Transformative Times

News and essays

I am a retired attorney who has particular interests in Constitutional law and politics. Now that the two are on a collision course, I feel compelled to contribute to the conversation. I confess that I escaped a rabidly Republican household, parents, siblings, cousins. This has left me with an indelible understanding of how they think and what they value. They are almost certainly fine with the authoritarian playbook that is Project 2025. These are transformative times.

June 21, 2025. These days are intense. The things done by the regime are the stuff of autocratic coup. No exaggeration or hysteria. They’ve arrested a judge, a mayor, a congresswoman, a New York City comptroller, unarmed protesters, and slammed a United States senator to the ground and cuffed his hands behind his back for asking a question at a press conference. A question. At a press conference. Kind of like a novel. Afterward, the vice president deliberately called the senator Jose Padilla. Just a racist a-hole. The regime admits to arresting officials because of their party affiliation.

This terribly abnormal treatment all started during the campaign and worsened the moment he took his pledge to himself. He has been calling everyone, everyone who disagrees with him, traitors, enemies of the people, enemies of the country, they hate our country, these radical lefties, scum, vermin, and more. Elected officials are not exempt from this name-calling and are usually the butt of it. Every day is a new accusation of some demonstrably false claim of disloyalty to the regime. Demonization of the other side is one step on the path to autocracy.

Expressing a difference of opinion is not tolerated these days, by anyone really, but especially not the media, and could eventually land us in jail. The media is fake news if he doesn’t like what it says. It is the enemy of the people if it’s MSNBC or 60 Minutes. He threatens to revoke their broadcast license if they displease him. He sues media outlets. This is not the spoiled action of a petulant teenager, though it’s that too, but when he does it, it is legal chilling of free speech, a serious matter. It is restriction of the freedom of the press. He is angry at Fox for reporting unflattering poll numbers. Like he cares. Demonization of the media is another step toward autocracy.

These things, these actions, are all part of a push for a whole new authoritarian governing regime, straight out of Project 2025 and 1984. The military in the streets of Los Angeles is part of a picture they’re intentionally conjuring, a nightmare if you think about it for a minute. This scene will be coming to a neighborhood near you. ICE wearing masks and dragging people into unmarked vans feels more like terrorism than the law enforcement they claim it is. These are some of the steps. I’m just sayin’, it’s been an intense six months. So it’s okay to feel kind of battered.

These are some of the actions that propel an authoritarian coup forward. The great historian and author Thom Hartmann published a piece today about 14 steps to autocracy. I highly recommend following Thom Hartmann. Needless to say, the regime has taken many of the steps already, and it’s only June the first year. The hateful name-calling has gotten worse (Newsom and Bass are socialists, (like it’s a bad thing)). The threats are getting worse (Democrats are terrorists who should be charged with a crime; to remove the governor and the mayor of LA). He promises to arrest people who disagree with the regime, including elected officials, or maybe especially elected officials. These are another step in the march toward autocracy. And the bizarre way of talking about war with Iran is another minefield. And now he has bombed Iran with our weapons, so we’re involved. (Wall Street Journal). He is in the process of taking control of the government with no guardrails, no constraints. He’s not the kind of person who does fine without guardrails. That’s another step.

The coup is not complete yet, so we still have time to stop it. That’s the good news, and it is good news. The leaders in Congress are saying ‘hey wait a minute,’ and the regime is saying ‘traitors,’ so it’s all in process, but we can stand in a large group, say 12 million, and help push the wall of hate over on top of itself. And then keep pushing.

I want to talk about the way the big a-hole disrespected Juneteenth, on top of his unrelenting frenzy to eradicate all trace of diversity, equity, or inclusion everywhere. Black history should be celebrated by every person living in this country. He whined that Americans have too many unpaid holidays and it’s costing his oligarchs human $productivity. He didn’t recognize Juneteenth and didn’t mention it all day. There was Juneteenth music on my classical radio station, but the guy with a bullhorn couldn’t mention Juneteenth. He's such a racist. I read about a 98-year-old woman who makes quilts like those used to help travelers on the Underground Railroad. The squares in the quilt gave directions and guidance to travelers. The Underground Railroad was the best of humanity. Maybe we’re on this century’s Underground Railroad.

Take care and stay connected