for life, not for four years. Once they controlled all levers, judiciary, legislative, executive,  and media, they maneuvered the constitution and laws to eliminate any term limits. Getting there was subtle, nonviolent,  and, like a frog in ever-increasing hot water, finally reaching the boil and death, in this case, the death of democracy. 

 The Heritage Foundation, with $150 million in the tank, is already training, recruiting, and drafting executive orders for Trump to sign on Day One. Heritage Foundation is one of the US's largest and most influential think tanks. This is no "conspiracy theory,"  and it is not just thinking and planning, but it is already being implemented with training and recruitment of participants to put into practice of a theory underway to be ready to go on Day One 2025. The goal is to eliminate "the administrative state" and to replace all parts of the executive branch and an estimated 50 thousand civil servants with loyalists to a highly conservative agenda.   It would keep the form of the executive branch. Still, it would sabotage their agenda by replacing it with loyalists pledged to a highly conservative one instead of adhering to the intent and purpose of the rule of law. This is the Orban playbook on steroids and fast track. The long-term impact will last even after Trump is ousted.  Will it work?  If you remember how the Federalist Society engineered the MAGA takeover of the Supreme Court with ideologues still in place after Trump left the Oval Office, you will get an idea of the long-term impact of having loyalists to Trump or vetted and proposed by the Heritage Foundation in place in the federal bureaucracy for years.  It is not just the federal executive branch that the Heritage Foundation has as their target. It is state and local governments, as well.

https://www.heritage.org/press/heritage-foundation-raises-more-150-million-record-breaking-fundraising-year

https://www.heritage.org/press/project-2025-announces-the-launch-the-presidential-administration-academy

Read it from the Heritage Foundation itself: Playbook | Project 2025

2025_MandateForLeadership_FULL.pdf (thf_media.s3.amazonaws.com)

newyorker.com/news/annals-of-education/how-the-federalist-society-won

https://www.dailysignal.com/2023/04/20/4-pillars-project-2025-conservative-plan-undermine-liberal-behemoth-washington/

https://mufticforumblog.blogspot.com/2023/11/what-trump-plans-for-his-second-term.html

If you think Trump was kidding about being a dictator, the joke is on you.

If you think Trump was kidding about being a dictator, the joke is on you. While some want Trump to be a dictator, there are others who just think he is kidding or that some checks and balances will keep him from doing what he is threatening to do. Oh, they say in the interviews of rally attendees below 1) they want a strong leader, and being a dictator is just fine. 2) there are checks and balances to keep him from doing all he tells you will do in his second term, 3)He is joking. For those who think the checks and balances will keep him from doing what he promises in his second term,. the joke is on you. You are fools being fooled. Trump knows now how to get done what he tried to do during his first term and plans to do if he gets back to the White House again. He already promised to replace every position he can with yes men and then use fear of retribution and the FBI to put fear in their future if they tell him no or have a background of being more loyal to the rule of law and the Constitution instead of what he wants doing. He tried it in his first term and failed. He is ready to do it in a second term.. (The fight to stop Schedule F, a cornerstone of Trump's 'retribution' agenda, is underway (nbcnews.com) He is ready to do it on day one of 2025; the plans are already funded and ready to go... on day one. Trump plan to gut civil service triggers pushback | Reuters

Biden can make the contrast that he is about hope and Trump is about with some simple words like Hope v Hate and Help vs. Harm,.Healthy democracy v Havoc and fear. Hope is a word that has worked well for candidates like Obama and Carter (the man from Hope). Chaos, revenge, and oppression are not positive promises for any one trying to cope with the daily demands of life. The challenge question put to those considering still voting for Trump is what good is he going to do for you and your lives? Trump touts word cloud showing ‘revenge,’ ‘dictatorship’ as what voters think his victory would bring (aol.com). Now he is even marketing revenge, a dictatorship of what he offers to daily lives in this word salad posting.

.Biden's word salad he should market is by contrast with Trump offers something positive. Biden succeeded in policies that helped the middle class. His problem: until now the middle class does not feel it. That is beginning to change as consumer confidence is improving, as gas at the pump prices decline. MUFTIC FORUM BLOG: Why Biden feels frustrated that Biden'economics are not felt at the polls

Biden still has to make the case he will deal with unfinished business that helps ordinary people with their future, not only addressing student loans, border chaos, and leading the free world but also protecting their freedoms that Trump et al, would take away from them. Those include women's choice over their healthcare, the sanctity and ability to vote and have their votes counted, their ability to gather to address grievances, and laws that apply to everyone, not just a few Trump favors.. (That is called "democracy", but we forget what that means to be able to have a voice in our governance. ) He should also say he cannot do it alone. He needs a willing Congress, not one dominated by MAGA. It is not just drawing a contrast of past actions with what Trump promises for the future, but that Biden's past and future plans give hope and promise for the future instead of hate, conflict, and an aristocracy/dictatorship that would destroy hope for a better future or a future that represents MAGA's oppressive and hate-motivated attempt to take away the freedoms and rights you have taken for granted.. until now. "Now" means these freedoms are not forever and would be lost if Trump had his way., using the power he would give himself.

MUFTIC FORUM BLOG: What Trump plans for his second term and how he will do it

Trump had failed in his first term to do all that he wanted to give himself more power to get his way, but he was stopped by staff and others who looked to obeying the law and the intent of the Constitution and now knows how to fix it: get rid of those who tell him "no" and make it a virtue to be a "strong man" and get around and tear up the Constitution and make the case he is not bound by law. If Trump had not tried and failed to tear down checks and balances before and failed, and you forgot that, you need to get a shot or realism., He was stopped from using the insurrection act to put down civil demonstrations by Gen. Milley and the military brass who said that violated the constitution. He was stopped from changing civil service status so he could replace thousands of them with loyalists instead of those who tried to follow the law. He was stopped by banning Muslims because the still independent judiciary would have ruled he had violated civil rights. He was criticized openly in the press by calling neo-Nazis in Charlottesville fine people: He engineered the appointment of anti-abortion ideologues to the Supreme Court, which overturned Roe v Wade. His loyal attorney general parted ways when he lied through his teeth that he won the 2020 election due to widespread fraud when even his staff told him he lost. When he disagreed with his Department of Justice policies, he failed to get a loyalist to replace his departed attorney general because he backed down when the acting attorneys in the DOJ staff all threatened to resign.

He does have a head start with his plans to be a strong leader/autocrat/dictator on day one if he gets a second chance at the Oval Office. His Supreme Court is already in his hands. His GOP House members say yes, boss, for fear they would be primaried while behind his backs, they complain about him. There would be no general to say no to using active military to put down civil unrested. All he has to do is to invoke the insurrection act to threaten or use the active military to put down civil demonstrations to which he objects. (Bring in the water canons and the tanks...that is what they did in Russia and Hong Kong, and it worked)). His DOJ could take over the voting machines everywhere to make sure midterms would go his way. No one federal law would be used to stop him. There would be no attorney general to tell him he is lying about the 2020 election. He already has the Heritage Foundation plan 2025, ready to replace every appointee and civil servants with screened loyalists.

Here are all of the Republican elected officials backing Trump's 2024 campaign (msn.com)

The plan, 2025, is funded and getting ready for day one. Once he replaces his appointees with yes people, he can begin to execute his autocracy. (From a prior posting:  The groundwork is already being laid by the misnamed Heritage Foundation, and money is being raised. Donations have surged to groups linked to conservative Project 2025 (nbcnews.com)  The related groups have issue agendas that would roll back any legislation that hurt their special interest groups or ideology.  Project 2025's issues agenda: Analysis Exposes Trumpian Project 2025 as 'Far-Right Playbook for American Authoritarianism' (commondreams.org)  in which it finds their agenda is to elevate Christian nationalism, gut civil service, reverse progress on racial, eviscerate LGBTQ+ rights, restrict reproductive freedom, roll back climate action, end "woke" military, overhaul public education, and curb human rights?  These are the money backers that would come into power as Trump, on his part, replaces those who are disloyal with his appointments, including replacing 50 thousand civil servants who do not pass the loyalty to Trump and MAGA and get purged and using the FBI and DOJ to go indict opponents, and continue to use fear of retribution to any in the federal government who would oppose him, while using the military to put down public demonstrations who object.)  . He will govern by fear, and he has a history of condoning political violence. He used it on January 6. He has already promised he would use the FBI and the DOJ to threaten to indict and cook up unfounded charges to keep dissidents fearing to speak out. His appointees would delicense media, not loyal to the boss too. Those who don't take him seriously are fools being fooled.

This segment moved to 12/28/23 posting: For those who want their president to be a "strong man," I have a few words. I have had firsthand experience. Know you live in fear in a dictatorship that someone will hear a disloyal comment from you and report it, and there will be some repercussions. The least might be you lose a job or a promotion or get primaried, and the worst may be like Navalny, who disappeared in some gulag after revolting against Putin's corruption in amassing his personal fortune.  It is a fearful life, and your tongue is always on guard because that is how "strong men" stay in power, with fear and force,  and you are powerless to change it.  The only votes counted are the 80% constant approval of the Boss, and the rest are to give the impression the autocracy is still a "democracy."  

 We throw around the word "freedom" a lot, but the freedom to express yourself to others, privately, or in media, or in voting, or in lifestyle,  or in protesting, but in a dictatorship, this is not protected by the fine words of any amendment to the Constitution.  All laws are interpreted to support the rule and power of the strong man and all potential institutions of checks and balances are under the control or are comprised of loyalists.  That is what living under an autocracy, a dictatorship, means. You lose those freedoms.  Both communist dictatorships and fascist ones are like that, though the ideology to which all are to conform may come from Marx or Mein Kampf or the fantasies of one mind, the mind of the "boss". 

From my facebook posting  We have never had a president or a candidate for that office like Trump with such extremely disturbed personality traits of narcissism and self-aggrandizement.. His platform is not to make life better for ordinary people, but it is one of retribution and stamping out the vermin, his opponents, all for one purpose, to amass more wealth and power for his own benefit. . He will say what will get others to join in his mission using lies, insulting those who tell him "no" or holding him accountable, with oratory and exhortation of violence and lawlessness. He gives voice to his core followers. He knows his base of support and what they want to hear. His loyal base shares his sentiments of anger, grievance, resentment, and of perceived loss of power, full of hate, revenge, and a singular loyalty to those who look like them.

USATODAY.COM

Donald Trump said he'd be a dictator for one day. His supporters say they're not worried.

"He's like a guy with a laser pointer and the left is a cat," said one vo

What is the definition of a dictator and does Trump fit it? Yes, every criterion

What is a dictator, and does Trump fit the definition in words and deeds?   Yes. There are many definitions of what a dictator and a dictatorship are. I found two that were comprehensive and clearly stated.  Using those two as measures and citing prior postings and sources from this blog and some new ones, Trump meets every criterion for becoming a dictator in what he is proposing to do in a second term, and there is even a record of what he wanted, tried, succeeded and failed to do in his first term that was similar.

 Encylopedia Britannica  "Dictators usually resort to force or fraud to gain despotic political power, which they maintain through the use of intimidation, terror, and the suppression of basic civil liberties. They may also employ techniques of mass propaganda in order to sustain their public support." 

 https://study.com/learn/lesson/what-is-a-dictatorship.html. Dictatorship | Definition, Examples & Characteristics - Study.com

• Ruler often rises to power out of conflict.
• . ..Dictators control all branches of government and the media.
• Intimidation, murder, imprisonment, violence and other human rights abuses are used to control the population.
• A cult of personality makes the ruler appear divine
• 
  

Now for the application of how  and whyTrump fits into these two definitions.

I'l leave the crisis factor to historians, but racism and demographic shifts were factors if not out right crises.  There is a great deal of fear expressed in media that when Trump tries to implement his plans, that will be the crisis as chaos will reign and dictators like chaos ("Only I can fix it") 

Read his platform stated in his own words in this article from the Bulwark. It links Trump's own words about how he would govern as a dictator if elected in 2024 and sources of reporting are identified. https://open.substack.com/pub/thebulwark/p/most-aspiring-dictators-try-to-hide The sources cited in this opinion piece can be found by clicking the date in the posting. For a summary, go to read his platform stated in his own words in this article from the Bulwark. MUFTIC FORUM BLOG: Trump is running on a platform to become a dictator

• 1.Did he or does he use fraud to gain power

Yes, two kinds: 1) The big lie, that in spite of being told my those around him the 2020 election was free of fraud after 60 judges ruled, there was no evidence of enough fraud to overturn the election after at least 3 audits were done by Trump-friendly outsiders, no evidence was found.  Trump still spouts the lie and in recent statements, intends to use it to try to gain control by his loyalists of the methods, collection, and calculations of voting throughout the US and nationwide.  He used his lie to rationalize to do this, and he used the big lie to justify and to incite the January 6 attempted coup and overturn laws, rules, and the Constitution itself.

In Colorado, on December 8, 2023, there was an explosive report by Kyle Clark, KUSA,  a local station,  about threats and politics of election denialists that shows how   MAGA lies are used to seize control of the election processes on a local government level.  . Next Conversation: Head of Colorado's County Clerks Association talks election rigging lies - YouTube   This is a prelude to Trump's attempt at the Big Lie again to stay in power if he ever gets elected again, and it is his pretext for Trump loyalists to control the entire election process from registration, to voter access, to vote casting, to tabulation, and to reporting at the exclusion of any opponents in the process.  It is the end of free and fair elections if he succeeds is doing this throughout the country, and the attempt is already underway, as this Colorado GOP attempt illustrates.  The message: elections are already corrupt (the Big Lie), not free or fair, so why not put your MAGA buddy in charge. MUFTIC FORUM BLOG: An election denier will now be the Colorado state GOP chair Update 3 12 2023         Note: a critic of the Big Lie, Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO), was a casualty himself. He will not run for re-election in a ruby-red district.

Trump has used fraud to make himself look more successful based on civil fraud committed in New York State. He pumped up the value of his property to such ridiculous heights the judge already ruled his real estate company had committed fraud. Now the civil trial is in the penalty stage to decide fines and damage awards.

Will he use the big lie to overturn any election he loses?  Trump promises he will.

Massive fraud in elections allows for "termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution" (12/4,/2023) Source: Bulwark, https://open.substack.com/pub/thebulwark/p/most-aspiring-dictators-try-to-hide

Liz Cheney warns Trump will never leave office if he's elected president again (nbcnews.com)

2.Does he use intimidation and terror? That's his "second name". Fear of being primaried controls the GOP legislators, federal to state to elected election officials (above) as in the Colorado County Clerk story.. 

Trump plans to use active-duty military forces to deal with growing protests (militarytimes.com)  Use of military force to put down demonstrations is at the top of his list of tools of intimidation in his toolkit. For that power, he will simply invoke the insurrection act. He promises to invoke the insurrection act on day one when he takes office so he can force or demand the active military to put down opposition demonstrations. Trump Could Legally Quell Protests With Military: Former Defense Secretary (newsweek.com)

. He has promised to use the Department of Justice to persecute/prosecute indict political opponents.  Using the Department of Justice to kick opponents out of an election: 11/9/2023. If he sees someone beating him badly, he would tell the DOJ to "go down and indict them"" Bulwark, above.

Will he use violence to gain power and to keep it?  January 6 was the first attempt, as he refused to call off the rioters he had promised could have a wild time.  (This is the stuff of the Jack Smith indictment and upcoming trial, but there have already been books written about this with sworn testimony, etc.  One judge in Colorado has already ruled in a civil trial that he was guilty, but that is on appeal. MUFTIC FORUM BLOG: Will Trump be kicked off the Colorado ballot? It is more possible than I thought.)

He has a long record of supporting political violence. MUFTIC FORUM BLOG: Trump fans the flames of violence, yet calls himself the law and order president updated

3. Has he or will he suppress civil liberties?

In a second term, he promises to rewrite the Constitution to eliminate them, particularly in the right of citizens to vote freely and fairly, for starters, as above. However, his treatment of undocumented immigrants is both cruel and inhumane and will be challenged.  Many immigrant families contain both "documented" and "undocumented" and Dreamers. He particularly singles out the Muslim ban, simply banning otherwise qualified immigrants on the basis of their religion.  There is a long list of amendments to the Constitution, almost all of which support civil liberties that would be in jeopardy related to voters' rights, freedom of the press and non-discrimination.  Voter suppression efforts would be on steroids. Trump calls for the termination of the Constitution in Truth Social post | CNN Politics 

  https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-plans-sweeping-undocumented-immigrant-roundups-detention-camps-report-2023-11-11/.

4. Does he use propaganda and control of media? He is the 21st-century master of it; a genius at it, as well, using such techniques as whenever he is accused of doing a bad deed, he turns it back on the accuser (call me a fascist, and I will call you one, etc. call me destroying democracy but it is you that is doing it, etc.)), he whips up the crowds with fear of "others", with racist dog whistles and double speak, carefully crafted statements that could be taken two ways (come to DC and we will have a wild time invitations to violent militia members), one inciting violence while appearing not to (January 6, case in point, or as in the Stormy Daniels saga and suit. where he got named as an unnamed co-conspirator). He has those devoted to him believe all media except those outlets that he approves as providing fake news promoted by politics.   Doublespeak?https://grist.org/politics/from-doublespeak-to-alternative-facts-how-trump-made-a-mess-of-the-language/

Would he do it in a second term?  Yes. He plans to replace FCC commissioners to yank licenses of media outlets who opposed him.  He plans to shut down media critical of him. Donald Trump Wants Federal Government To “Come Down Hard” On MSNBC – Deadline  Could Donald Trump claim a national security threat to shut down the internet? | Brookings

5. Does he control all branches of government?

Not quite yet. If elected, he could.

The GOP in the current House of Representatives, the majority by 4 votes, is controlled by MAGA and his loyalists.  He maintains that control by threats of being "primaried".  The House Majority leader, Mike Johnson, is about as extremely pro-Trump as anyone in the House, and he played a role in January 6 in the fake electors scheme.

Does he control the Judiciary? In his first term, he engineered the complete takeover of the Supreme Court with his appointees he approved. So far, there is little indication that the three new court members will show independence and instead return the favor.  We can hope the court will show support for democracy as these various suits and criminal cases accusing Trump of crimes or civil liability land in their laps.  The worst case scenario: no trial or verdict will occur until after the 2024 elections, so voters on the fence will be deprived of the information they need to make a rational choice.

Trump's disdain for the rule of law is driving him into a rage, and there is nothing he would rather do than make sure he is above the law.  That, many think, is even why he is running again, to get out from legal action that would put him in jail by forcing the DOJ to drop prosecutions and to be able to pardon himself if he was convicted.  To do that would require his making the rule of law, the rule of Trump. MUFTIC FORUM BLOG: So what's the big deal about the rule of law

Executive branch: He plans to eliminate civil service jobs and replace them with those who pass whatever litmus test of loyalty to him. Pledges to support the Constitution are meaningless. He tried that in his first term, and he plans to do it in his second through Plan 2025, already being executed by the Heritage Foundation.

MUFTIC FORUM BLOG: What Trump plans for his second term and how he will do it

He has already indicated he will replace the brass in the military, Department of Justice, and many regulatory bodies with loyalists to him.  Can he do it? Yes, he can.

He has made it a practice to belittle the judicial system and the rule of law, showing contempt at every opportunity, claiming all actions against him are lies and politically motivated evidence notwithstanding,  violating gag orders, throwing challenges and delays into the system until after the Nov 2024 elections, claiming executive privilege when there is none, and pledging to pardon every criminal participant in the January 6 attempted coup and himself. He contends he is above the law, that laws are not subject to him as a president (or a former president, or that his interpretation is the correct one and interpretations by justices, judges, and their staffs are faulty and politically biased. The question becomes in a second term, if a court rules against him, will he obey it or ignore it, and then who enforces it? In short, the rule of law will be replaced by the rule of law according to Trump and his appointed loyalists for their benefit.  Trump calls for the termination of the Constitution in Truth Social post | CNN Politics

6. Is he a cult? Do his followers treat him like the second coming? Do they take whatever he says as the truth, and mimic back his latest words as the gospel? So much has been written about this already, but the following journalists put it all together. Trump's MAGA Movement Is An Internet Era Cult (substack.com)     Donald Trump Shares Post Proclaiming Him Second Only to Jesus (businessinsider.com)

Trump defends dictator comments amid NYC soiree filled with MAGA diehards - POLITICO and doubles down on his earlier claim he wanted to be a dictator on day one, while calling charges he wants to be a dictator, a Democrat hoax.  Sorry, Trump. The original sound bite is in the can, soon to be an attack ad in the 2024 presidential election season.