Dictator for a Day

We have a New Year, although it seems there is a strong need to look to the past year and sometimes further back. We all do it.We look back before we look forward. I remember “Queen for a Day”. The winning “queen” got a washing machine and all kinds of household goodies. Donald J. Trump says “when” he is elected POTUS he “will be dictator for a day”. He was quite adamant about that. All those who have known Donald J. Trump and not been loyal have said with greater and greater urgency that he will do what he says. I know it is quite different for him to be a king rather than queen. He will wield all the power at hand. He learned from his previous 4 years as POTUS where all the levers are and that he must appoint loyalists and no others. Those political organizations that espouse “freedom”, in the same understanding as Donald Trump, have made precise plans as to what “freedom” is.

There is also consensus by these same organizations that back the former President as to what “freedom” is not. It is not having the say over ones own body, especially if one is pregnant. A pregnant person’s life is not as valued as the possible life carried in a womb, even if life outside the womb is untenable. “Freedom” is not being able to live safely from random or domestic gun violence. And, when a person looks different, worships differently or has a different philosophy, they run the risk of being attacked. It is immigrants from the continents of Africa, Asia, South America, Central America and Mexico, who are targeted with the most vitriol. Immigrants from other parts of the world don’t have this problem. “Freedom” is not for the lesbian, the binary person, the gay, the transgender or the queer. Violence against these humans is the price they must pay.

Who has advocated for this righteous violence? It is freedom turned inside out. None other than Donald J. Trump. His utterances are famous, or infamous, for going over the line. His followers are prone to this violence, such as the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys, and they understand his messages. Before Mr. Trump said he would be “dictator for a day… on day one”, he told the Proud Boys to “stand back and standby”. His idols are those who deal in violence as heads of their countries. The Russian Premier and the North Korean titular head, are models for Donald J. Trump. (Mr. Navalny, who opposes Mr. Putin, has since Putin has announced he will run for President of Russia again, disappeared and was tracked down to a prison in Siberia. Mr. Navalny was arrested and has spent 11 years in prison for opposing Putin. He had almost nineteen more years added to that before his disappearance). The histories of Kim Jong Un and Putin, whom Donald J. Trump extols, are rife with the taking of life from those who oppose them.

One might say, “what does this have to do with me? Politics is not for me.” But, we do have something to say, in our vote and in our conversation with family, neighbors and friends. We vote for the most powerful man in the world, POTUS…. Not all powerful because we are a democracy-driven republic. The Republic of the USA has three branches of government, Legislative (US House of Representatives and US Senate), Judicial (US Federal Courts), and Executive (US President and the administrative agencies, including the military). We choose our Representatives and Senators by voting. We choose the President of the United States by voting for electors. If we choose not to vote, we let someone else decide how our lives will be impacted. It is not inconceivable that an elected President can do the mob boss kind of thing, and those standing by will be on the move. It will not depend on political parties; it will depend on the elected president and the people with whom he/she chooses to surround themselves. The three branches of government will become more like one branch of government. The other two branches will either be used or ignored. Maybe we should not “fight like hell” (another Trump exhortation). Maybe we should show our kindness and let go of vengeance as one of the first Israeli hostages did. She had lived her life pursuing peace… When released, she shook her captor’s hand.