Just last week, DT threatened to withhold support for or attack lawmakers who go against his wish to wipe out the independent free press in this country, including defunding NPR and PBS. And then his sycophants in Congress defunded NPR and PBS.
He sued the Wall Street Journal for billions for publishing a letter purportedly from DT to Jeffrey Epstein that included a lewd drawing, and apparently providing evidence that DT and Epstein were not just casual acquaintances.
Stephen Colbert, who was often critical of the president in his monologues, saw his contract for his late-night show terminated by CBS. This looks suspiciously like CBS acting in fear of being attacked by DT. As Steven Harper, in Common Dreams asked, was Colbert’s termination part of an implicit or explicit deal to get Federal Communications Commission approval for a merger between Paramount (parent company of CBS) and Skydance Media?
And was the termination of Colbert’s contract a continuation of Paramounmt’s bowing down to DT that they started earlier in the year, when they agreed to pay the President $16 million to settle a suit that he had almost no chance of winning? The suit was not just frivolous but a direct attack by DT on CBS for daring to share, during the election, an interview with DT’s opponent, Kamala Harris.
And these are just a small sampling of his attacks on the press. He threatened legal action against CNN for reporting on an app that warns people when ICE agents are nearby. He threatened Disney, which owns ABC News, with a suit because George Stephanopoulos, a top news anchor, shared a description of the president’s assault on writer E. Jean Carroll⎼ and Disney capitulated, paid $16 million to DT, despite the fact DT was found guilty by a court, for this case of sexual abuse.
And on and on. DT is quickly moving to secure the power of a dictator. He’s trying to rip away our right to free speech and to eliminate all the vehicles we could use to exercise that right. Back in 2017, during his first administration, he received criticism for calling the media, the free press, the “enemy of the people.” Now, he’s straight out attacking any media or anyone that shares views other than his own. He’s doing anything he can to shut it, or us, up.
We don’t know what will come of this. We don’t know if enough people will protest, or enough politicians will say “we’ve had it with him.” And then there’s the Jeffrey Epstein rebellion against DT.
There’s a large segment of MAGA supporters who voted for DT because he promised to reveal a list complied by Jeffrey Epstein of prominent men who utilized Epstein’s connections to engage in child sexual predation. And now DT’s saying the opposite⎼ saying, there was no list. There is nothing there. And any of you that waste my time on this are weaklings, stupid people. Will the Jeffrey Epstein rebellion against DT’s refusal to come clean build in strength and undermine his power base?
DT has also been showing increasing signs of cognitive decline, although there have been warnings of him being reality-challenged for years. As documented by an article in the AlterNet, DT just recently claimed his uncle, John Trump, a former professor at MIT, taught the Unabomber, Ted Kaczynski ⎼ but Kaczynski never went to MIT. And DT attacked President Biden for appointing and extending the term of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. Yet, it was DT himself who, in 2017, appointed Powell. And the list goes on and on. Will DT’s fragile and declining mental state come crashing down, embarrassing not only himself but his supporters?
And instead of hiding it, he’s been proclaiming out loud cruel, Fascist, and/or illegal intentions. For example, despite the difficult situation he’s in now from spreading Epstein conspiracy theories, he continues to attack prominent Democrats, justifying his actions with evidence-challenged, baseless rants. For example, on Tuesday, 7/22, he told reporters in the Oval Office: “Whether it’s right or wrong, it’s time to go after people [Democrats].”
We don’t know if the midterms will result in Democrats winning both houses of Congress, creating a real limit on the President’s power. We don’t know so much. But we can use what we see and feel to get us to help stop DT’s rush to dictatorship. We can use what we see and feel to protect not only ourselves but our neighbors, friends⎼ people who are just trying to live their lives, not only immigrants, not only trans-people, not only women wanting healthcare and childcare, but all of us.
Fear is an emotion that can so easily overwhelm us. It exists to protect us and works by alerting us to turn away from something threatening. But as we turn away, we can develop a fear of fear; we turn away to not feel fear and then can lose understanding of our situation.
Instead, when we notice our fear we can pause, maybe take a breath. Maybe take the moment to just recognize how difficult the situation is, and be gentle with ourselves, kind. Taking a moment to care for ourselves and closely study our responses can change our whole inner landscape. It can allow us to then look at the reality of what’s going on in and around us and why our feelings are warning us away from something.
Zen Teacher and author Rodney Smith said fear is a call for exploration, not withdrawal⎼ for asking questions that reveal the reality of our situation and our deepest motivations. We can often utilize our fear instead of fearing it. Speak out instead of hiding out.
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This Post is republished on Medium.
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Photo credit: iStock
