Trump Begins Dismantling Democracy

 

The Malignant Fascist and his minions' aggressive assault on democracy and the rule of law accelerates.  Each one of these items deserves more attention on its own (and we very well may do that).  We know that the firehose of fascism is already starting to feel overwhelming (as they intended it to be), but the broad picture needs to be filled in.

Domestic terrorists, political violence validated

Rioters locked up for their roles in the Jan. 6 Capitol attack were released while judges began dismissing dozens of pending cases Tuesday after President Donald Trump’s sweeping grant of clemency to all 1,500-plus people charged in the insurrection that shook the foundation of American democracy.

With the stroke of a pen on his first day back in the White House, Trump’s order upended the largest prosecution in Justice Department history, freeing from prison people caught on camera viciously attacking police as well as leaders of far-right extremist groups convicted of orchestrating violent plots to stop the peaceful transfer of power after his 2020 election loss.

The federal Bureau of Prisons by Tuesday morning had released all of the more than 200 people in its custody for Jan. 6 crimes, officials told The Associated Press. 

The pardons and commutations cement Trump’s efforts to downplay the violence that left more than 100 police officers injured as the mob fueled by his lies about the 2020 election stormed the Capitol and halted the certification of President Joe Biden’s victory.

Trump’s decision to grant clemency to even rioters who assaulted police — whom his own vice president recently said “obviously” shouldn’t be pardoned — underscores how Trump has returned to power emboldened to take actions once believed politically unthinkable. And it shows how Trump plans to radically overhaul the Justice Department that also brought criminal charges against him in two cases he contends were politically motivated.

“The implications are clear,” said Julian Zelizer, a Princeton University historian. “Trump will go to great lengths to protect those who act in his name. This is the culmination of his effort to rewrite Jan 6, in this case using his presidential muscle to free those who were part of a violent assault on the Capitol.”...

January 6 revisionism

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., announced Wednesday the creation of a new select subcommittee to investigate events before and after Jan. 6, 2021.

“House Republicans are proud of our work so far in exposing the false narratives peddled by the politically motivated January 6 Select Committee during the 117th Congress, but there is still more work to be done,” Johnson said in a statement.

The subcommittee’s mission is to “uncover the full truth that is owed to the American people,” Johnson said...

Bullying the private sector on DEI

U.S. President Donald Trump escalated his campaign against diversity programs on Tuesday by pressuring the private sector to join the initiative and telling government employees in offices administering such programs they would be placed on paid leave.

On his first day in office Trump issued a series of executive orders to end diversity, equity and inclusion programs, which attempt to promote opportunities for women, ethnic minorities, LGBTQ+ people and other traditionally underrepresented groups.

 

Civil rights advocates have argued such programs are necessary to address longstanding inequities and structural racism. Trump and his supporters say DEI programs end up unfairly discriminating against other Americans and weaken the importance of candidates' merit in job hiring or promotion.

 

In an executive order issued on Tuesday, Trump revoked executive orders dating as far back as 1965 on environmental actions, equal employment opportunities and encouragement to federal contractors to achieve workforce balancing on race, gender and religion...

Paralyzing independent national security watchdog board

The Trump White House is moving to paralyze a bipartisan and independent watchdog agency that investigates national security activities that can intrude upon individual rights. ... The move comes as the new administration is vowing to put its own stamp on federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies. It also comes ahead of a new conflict over whether or how Congress should renew a warrantless surveillance law that is set to expire in 2026.

Congress established the agency, called the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, as an independent unit in the executive branch after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. It has security clearances and subpoena power, and is set up to have five members, appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate, who serve six-year terms. Some members are picked by the president, and some are selected by congressional leaders of the other party. ... It needs at least three members in order to take official actions like starting a new investigative project or issuing a board report with a policy recommendation. Its work has included scrutiny of surveillance and bulk data collection activities, terrorism watch lists and the use of facial recognition and other biometrics at airports.

On Tuesday evening, each of the three members who were picked by Democrats -- Sharon Bradford Franklin, Edward W. Felten and Travis LeBlanc -- received an email from the White House telling them to submit resignation letters by the close of business on Jan. 23, according to three people with knowledge of the situation. ... The people spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal. They said the email, sent by Trent Morse, the deputy director of presidential personnel, told the board members that that President Trump would terminate their positions if they did not resign by that deadline... 

Enabling disinformation

One of President Donald Trump’s first actions as he returned to the Oval Office on Monday was signing an executive order aimed at “restoring freedom of speech and ending federal censorship” of US citizens.

The order bans federal officials from any conduct that “would unconstitutionally abridge the free speech of any American citizen” and instructs the attorney general to investigate if the Biden administration engaged in efforts to censor Americans. [snip]

Nina Jankowicz, who briefly led the Biden administration’s disinformation board and is now CEO of the American Sunlight Project, said Trump’s order “has canonized lies and conspiracy theories about those responding to disinformation,” calling it “a direct assault on reality” that “emboldens both foreign actors and disinformation profiteers.”

“Disinformation is not a partisan issue; it’s a democracy issue,” she said. “America’s adversaries benefit when our country is internally divided and politically polarized.”

Other experts pointed out that the order could have a chilling effect on relations between government agencies and tech platforms, potentially harming national security...

Eliminating asylum at the border 

The Trump administration has essentially eliminated the ability to pursue asylum at the border, attempting to erase by executive order a right established in U.S. and international law.

The restrictions leave migrants who claim they fear for their lives almost no path toward safety in the United States.

The new administration’s avalanche of executive orders includes a long list of new rules related to immigration. Numerous states have sued over Donald Trump’s attempt to end birthright citizenship altogether, for example. Along the border, Trump has shut down CBP One, the app that migrants could previously use to schedule an appointment at a port of entry and be allowed into the United States to pursue an asylum claim. Another Trump order reestablished the so-called “Remain in Mexico” policy, wherein migrants seeking asylum are required to wait for their court dates across the border.

But Trump also signed an executive order Monday that essentially prevents all asylum claims along the southern border, on the grounds that the current reality counts as an “invasion,” and that he is asserting an emergency authority to suspend entries “[w]henever the President finds that the entry of any aliens or of any class of aliens into the United States would be detrimental to the interests of the United States.”...

Mifepristone ban revived

A federal judge revived a lawsuit challenging access to the abortion drug mifepristone just days before the 52nd anniversary of the landmark Roe v. Wade decision.

After the Supreme Court overturned Roe in 2022, anti-abortion advocates launched a barrage of litigation, including a federal suit in Texas aimed at mifepristone, one drug in a two-drug regimen used in medication abortions.

Months after the Supreme Court threw out a challenge to mifepristone’s FDA approval, a federal judge in Texas on Thursday allowed a 2022 lawsuit to be revived, potentially opening the floodgates for restricted access. The widely-used drug was approved by the Food and Drug Administration 25 years ago. However, the FDA has eased restrictions on the drug. 

U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, who was appointed by President Donald Trump during his first term, ruled last Thursday that three states — Missouri, Kansas, and Idaho — can resurrect the case. The states had requested to amend the complaint in October. They argue that eased restrictions on the drug impact abortion restrictions in their states.

The defendants — the FDA and mifepristone distributor Danco Laboratories — had argued that the case should be dismissed because the plaintiffs lacked venue in the Northern District of Texas...

But her emails the price of eggs!

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We're seeing America as we've known it being dismantled one large piece at a time, and the onslaught is just a few days old.  The point of our stressing these initial MF actions is not to depress or enervate you, but as a call to action.  They want us to be quiet and and overwhelmed.  We're mindful of the metaphor of a frog being placed in warm water, where it doesn't feel the danger, only to have the water raised to a boil slowly before the frog can save itself.  Our country has been put in that metaphorical pot of warm water, and the MF and his fascist thugs will be raising the temperature.  We need to do whatever is in our own individual and collective power to do to shut down the stove before we all boil.

In the immediate term, demand your legislators (Democrat or Republican) fight back (House and Senate - 202-224-3121), the advice of our new Sinemanchin notwithstanding.  Just as importantly, make sure your State and local Democratic officials hear from you and are prepared to take action to protect their citizens to the maximum extent possible.  But that's just the start.

One Democratic group calling itself Indivisible has put together "A Practical Guide to Democracy on the Brink," with useful suggestions about what we can do individually and collectively to fight back; you may be aware of other guides or groups -- don't wait to get active.  Being active and fighting back is our best and only real course of action now.