Presidents Aren't Kings
Wanting a king is about as un-American as it gets.
Before the election, President Donald Trump promised to be a dictator on his first day in office, but just the first day. In a previous newsletter, I pointed out that he kept his day one promise. Now, a month into his presidency, he has broken the second part of that promise — "just the first day" — as Trump's authoritarianism continues unabated.
On Saturday, Trump claimed justification for his abandonment of the rule of law, posting "He who saves his Country does not violate any law." The quote is from the Emperor Napoleon. But not the real Napoleon. Actor Rod Steiger said something similar while playing Napoleon in the 1970 film "Waterloo."
Dictators tend to have a kinship, of sorts, with fellow dictators. So we saw this week Trump and his administration abandon the freedom-loving democracy of Ukraine and switch US allegiance to Putin. This also is un-American.
Lord Batten, former leader of the UK's Conservative Party, put it well in an interview with NYT's Nick Kristof (gift link): “I love America and was once happy to regard its president as leader of the free world. Not any longer. Where are the American values that I used to admire?”
Indeed, where are American values? Not with Trump and not with MAGA.
On Wednesday, the White House posted this image of Trump with a crown on his head and the words, "LONG LIVE THE KING."
By itself, we could wave this off as just a silly meme. But in context, it is more ominous.
Republicans control all three branches of government. If Trump simply had policy goals that he wanted to accomplish, he could get most of what he wants by just working through our democratic system. Instead, he is power-grabbing, asserting his authority to do whatever he wants, regardless of Congress, regardless of the Judiciary, regardless of the Constitution. In so doing, he's abandoning democracy and opposing American values.
Thank you, former Vice President Mike Pence:
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What Else We’re Reading
NPR: “'Beyond betrayal.' Venezuelans in Florida are angry at Trump immigration policy”
In the 2024 presidential election, Donald Trump won the vote in Miami-Dade County, helped largely by the Hispanic vote, including naturalized Venezuelan Americans. That's one reason why Ferro and many others here say they're shocked and disappointed. "Beyond betrayed," she said. "They used us. During the campaign, the elected officials from the Republican Party, they actually told us that he was not going to touch the documented people. They said, 'No, it is with undocumented people.'"
Link.
The Atlantic: “The Army of God Comes Out of the Shadows: Tens of millions of American Christians are embracing a charismatic movement known as the New Apostolic Reformation, which seeks to destroy the secular state.
The ideas have seeped into Trumpworld, influencing the agenda known as Project 2025, as well as proposals set forth by the America First Policy Institute. A new book called Unhumans, co-authored by the far-right conspiracy theorist Jack Posobiec and endorsed by J. D. Vance, describes political opponents as “unhumans” who want to “undo civilization itself” and who currently “run operations in media, government, education, economy, family, religion, and arts and entertainment”—the seven mountains. The book argues that these “unhumans” must be “crushed.”
“Our study of history has brought us to this conclusion: Democracy has never worked to protect innocents from the unhumans,” the authors write. “It is time to stop playing by rules they won’t.”
Chris Hutchinson: “Should Congress Tell Preachers How To Preach?”
A CHURCH MEMBER informed me of a resolution making its way through the US House of Representatives, co-sponsored by our representative, with whom I often agree and whose demeanor and moderation I greatly appreciate. He works hard for our district and represents the region’s view points well. Consequently, I have never written about specific congregational legislation, much less a House resolution, but here I must dissent. I believe a word of caution is in order regarding what appears to be a clear and harmful overstepping of Congressional authority, at least from a conservative Presbyterian’s point of view. As I hope to demonstrate, this is so despite it being a seemingly toothless resolution which does nothing more than “express the sense of the House.”
Link.
Texas Observer: “ICE Prosecutor in Dallas Runs White Supremacist X Account”
Since GlomarResponder was first created in 2012, the account has posted hateful, xenophobic, and pro-fascist content. “America is a White nation, founded by Whites. … Our country should favor us,” GlomarResponder wrote last month. “All blacks are foreign to my people, dumb fuck,” the account posted in September of last year. “Freedom of association hasn’t existed in this country since 1964 at the absolute latest,” GlomarResponder wrote four months prior, further clarifying the post was referring to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 in a reply to a comment. “I’m not a commie, I’m a fascist,” GlomarResponder posted a couple weeks later. “Fascists solve communist problems. Get your insults right, retard.”
In August, GlomarResponder posted: “‘Migrants’ are all criminals.” Two months later, GlomarResponder shared an image that reads: “It is our holy duty to guard against the foreign hordes.” Some GlomarResponder posts evoke anti-immigrant violence: “Nobody is proposing feeding migrants into tree shredders,” the account posted in March 2024. “Yet. Give it a few more weeks at this level of invasion, and that will be the moderate position.” And in January: “My WWII vet grandfather didn’t get a chance to kill asians, so he volunteered for Korea. He’d be asking for a short term job with ICE kicking doors and swinging a baton.”
Rodden’s ICE employment is confirmed by federal court records, background interviews, and Observer courtroom visits.
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