Day One of King Trump’s Rule

You don't have to imagine what the first day of Donald Trump's second presidency would look like. He's telling you. The question is how come we aren't paying attention and responding accordingly?

While the corporate punditocracy remains obsessed about President Biden’s age and whether or not he should drop out - an important story of course - the Supreme Court just paved the way for Donald Trump, a twice impeached felon, to become the first king of America. Meanwhile, a picture surfaced of independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy holding a barbequed dog - you read that correctly - and refusing to answer allegations that he sexually assaulted his then 23-year-old babysitter. His only response was, “I am not a church boy…I said [there are] skeletons in my closet.” Amid all this chaos, Democrats, such as Rep. Lloyd Doggett, are calling on Biden to step down, and Biden refuses to quell concerns or do town halls, instead opting for a Friday interview with ABC News. 

Everything is just fine in America, folks.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump has already promised he will be “dictator for a day.” 

Axios, the dictionary definition of establishment journalism, has a solid, brief piece out today entitled “Behind the Curtain: Trump’s Imperial Presidency in Waiting” that describes what that day would look like. They summarize much of what has been openly and proudly endorsed by leading conservatives in Project 2025, the blueprint for the next Trump Administration. Here are some of the gallows highlights:

• Trump will set up camps and illegally deport millions of people while locking down the southern border. 

• Trump will fire thousands of civil servants and replace them with MAGA loyalists. 

• Trump will weaponize the Justice Department and essentially use it as his own SAVAK to go after critics and enemies.

• Trump will pardon Jan 6 convicts, people his base refers to as patriots and heroes. 

• Trump will ignite a trade war and short-term inflation after he slaps 10% tariffs on imported goods.

This was all in play before the disastrous Supreme Court ruling which essentially holds the President can do pretty much anything provided it’s within his “official acts.” If you had doubts that Republican senators were afraid of Presidential overreach, GOP senator and Trump’s VP hopeful J.D. Vance is perfectly fine with Presidential immunity unless it applies to President Joe Biden. As Trump’s attorney argued before the Supreme Court, this would mean he could even assassinate potential rivals. If you didn’t want to take him literally and seriously, Trump reposted an image asking for live military tribunals to prosecute Liz Cheney for being  “guilty of treason.”

What many Republicans and undecided voters seem to have forgotten is that dictators are only loyal to themselves and their quest to maintain power. In the end, they generally turn on even their most committed cult members. Trump has proven to be one of the most vindictive, vengeful, and disloyal men to ever grace the public stage. He fed his own VP Pence to a bloodthirsty mob just because he wouldn’t go along with his failed coup attempt. He wants Liz Cheney destroyed because a failed insurrection was a step too far even though she voted for his policies more than 90% of the time. He fired James Comey because he wasn’t a complete lackey and refused to abandon investigations. He has mocked and ridiculed conservative propaganda outlets like Fox for not being sufficiently deferential. He has humiliated GOP Senators, such as Sen. Ted, and transformed them into Reeks. Even after having his wife and father disrespected, Sen. Cruz asks, “Thank you. May I have another?

He has engaged in stochastic terrorism by targeting individuals and institutions that oppose him and in turn unleashed a violent cult that then responds with threats, intimidations, and violence. Just ask George election workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, teachers, doctors, journalists, and Paul Pelosi. Conservatives have already spent millions of dollars to name and publicize public servants who aren’t down with the MAGA agenda. What do you think will happen to them when Trump wins? Recall, that he wanted to shoot Black Lives Matters protestors and floated the idea of shooting migrants and creating a moat with alligators to deter them at the southern border. 

Speaking of the broken corporate press that chases access, ratings, and scoops instead of the truth, Trump and his base refer to all of them as the “enemy of the people,” the same language as Stalin. Who do you think will join Muslims and undocumented immigrants in the camps?

Billionaires and CEOs will be fearing for their lives, but hey at least they’ll get tax cuts even as Trump blows up the deficit. Free speech activists and the anti-woke won’t be able to criticize Trump, but at least they owned the libs! Law enforcement and national security hawks will finally have a “strong” dictator who mocks veterans, promotes the “deep state” conspiracy, and bows down to Putin. 

Despite all this, Democrats like US Rep Jared Golden of Maine write that Trump is going to win and they are “OK with that.” Democratic leaders, such as Sen. Chuck Schumer and Dick Durbin, wag their fingers and publish angry tweets. President Biden comes out with a short, five-minute address and promises not to flex his powers.

The only good news is that there’s still time to avoid Day 1 of a Trump presidency. But, it’s up to all of us, the majority, to rally our neighbors and communities to protect our fragile democracy. Just because our institutions and our punditocracy seem to be “OK” with an impending dictatorship, doesn’t mean you have to obey in advance.