The withdrawal of Matt Gaetz from consideration as Attorney General is the first hopeful sign from within the federal government that the traditional guardrails may partially restrain Donald Trump’s push for authoritarian power.
The particulars of Gaetz’s demise matter, as they involve allegations of sexual crimes with underage women. His replacement, Pam Bombi, may not make a better AG but at least she presumably isn’t guilty of statutory rape.
Next up is Pete Hegseth, Trump’s pick for Secretary of Defense. His controversy involves an allegation of sexual assault as well as statements that women do not belong in combat roles in the military.
That the issues plaguing both of these men are sexist in nature fully illustrates the long-term reach of the #MeToo movement, and more broadly, feminism.
As I’ve written previously, I believe the two historical forces that will ultimately limit Trumpism are the women’s rights and the civil rights movements. Historically, they have been the most successful in transforming American society, so I expect them to resurface over time to challenge Trump’s most egregious power grabs.
But before that can happen, Trump’s mass deportations will begin. This will pose a more difficult challenge for progressives, because Trump has succeeded in riling up sentiment against undocumented immigrants and the Laken Rileymurder case has proved to be perfect timing in that regard.
The ACLU and related organizations will shoulder the burden of opposing Trump on deportations, and the L.A. city council’s recent move may presage a larger anti-deportation movement in blue areas.
With so many human rights issues converging, it will be more important than ever for people to support the organizations that form the backbone of that work, such as the Human Rights Data Analysis Group, which I have worked with for years.
There still are many other domestic vulnerabilities that will soon emerge, including LGTBQ+ rights, environmental issues and climate change, public health, freedom of the press and maintaining the critical line between church and state.
When it comes to democracy writ large, it may be helpful to think of it as a verb rather than a noun. What we’ve achieved as a civilization over the past quarter-million years is a partial, imperfect democratization and not a full democracy. The remnants of anti-democratic influences baked into the Constitution are ascendant under Trump so we will slide backward for certain but hopefully not all the way into a full state of authoritarianism.
The reaction from progressives cannot be similarly extreme, i.e., communism, because we know that doesn’t work and only ends up with the centralization of state power, which is equally bad whether it comes from the left or the right. What is needed is a pro-democratization movement that promotes class peace, not class warfare.
Two of the controversial areas of Trump’s agenda where I’m reserving judgement are the Elon Musk “efficiency” initiative and international trade policy. From my many years covering government regulatory efforts, I know that all those giant federal agencies could be much more efficient. But I fear Musk will choose to cut all the good and important functions in favor of enriching his billionaire class.
And that is the same risk involved with trade deals and tariffs. Both involve arguably the most difficult issue of all — global wealth disparity. In this matter, Trump & Musk et.al., represent an unmitigated disaster.
HEADLINES:
Gaetz withdraws as Trump's pick for attorney general (AP)
With Matt Gaetz's withdrawal, Trump's 'retribution' campaign hits the harsh reality of governing in Washington (NBC)
Donald Trump gets a brutal reality check (Politico)
Trump chooses loyalist Pam Bondi for attorney general pick after Matt Gaetz withdraws (AP)
Trump Transition Live Updates: Greene of Georgia to Lead New House Panel on Government Efficiency (NYT)
Police records reveal details about sexual assault allegation against Hegseth (WP)
The vast tariffs President-elect Donald Trump has promised to implement will likely lead to price increases at major American retailers like Walmart and Lowe’s, the companies’ chief financial officers said this week. [HuffPost]
Harris Loss Has Democrats Fighting Over How to Talk About Transgender Rights (NYT)
Russia fired experimental ballistic missile at Ukraine, Putin says (Reuters)
U.S. Casts Sole Vote Against Gaza Cease-Fire Resolution (NYT)
Google stock hammered after DOJ calls for Chrome sale (Fortune)
What will happen to CNBC and MSNBC when they no longer have a corporate connection to NBC News? (AP)
You Know RFK Jr. Is Going to Be Bad. It Might Get Even Worse. (Slate)
Musk, Ramaswamy vow ‘mass head-count reductions’ in U.S. government (WP)
Solving a 40-year mystery, scientists ID chemical found in millions of Americans’ tap water (CNN)
Relevance! Relevance! Relevance! Microsoft at 50 Is an AI Giant—and Still Hellbent on Domination (Wired)
Massachusetts student's punishment for AI use can stand, US judge rules (Reuters)
Lightning looks to make managing AI a piece of cake (TechCrunch)
Apple Lost the Plot on Texting (Atlantic)
The AI Reporter That Took My Old Job Just Got Fired (Wired)
Marissa Mayer just laid out a possible business model for ad-supported AI chatbots (TechCrunch)
Every Movement In Man’s Burrito-Eating Technique Informed By Past Burrito Tragedies (The Onion)
No comments:
Post a Comment