Day One Dictator

Just-the-tip fascism is coming

Trump’s joking-not-joking interview with Sean Hannity last night was one of his typical tells; “I won’t be a dictator, except on day one.”

Oh, just that. Just a day of retribution. If you believe that, I have some shares in Truth Social to sell you.

I mean, it’s not like Trump is an authoritarian fanboy, Hitler speech afficando, Putin bootlick, admirer of crackdowns on civil protests, and the driving force behind the most dangerous coup attempt in American history, right?

HANNITY: “Under no circumstances, you are promising America tonight, you would never abuse power as retribution against anybody?”

TRUMP: “Except for day one. Except for day one.”

The audience, of course, applauded wildly. Hannity looked like he swallowed his tongue for a moment but gamely pressed on. None of this happened by accident; Fox events like this are highly scripted and planned. Rupert, Sean, and Lachlan were trying to let Trump soften the blow from the drumbeat of stories in the last few weeks in which Trump’s dictator-curious words and promises had become more unsubtle than usual.

It didn’t work.

Trump knows his base and knows what they love most: the promise of a violent, revanchist political reset in America. They’ve given up on the democracy he never understood in the first place. Trump is the avatar of their hatreds, their Fox-implanted sense of outrage and oppression (you know, the white upper-middle-class ragebros in America have it so hard), and their inchoate but very real aspiration to live in a nation defined not by law and the Constitution, but by Trump’s rage and fiat.

Remember, though, it’s not just Trump. The promised claque of absolute loyalists are making their plans, as well, and more and more often, they feel little hesitation in laying them out in the most explicit terms.

Their preparation for the Red Caesar phase of America is well underway. When Steve Bannon and Kash Patel spent quality time together this week on Bannon’s War Room podcast, they gave away the entire game.

Patel’s statement was meant as exactly the threat it reads as: “We will go out and find the conspirators, not just in government but in the media… We’re going to come after you—whether it’s criminal or civilly, we’ll figure that out. But yeah, we’re putting you all on notice and Steve, this is why they hate us. This is why we’re tyrannical. This is why we’re dictators.”

I hope the reporters who still bothsides this election would remember Patel’s promise; “…not just in government but in the media.” (Emphasis added because by God, pay attention.) A man widely touted as Trump’s pick for Director of the CIA is telling you quite openly he’ll use the power of the state to arrest and prosecute the news media.

The inertial force of media normalcy bias may kill us all. And just like last time, the powerful cultural forces in Washington — normalcy bias is among the most potent — will pretend this isn’t real. That it isn’t happening. “The Trump 2.0 White House is still sending out Christmas cards, so it can’t really be fascism, can it?”

And while Trump is promising to work by using acting appointments only, Republican Senators will still confirm even Trump’s most ludicrous and dangerous appointees. Prepare for Susan Collins saying, “Well, I disagree with Mr. Patel’s position on arresting journalists, but I’m sure President Trump values the First Amendment, so it won’t be that bad.”

I’m sure that the anodyne NYT headline to come will be a great comfort. "Journalists Condemn Trump Mass Arrests Of Reporters” with the inevitable subhead of “Republicans Say Arrests Long Overdue”

Think of the future as a series of Presidential pronunciamientos backed up by utterly loyal appointees and apparatchiks, endlessly blaring propaganda, and every arm and aspect of government power turned toward the punishment of dissent and political opposition. Oh, and back it up with a healthy serving of grassroots violence and intimidation.

In the name of destroying their catalog of imaginary demons — the Deep State, Antifa, wokeism, Black Lives Matter, academia, and the media — they won’t bother to boil the frog. They’ll investigate and persecute their enemies using a compliant DOJ and any other agency they choose. All that weaponized DOJ talk was weapons-grade projection.

They will push until the bayonet hits bone.

No Republican is coming to stop him. 

From 2016-2019, Trump kept the elected GOP in line by fear: fear of a primary defeat, fear of his mob, fear of his allies at Fox and beyond destroying their lives. After 2020, most Members of Congress were either elected as Trump toadies or clones, but the Trump world knows fear is a powerful lever in their arsenal. They will face no pressure or sanction there.

Trump will warn us over and over again. He will tell us his intentions. His minions and agents will lay down the plan, block by block, brick by brick. They’ll brag about who they will persecute, prosecute, and imprison. Our names will appear on their lists. They’ll boast openly about their plans and laugh off the horror as trolling…until the second he puts his hand on that Bible on a cold January day.

It’s like watching a forest fire in the darkness, still far over the horizon but painting the night sky. You can smell it in the air, even though you can’t yet feel its heat. 

The fire is coming, faster than we want to admit, driven toward us by dark winds too numerous and dangerous to contemplate.