Viewpoint: Trump’s war on American standards
Sneed Collard
In the tornado of Trump’s first weeks in office, it’s often difficult to make sense of his motives and what he hopes to accomplish. With each passing day, however, it becomes clear that he craves one main objective: to have unfettered control over our nation.
I admit that I—and most others—underestimated Trump, but he’s proven to be an adept student of history. Under the theme of helping the downtrodden American people, his actions have been a textbook lesson in how to seize absolute power. Like many past and current elitist rulers, he has employed multiple “false flag” justifications for removing all obstacles to this ambition.
The purge of civil servants is the most obvious of these operations. Under the false flags of “government efficiency” and “reducing waste” the administration is aiming to sack hundreds of thousands of skilled workers who are not directly answerable to him. Don’t get me wrong—better efficiency is a great idea.
However, if Trump really cared about that, he and Elon Musk would establish fair, deliberate reviews of agencies and departments. Looking only an inch below the surface reveals their true priorities: Loyalty. They don’t want anyone in government to be able to act in a way that even slightly impedes their agenda of complete, unchecked power. Accusing independent civil and military employees of wrongdoing—and then getting rid of them—is a classic autocratic move. It has been employed by Russia’s Putin, China’s Xi Jinping, Turkey’s Erdogan, and many other of today’s most ruthless dictators. Trump has learned the lesson well.
Trump’s attacks on independent science and public health have been just as frightening. Within days of his taking office, his administration removed more than 8,000 government websites. These contained information on hate crimes, youth poverty, taxes—almost anything the extreme Right doesn’t want Americans thinking about. Critically, the administration removed websites that included vital public information on disease prevention, food safety, vaccines, and climate change.
Ask yourself, “Why on earth would my own government want to withhold this kind of information?” The answer is clear: They don’t want any of us to think independently. That, after all, might lead us to challenge their avalanche of hair-brained, poorly conceived ideas such as increasing tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans, undercutting clean energy, and provoking wars with America’s closest friends.
Trump and his allies are moving swiftly in many other areas, hoping that none of us will have time to react. Musk recently called for the impeachment of judges who disagree with anything he and Trump are doing. Trump’s team has denied independent journalists access to press briefings. Again, this sends a message: Trump doesn’t care about America. He wants America and will stop at nothing to get it.
If you’re not terrified by what is happening, you’re not thinking about it enough. But worrying won’t change a thing. We do have people we elected to follow our wishes. Call Steve Daines, Tim Sheehy, Ryan Zinke, and Troy Downing.
Tell them to stand up to Trump, get rid of Elon Musk, and do what’s right for all of us—not just the wealthy elites they represent. Take the next step and get involved with the many organizations fighting back against this complete destruction of our nation and its values. Seriously, we may not get another chance.
For a dictatorship to succeed here in America, only one thing needs to happen: all of us need to stay quiet. That’s what Trump and his wealthy supporters are counting on. It’s up to us to tell them who is boss.