Yes this could be a pivotal time in U.S. history and it is imperative that Robert Mueller ends his investigation as soon as possible and presents whatever evidence he has gathered before the November midterm elections; and here’s why:
This election is going to determine the direction that this country takes for some time going into the future. The Republican Party now has control over the presidency and both houses of Congress. If, in this election, the people of America decide to let them stay in power then that will greatly enhance Trump’s chances of staying in office for a second term.
And if he is reelected that’s when the trouble will start; and I would say that, from that time on, America will go into a new and highly dangerous direction. Think about what Trump has done since becoming president, his obvious obsession with power and control.
When Trump entered office there were many Republicans who were very much against him as he had said many derogatory things about the GOP and many of its members during the campaign. However, in a very short time, he has beaten most of them into submission and has turned them into his political tools. He has managed to take total control of the GOP and has, thereby, increased his power and control to new heights.
Anyone who has listened to the words coming out of his very active mouth has heard some disturbing, things that foretell of great danger to this nation’s democracy in future years. I’m talking about the possibility that this president, by his behavior and actions, has clear intentions of establishing an autocracy/authoritarian government and is hard at work laying the groundwork to achieve that objective.
It did not take very long after he was elected before he launched a nasty ongoing war against various forms of the media. He continually talks about “fake news” and he has called journalists “sick people who don’t like our country.” Once he told someone in the media to just shut up.
TV and newspaper reporters at Trump campaigns have been physically abused; pushed, shoved, and one was body slammed. At some of his rallies he has whipped his audience into a near frenzy as he urged those in attendance to hurl insults at media representatives covering the event, just doing their jobs. He condones and even encourages this kind of violence against members of the media.
If Trump accumulates the power he will not hesitate to muzzle the free press and turn it into his personal media machine. All one needs to do is remember how, down through history, dictators have made the silencing and control of the free press one of the first, if not the first, actions in their plan to establish a dictatorship.
How about Trump dictating to the NFL that it must not allow football players to kneel during the playing of the National Anthem. He also has made statements about players such as “maybe they don’t belong in this country.” His intimidating tactics have resulted in the NFL management ruling that players cannot kneel during the playing of the National Anthem. We’ll see what the players will do in response.
He has made one attempt after another to kill the Russian investigation, first by firing Jim Comey, the head of the FBI, then proclaiming that the Mueller investigation should not be allowed to continue. That’s obstruction, that’s using power to intimidate, to control, that’s autocratic behavior.
He shows a disregard for laws, regarding them as irrelevant; he’s denigrated judges who dared to rule against him. Trump believes that he is above the laws and he can alter them to fit his desires.
Then there is his current demand that the Justice Dept. investigate his charge that the FBI had placed a spy in his campaign. Any president is free to ask that the Justice Dept. or some other agency to conduct a specific investigation but when Trump demands and dictates that this must be done then he is exceeding his authority, Late last year, he said that “I have absolute right to do what I want to do with the Justice Department.” That’s an autocratic statement.
Trump’s never ending tweets indicate that he is a control freak of the highest order. He does not hesitate to attack and insult anyone who dares to criticize or question anything he says or does. He wants them to stay in line and remain subservient; he wants total control.
We could go on and on with more examples of his obsession with control but the above examples paint a grim picture of what can happen to America’s democracy if this man is allowed to be around for two full terms – or as many as he desires f he becomes the head of an autocracy.
If Mueller does not conclude his investigation and present his evidence before the November elections, then there will be a great chance that Trump and the Republicans will remain in total power after the 2018 and 2020 elections because voters will not be informed about the great dangers that Trump and his associates have created for our democracy.
As usual Democrats see a great opportunity to take control but they just can’t seem to get their act together and present a new and convincing message to the American people that they can turn this country in a new and more positive direction. They need to jumpstart their efforts to connect with the people of America.
Someone might ask this question: if Trump and the Republicans control this entire government and have all this power then why don’t they just establish an authoritarian government right now?
The answer is that they are not ready to institute such a massive change since it takes time and a lot of planning to make it invincible. It took Adolf Hitler many years to lay the groundwork to take complete control of the German government. Trump has been in office less than two years. This is not the time, not just yet.
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