Trump's authoritarianism and American democracy

Use of force is not going to solve anything

America is experiencing large-scale civil unrest following the death of George Floyd. 40 US cities are under night curfew. The protests have spread to more than 75 cities across USA. Protests, curfews and unrest have taken over the United States of America.Thousands of demonstrators were arrested over the weekend after clashing with police and defying curfews in numerous major U.S. cities, including Los Angeles, New York City, Miami, Chicago, Seattle and Salt Lake City. The killing of an unarmed black man George Floyd by a policeman in Minneapolis has sent shockwaves through the country.
The American people are showing their anger against police brutality and repression. But this is not the only issue. There is also anger against president Trump's handling of COVID-19 pandemic. 40 million Americans already lost jobs. The unemployment and poverty is on the rise in USA. 
The footages showing that police in different cities are using brutal force and tactics against protests mostly peaceful.Police is brutally beating up arrested protestors who are not resisting arrest.
 But still president Trump is not happy with many Democratic Mayors and Governors for not brutalising the protestors.
 Trump wants to dominate the protestors. He wants to show the military muscle to his own people. He wants to stop people protesting on American streets. He wants to criminalise the protests. Instead healing the wounds of angry people, he is rubbing salt on their wounds. He is further dividing the society on racial lines to make political gains.
President Trump behaving like an authoritarian leader instead of a president of a free democracy. Democratic leaders listen to their people and try to address their grievances. They don't threaten their own citizens.  He is promoting his image as "president of law of order" to win the support of right wing voters. 
The media and administration is concentrating hard on the issue of violence and lootings. Yes it happened in some cities. The frustrated youth and anarchists used violent means. But these violent elements are not in the majority. Hundreds of thousands of people across America are involved in peaceful protests. 
The liberal democracy is in danger not because of massive protesats on the streets or some violent actions of protestors but because of president Trump and his increased authoritarianism. 
US President Trump announced to deploy the military to stop the unrest in Washington DC, and said he would intervene anywhere local authorities fail to restore order after days of riots.Trump laced his remarks with militaristic language, urging state and local officials to “dominate the street” and backing those requests by threat.
“If a city or state refuses to take the actions necessary to defend the life and property of the residents, I will deploy the United States military and quickly solve the problem for them,” he said.
Although Trump did deploy troops in and around Washington, where the federal government has direct authority, his ability to use troops more widely over the objections of state officials would raise a host of legal and practical questions that he ignored in his short, aggressive, remarks.
Pentagon officials noted that Trump had not actually invoked the 19th century Insurrection Act, which allows a president in some circumstances to deploy military personnel for domestic law enforcement.
The last time that was done was in Los Angeles during the 1992 civil unrest that followed the acquittal of police officers on charges of beating motorist Rodney King. In that case, the federal government acted at the request of then-Gov. Pete Wilson.

Without a state’s approval, the president’s ability to use troops domestically is sharply limited by law, although the prohibitions do have exceptions Trump might try to exploit.
Trump’s new posture came after 48 hours in which he had been mostly silent in public, except for his angry Twitter finger.
In private, however, during a call with governors Monday, a few hours before his announcement, the president repeatedly pushed for a harsher crackdown.
“Most of you are weak,” Trump said, berating the governors and urging them to “dominate” the protesters, according to a person on the call. He urged state officials to track down lawbreakers and send them to prison for five to 10 years.
A second person with knowledge of the call described the president as “bellicose,” raising the possibility of military action and describing the situation as a war. The message was echoed by Esper, who described the need to “dominate the battle space,” language normally used to describe far-flung conflict zones instead of American streets.



Trump then stood in front of the church holding a Bible as photographers snapped pictures and the president summoned top officials — including Atty. Gen. William Barr, Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Chief of Staff Mark Meadows — to pose with him.
The posed photo and the official violence that preceded them drew outrage from the church’s bishop and from Democratic officials.
 “They used the American military to push back a peaceful protest ... just so he could have a photo op,” New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said on CNN. “When was the last time you saw the American military called out against American citizens?”
The Right Rev. Mariann Budde, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, called the walk to the church “an outrage.”
“An incendiary moment,” said Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker.  Another Democrat.Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden went a step further, posting a message on Twitter in which he called Trump’s remarks a “fascist speech” that “verged on a declaration of war against American citizens.” Senator Ron Wyden has brilliantly  summed up the actions of president Trump. 

                                                                            The Editor          

No comments

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.

Powered by Blogger.