Autocracy: “A system of government by one person with absolute power.”
We’re not heading towards an autocracy. We have arrived.
Donald Trump controls the government. Completely. When the Constitution becomes a nice historical document and no longer a factor in day-to-day governance, when the Legislative branch doesn’t function as a check and balance on the Executive branch, and when the Supreme Court gives Trump immunity, they too became a player in what is now American autocracy. While there are literally dozens, maybe hundreds, of court cases pending against many of Trump’s actions, their resolution will likely come too late to make a difference. And when Trump and his loyalists don’t obey legal orders—as demonstrated by not releasing all of the Epstein Files— when governmental agencies no longer function independently, that’s an autocracy.
We are witnessing the end of our democratic republic. When the rule of law no longer matters, when free speech is fine as long as it supports the Great Leader, but criticizing him makes you a “domestic terrorist,” when war crimes don’t count as long as he and his faithful say they don’t, when the right to peacefully assemble in protest of government actions results in being shot, killed, pepper sprayed, jailed, violently arrested and—while incapacitated—kneed in the face and beaten, when American cities are targeted for military action because Trump doesn’t like their politics, when ICE and other government agencies can act with impunity, that’s an autocracy.
When foreign and domestic affairs is translated into “I’ll do what I want” ignoring our allies and threatening action that could destroy NATO, when breaking international and domestic laws at whim, when attacking other people from other countries, and the countries themselves, without approval from Congress, when breaking international and domestic laws goes unchecked, when retribution is the primary action for dealing with those who disagree, when freedom of speech and dissent result in verbal and physical attacks, when wanting something is enough to take it when it isn’t yours to take, that’s an autocracy.
When Trump disregards his limits of power, when he says, “I want Greenland whether they like it or not,” when he threatens to invoke the Insurrection Act when communities don’t do what he wants, when he attempts to control the flow of information by coercing and intimidating the media, universities, and law firms, when he demands investigations of his opponents, when he choses loyalists over experts, when he puts the military on US soil, when he fires statisticians if he doesn’t like their findings, when he demonizes opponents and immigrants, when a single leader has total control, and when that leader makes decisions unilaterally and demands strict obedience, that’s an autocracy.
But WE THE PEOPLE have options. We can change things. We can vote Trump’s sycophants out of Congress in November. We can continue to protest peacefully. There are 198 non-violent actions/options we can choose from. Visit the Albert Einstein Institute’s web site for a complete listing. We can’t rely on others to do our work.
It’s worth repeating Benjamin Franklin’s warning. When asked what kind of government the Founders decided upon, his response was, “A republic, if we can keep it.”
Edward R. Murrow said, “No one man can terrorize a nation unless we let him.” “We protest now so we don’t have to bow down later.”
And now it is our turn.
Marsha Shearer is a resident of The Villages and the author of “America in Crisis: Essays on the Failed Presidency of Donald J. Trump.”