Several political commentators have expressed surprise not at the slide to authoritarianism, but the speed and variety of ways this has occurred. The amount of these actions has been overwhelming and paralyzing. What actions, by the Trump administration, should patriotic Americans oppose? What should patriotic Americans, do? Answering this is not easy, but I will say that identifying and focusing on one theme or policy is preferable to addressing many. But which one? In this thread, I’m going to mention a idea or narrative that should be considered.
Here’s the idea: The assertion that Trump’s actions are abnormal and dangerous is not partisan spin—many Republicans, Conservative journalists, and former members of the Trump administration know this, but won’t acknowledge this publicly. Recruit prominent Republicans like Liz Cheney, Adam Kinzinger and former Trump officials like General John Kelly, John Bolton, to hammer this idea. Specifically, get these individuals to confront Congressional Republicans and Fox News executives and journalists about this idea, pressing them to tell the truth.
The purpose for this is two-fold: 1) to disabuse Americans–especially casual news consumer and persuadable conservatives–of the idea that Trump is really no more corrupt or authoritarian than previous presidents by choosing the most effective messengers (read: not Democrats or liberals); 2) to activate the conscience and patriotism of Congressional Republicans, Conservative journalists, Trump administration officials and prominent business leaders, spurring them to publicly acknowledge Trump’s unique unfitness.
The objective of all this is to make the majority of Americans–i.e., the casual news consumer– understand that Trump is grossly unfit and poses a danger to the country. I’ve long believed that the American democracy prevailing through the Trump years would depend on prominent Republicans and Conservative journalists joining Democrats in opposing Trump. I still believe that, and I’m suggesting a way to goad them into patriotic activity or at least expose the truth that many Republicans and Conservatives agree with Democrats that Trump is unfit.
The Silence of the Generals from Tom Nichols in theAtlantic responds to Trump’s recent speech at Ft. Bragg, describing it as a “continued…war against America’s most cherished military traditions.” He also added this:
And then he called on military leaders to speak up:
On a side note, notice the way Nichols bypasses the GOP and Trump supporters, as though asking them to speak out isn’t a consideration. I understand this–calling on Trump supporters or the GOP to speak out seems futile. Indeed, even an attempt to do so can make one feel foolish. But I feel like this is a mistake. Someone would should be constantly appealing to the Republicans and Conservative journalists, who know Trump is unfit, to speak out.