𝑯𝒆𝒓𝒆’𝒔 𝒎𝒚 𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏: 𝑯𝒐𝒘 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝑨𝒎𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒅𝒖𝒍𝒕 𝒃𝒐𝒕𝒉 𝒄𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒃𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝑽𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒔 𝑫𝒂𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒖𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝑻𝒓𝒖𝒎𝒑 𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏’𝒔 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕? This elemental contradiction is mind-numbing. Trump’s disdain in the 2016 campaign for John McCain’s heroism in Vietnam first raised this question. His history-wrenching meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last Friday (Feb. 28) at the White House makes the question existential.
𝑳𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒏: 𝑴𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒍𝒆 𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒐𝒏 𝒎𝒚 𝒇𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒚 𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒆–𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒚 𝒇𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒚–𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑼𝑺 𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝒊𝒏 𝒗𝒊𝒐𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒇𝒍𝒊𝒄𝒕𝒔 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑪𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒍 𝑾𝒂𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑽𝒊𝒆𝒕𝒏𝒂𝒎 𝑾𝒂𝒓. They served in the conviction that they fought for freedom and democracy against invaders, not only in the U.S. but also abroad. They fought those who would deny human rights to others: oppressors, fascists, dictators. According to family and government records, they all fought with honor, valor and distinction, many achieved lofty ranks in service, a number were injured and some died. I had my own turn at the wheel when I was drafted into the Army just after college and was awaiting my orders to basic training in early 1972, when the U.S. decided to end the Vietnam War and the draft. I was opposed to that war, but I believed in the Army’s larger historic mission against tyranny. Perhaps that was in my Irish DNA.
𝑨𝒔 𝒅𝒊𝒑𝒍𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒄𝒚, 𝑻𝒓𝒖𝒎𝒑’𝒔 (𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑽𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝑷𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝑱.𝑫. 𝑽𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆’𝒔) 𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝑷𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒁𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒌𝒚𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑼𝒌𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑾𝒉𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝑯𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒎𝒆𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒖𝒏𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒅𝒍𝒚 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒄𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈. 𝑨𝒔 𝒉𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚, 𝒊𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅 𝒖𝒑𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏. While falsely claiming to be a “man of peace,” Trump engaged in nothing less than a televised shakedown of a nation and its leader who only several weeks earlier had been a Western democratic ally trying to defend itself in its ongoing war against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Only days earlier the American president had shamelessly lied that the democratically-elected Zelenskyy was a dictator and that Ukraine had started the now three-years-long war. His were the talking points of Russia’s very real dictator, Vladimir Putin, for whom Trump has long expressed admiration and trust. At the Friday summit in the Oval Office, Trump and Vance pressured Zelenskyy to accept a cease fire with Russia without any security assurances (e.g., against future invasions), but with Ukraine’s agreement not to join the West’s North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which provides mutual protection against just such military assaults as Putin’s.
𝑾𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒇𝒖𝒍 𝒃𝒆𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒐𝒓 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑶𝒗𝒂𝒍 𝑶𝒇𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝒎𝒆𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒌, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑨𝒎𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒔𝒆𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅’𝒔 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆, 𝒅𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒄𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒄 𝒔𝒐𝒄𝒊𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒔. As of now, he–and the US–are no longer the leaders of the Free World. Trump has aligned America’s interests with those of the world’s autocrats, and especially with Russia’s Putin, wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes associated with his invasion of Ukraine. In so doing, he has turned our nation’s back on its long political and military alliance with Western democracies in NATO, which has prevented world wars for the last 75 years.
𝑴𝒆𝒂𝒏𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒆, 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕 𝒅𝒊𝒄𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒂𝒈𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕 𝑵𝑨𝑻𝑶 𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒛𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒏𝒐 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒏 𝑨𝒎𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒂 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒆𝒇𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒊𝒏 𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒅. We are no longer the “land of the free,” and it does not require a “home of the brave” to threaten Panama, Canada and Greenland, as Trump has also done as he re-entered the Oval Office. Our once Western allies immediately circled the wagons around Ukraine to develop a plan to end the war with a peace agreement that ensures Ukraine’s sovereignty and security. Without the US.
𝑻𝒓𝒖𝒎𝒑’𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒓𝒆𝒘𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒉𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒂𝒄𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒈𝒂𝒍 𝒂𝒔 𝒐𝒃𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒆. 𝑯𝒊𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒅-𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒔 𝒊𝒏𝒉𝒂𝒃𝒊𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒈𝒐𝒓𝒚 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒔𝒆𝒕 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏’𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍 𝒉𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒊𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒔: 𝑻𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒐𝒏.
The kleptocratic president sees his chance to adopt the old imperialist method of carving the world into spheres of influence to be split among the largest countries of the world, primarily the us and china. He likes the way his buddy putin has organized what he can and is making that process a part of his plan to hold the world small democracies in a great con and protection racket. We give up our democracy if we continue to let him have his way. He must be impeached asap.
Thank you, Peter! Always enjoy your perspective…I agree completely!
Spot on, Peter!
I couldn’t agree more. Thanks
Your words give expression to the despair that I am feeling these days when I think of what is going on in and around the Oval Office. Thank you for taking the time to describe the powerful reactions we are having to the injustice and treason that is front and center.
Robert Reich is one of the most incisive political thinkers and actors in the country, with more than 50 years in the middle of it. He has been everything from Rhodes Scholar, to Secretary of Labor (Clinton), to Chancellor’s Professor of Public Policy at UC Berkeley, and he is the Founder of Inequality Media. Below, Reich nails the current crisis in 450 words:
What Donald Trump is doing right now has nothing to do with making the government more “efficient” or rooting out “incompetence.” It’s not really even about getting rid of “D.E.I.” or “woke-ism” or establishing white Christian nationalism.
The real story is that Donald Trump is trying to make himself an all-powerful dictator by seizing a personal monopoly on the use of force.
In every part of the government that involves the use of force — the military, the criminal justice system, the authority to arrest and hold individuals in jail — Trump is installing hard-core loyalists who will do whatever he wants.
This is Trump’s most fundamental goal, and it’s the essence of tyranny.
But mainstream media outlets are still refusing to accurately describe what’s really happening — and that’s a huge problem. Because if the American people aren’t warned about Trump’s authoritarian takeover, he might actually succeed.
In just six weeks, Trump has purged the highest levels of the Department of Defense, the Justice Department, the Department of Homeland Security, and the FBI of anyone who is not personally loyal to him.
For instance, he fired Air Force General CQ Brown Jr. as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff — the nation’s highest-ranking military officer. For Brown’s replacement, Trump has nominated retired Air Force Lt. General John Dan “Razin” Caine, a career fighter jet pilot who has not served in any of the positions that nominees are legally required to have held before rising to chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
But, as Trump recently bragged, Caine had told him, “I love you, sir. I think you’re great, sir. I’ll kill for you, sir.”
The media described General Brown’s firing as “part of a campaign to rid the military of leaders who support diversity and equity in the ranks.”
Nonsense. It was part of a campaign to purge the Defense Department of anyone who’s not totally 100% loyal to Trump.
The same thing is occurring at the Justice Department, where Emil Bove, Trump’s former criminal lawyer, is now the chief enforcer of a Trump loyalty test for prosecutors.
At the FBI, Trump has appointed MAGA podcaster Dan Bongino as deputy director alongside newly installed chief Kash Patel. Neither is remotely qualified for the jobs they’ve been given. Their only important attribute is unswerving personal loyalty to Trump.
We — the vast majority of people in the United States — do not want to live in a dictatorship. And tyranny cannot prevail over people who refuse to succumb to it.
But unless the people see the whole of Trump’s strategy for what it truly is, they will not be able to mount an effective resistance — and the mainstream media is utterly failing to alert the public about what’s really going on.