Is the world's best democracy "sliding towards autocracy"?
It certainly seems so....
Since embarking on his second term less than three months ago, President Trump has been working hard to defy conventions and remove restrictions on his authority. So far his administration has
- jailed protesters without due process;
- sought to stifle free speech on college campuses;
- withheld federal business from law firms considered hostile;
- replaced senior generals with more ideologically friendly replacements
- and fired military lawyers.
A couple of weeks ago, Trump invoked a wartime power to deport 238 Venezuelan migrants to a brutal Salvadoran jail, in defiance of an oral order by a judge. Trump labeled the judge "a radical Left lunatic" and demanded his impeachment, prompting a rare rebuke from Chief Justice John Roberts. David Frum, a vociferous ex-Bush speechwriter, believes Trump is stress-testing the constitution with deliberately illegal actions, risking that system is "too broken to stop him".
Trump has thus put loyalists in charge of what Russians call the "power ministries" – the police, the military and the intelligence services – and Republicans in Congress are either with him or too afraid to antagonize his base. Almost none of them had the courage to protest when Trump vindictively stripped security clearance from his former aide John Bolton, even though he appears on an Iranian death list. Nor have they challenged the chaotic agenda of his efficiency tsar Elon Musk.
America’s voters would once have baulked at this “strongmanism”, but polls suggest Trump still enjoys considerable support. What we’re witnessing today in America is “not so much a political revolution as a cultural collapse”.
Whether Trump can maintain this is unclear. The Maga faithful feel they have "much to celebrate" at present. Illegal crossings on the border are significantly down; Europe is having to pay more for its defense; the "Washington Blob" is taking a kicking.
Final thoughts...
Trump is having an easy time of it to date, but he may be undermined by the economy....As the economic effects of Trump's trade wars work through, the mood may shift. US shares have already decreased, and Republicans have been catcalled at town hall meetings by angry voters.
