“America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.” – Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

By Glen Reaux

On September 19^th, Attorney’s for Trump filed suit in New York stating that as President he is above the law and cannot be investigated by law enforcement or Congress.  Trump’s attorneys were in court making these assertions. Also, at the same time, in defiance of federal law, the Trump appointed intelligence community Inspector General (IG) was refusing to provide information to the House Select Committee on Intelligence.  IG Michael K. Atkinson, upon orders from the White House refused to provide information about possible national security breaches by Trump as alleged from a former White House staff member who is an intelligence community whistleblower.  These two acts alone provide proof that “America is under siege and is being destroyed from within.”  Prior to the Trump administration, on the world stage, America appeared to be nearly invincible.  Because of her, Germany was defeated in WWI and WWII and the west won the Cold War leading to the Soviet Union’s demise as a Superpower.  America is a founding member of NATO and the United Nations.  We have been hailed as leader of the free world and the world’s beacon for human rights.  She is the largest economy in the world and its last military superpower.  But right now, like America, the eyes of the world are focused on these two events: “Trump lawsuit states he is above the law whistleblower sayss he is a national security threat.”

As invincible to the world as America has seemed in the past, much like the greatest empires of antiquity, she may be doomed.  Throughout history, the world’s greatest nations, Greece, Rome, Ottoman Empire, Mongol Empire and Egypt were never destroyed by enemies from the outside.  They destroyed themselves, self-destructed.  Despite the wishes, design and constitutional protections of America’s founding fathers, today she is proving to be no different from the others.  One of America’s greatest teachers and historians, Henry Louis gates, Jr. foretold the coming of America’s demise: “America will never be destroyed from the outside.  If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.”  It was as if he prophesied Donald Trump’s rise to power.  Right now, under Republican rule (the word rule is not used lightly), America faces destruction from a dictatorship masquerading as a democracy.

Today and for the foreseeable future, America is no longer a democracy.  Under Republican rule, she is a dictatorship.  This is exemplified not by the fact that Republicans control the Executive Branch, the Senate and the Judiciary.  But, by the fact that Republicans controlling each of those branches of government, by their own actions have proven to be blatantly corrupt and antidemocratic.  They have collectively imposed their will over the people of this country in direct contradiction to the constitution and their oaths of office.  Their actions have made each of them domestic “enemies of the state!”  They, in-concert have united to rule the nation under the leadership of want-to-be dictator Donald J. Trump.  Unlike Trump’s shameful and disrespectful display before our heroes and veterans, where he stated “What you’re seeing and what you’re reading is not really happening” opening your eyes to the most recent events will be a revelation on the state of democracy in this country and the Republican dictatorship that is threatening our very existence.  As unbelievable as it sounds, in common sense terms, America has become a fascist state.

Fascism is a form of government that is a type of one-party dictatorship. Fascists are against democracy. They work for a totalitarian one-party state.^{1}    While thinking of America as fascist may be unfathomable to you, let’s examine the facts, in particular, recent events.

Trump’s domestic and immigration policies are similar those of Adolph Hitler’s.  He has separated children from their parents and placed them in animal cages.  He has denied their immigrant parents their day in court and illegally deported them in direct violation of federal laws.  Trump has openly obstructed justice by not comply with any Congressional subpoenas and preventing other federal employees from doing the same.  In compliance with their constitutional duty of oversight over the Executive Branch, pursuant to federal law of IRS Code section 6103(f) Congress demanded that the IRS Commissioner turn over Trump’s tax returns.  IRS Code section 6103 (f) is “black letter law” and not open to interpretation.  Trump has prohibited the IRS Commissioner from complying with the law.  Both of them should be punished.  But, so far, they don’t seem to have the guts to do it.

In a similar situation, on September 16^th, the District Attorney (DA) for Manhattan filed a subpoena demanding 8 years of Trump’s personal and corporate tax returns from Mazars, Trump’s accounting firm. DA Cyrus Vance is investigating possible crimes committed by Trump relative to hush money payments made to two women during the 2016 election.  In a lawsuit contesting the subpoena, Trump’s lawyer Jay Sekulow argues that the constitution does not allow for a sitting president to be prosecuted or investigated while in office.  This means that Trump is above the law:  “virtually all legal commenters agree” a sitting president can’t be subject to a criminal process while in office. “Yet a county prosecutor in New York, for what appears to be the first time in our nation’s history, is attempting to do just that,”  In other words, Trump could commit a multitude of crimes including murder in public and not face prosecution or any form of constitutionally mandated justice, effectively making Trump a dictator.

Also, on September 16^th, former Trump campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski testified before the House Judiciary Committee which is currently conducting an impeachment inquiry into Trump.  In a contemptuous performance before a national audience, Lewandowski repeatedly refused to answer questions from Democratic Representatives and often taunted them.  Lewandowski was being questioned because the Mueller Report provided proof that Trump had asked him to deliver a message to then Attorney General Jeff Sessions and if Sessions did not comply with the message, Lewandowski was to fire him.  Lewandowski was not then nor since been a federal employee.   As such, he did not have the power to fire anyone let alone the Attorney General of the United States who can only be fired by Trump.  Not a single Republican Representative on the Committee asked a question of Lewandowski that was pertinent to the investigation.  Republican Party committee members assisted Lewandowski’s attempt to obstruct the hearing exhibiting proof of the Republican Party’s support of Trump’s obstruction of justice and validation of a concerted Republican fascist rule.

In mid-August, an internal Trump administration employee filed a whistleblower complaint about multiple acts committed by Trump that present a serious national security threat to this country.  The complaint states that Trump made a “troubling promise” to a foreign leader.  Since the complaint was filed under the Whistleblower Protection Act of 1989, reports have surfaced that the reported incident deals with a phone call from Trump to the President of Ukraine.  Trump has stated openly and through his attorney Rudy Giuliani that he is attempting to get the government of Ukraine to investigate Democratic Presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son Hunter who had done business in the Ukraine.  Biden is Trump’s greatest threat to re-election in 2020.

Under the Whistleblower Protection act of 1989, the whistleblower’s complaint must be turned over to Congress within 7 days of notification by the Inspector General to the Director of National Intelligence.  Nearly a month later, that has not happened.  Under the “black letter law”, the complaint was passed on to the intelligence community Inspector General who determined it was credible and a matter of “urgent concern.”  The urgent concern standard requires that Congressional oversight committees be notified.  In a letter to both the House and Senate committees, the Inspector General (IG) concluded that the complaint ““relates to one of the most significant and important of the DNI’s responsibilities to the American people.”  The IG, Michael K. Atkinson forwarded the complaint to the acting Director of National Intelligence (DNI), Joseph McGuire.  Joseph McGuire in an unprecedented move and in violation of the law, refused to send the complaint to the House and Senate intelligence committees.  This action led to Adam Schiff, Chairman of the House Select Committee on Intelligence immediately demanding that McGuire appear before the committee in two days.  McGuire, citing a busy schedule refused to appear.  He further stated that his reason for refusing to forward the complaint to congress was based upon advice from Attorney General William Barr.  Barr’s position is that the complaint contains privileged-information pertaining to the Executive branch.  On September 18^th, Adam Schiff issued a subpoena for the whistleblower complaint form.  Acting DNI McGuire has since agreed to appear before the House committee on next Thursday, the 26^th although he is still refusing to forward the complaint to Congress.

Recent reports not disputed by Trump state that he pressured the president of Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden’s son 8 times during a single phone call.  Also, Trump delayed a $250 million military aid package funded by Congress to Ukraine.  The funds were just released last week after the whistleblower complaint went public.  In addition, Trump has withheld $770 million in funds appropriated for European countries that border Russia.  Ukraine not only borders Russia, it was invaded by Russia in 2014 and seized Crimea.

In an unprecedented event, on September 5, 2018, the New York Times published an essay from a Trump senior administration official entitled “I am a part of the resistance inside the Trump administration.”  The essay reveals that the author and many of his colleagues, deliberately fail to follow some of Trump’s directives when they feel the proposal would be bad for the country, “working diligently” to block his “worst inclinations.”  According to the author, “The root of the problem is the president’s amorality.   Anyone who works with him knows he is not moored to any discernible first principles that guide his decision making.”^{2}

All of these recent actions on the part of Trump are alarming.  However, the lengths to which Republican lawmakers have gone to protect him is beyond partisan politics.  The actions by the Republican Party, when examined, provide proof that America under Republican rule is a fascist state.  According to Benito Mussolini, Italian dictator from 1923-1945; “Fascism should more appropriately be called Corporatism because it is a merger of state and corporate power.”

Using Mussolini’s definition of fascism, the Republican Party has proven to be purely fascist without any hint of principles associated with a democracy.  The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 overwhelmingly benefits corporations.  Since taking control in 2017, Trump led Republican lawmakers have gutted the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).  They have removed banking regulations put in place by the Obama administration to prevent another Great Depression.

The Republican-controlled Supreme Court has ruled in favor of corporations in nearly every major case that has come before them. Since the mid 20^th century, the Supreme Court has been the principal flag bearer for fascism. The Court’s history of bias in favor of corporations over human beings is evidenced in the following cases:

1. 2010 Citizens United v Federal Election Commission³  – The court found that corporate political campaign finance is a form of free speech protected by the 1^st amendment allowing corporations to spend limitless amounts of money to support political candidates to champion their causes.  It also allowed for foreign interests, including governments to make unreported limitless campaign contributions.
2. 2014 Burwell v Hobby Lobby⁴ – The court ruled that closely held for-profit corporations to be exempt from a regulation its owners religiously object to. This provided Hobby Lobby with the ability to deny providing for birth control as mandated by the Affordable Care Act.
3. May 21,2018 Epic Sytems v. Lewis Supreme Court Case⁵ – The Supreme Court ruled that employers can prohibit their workers from banding together to dispute their pay and conditions in the workplace, an important victory for business interests. The justices ruled 5-4, with the court’s Republican members in the majority, businesses can now force employees to individually use arbitration, not the courts, to resolve disputes. This prevents employees from filing lawsuits to redress their grievances.
4. 2011 AT&T Mobility v Concepion⁶ – In a 5-4 vote, the Court’s Republican Justices found that AT&T couldn’t be subject to a class action suit after falsely claiming their wireless plan included a free cell-phone. The result of this ruling was to make it far harder for consumers to file class action lawsuits.
5. March 27, 2013 Comcast Corp v. Behrend⁷ – 5-4 vote, Republican Justices favored Comcast in a class-action lawsuit, citing what it said was a flaw in the class action’s proposed damages model (NBC Universal is owned by Comcast). The effect of this decision makes it harder for plaintiffs to band together to launch class action lawsuits. Such suits make it easier for groups of individuals to bring cases against corporations.

The same court has recently decided that it cannot get involved in cases of gerrymandering or voter suppression contrary to its long standing history of settling those cases.  The Court has also allowed persecution of minorities through their granting Trump a Muslim ban and his immigration policies dealing with Hispanic immigrants.  All of these things strikingly resemble action of Adolph Hitler and his Fascist Third Reich that persecuted and murdered Jews..

When given the duck test to determine if the Republican Party truly upholds the values of a democracy, it fails miserably.  The majority of the American electorate for decades has been trying to get Republicans to pass effective gun control legislation, health care for all, and anti-corruption legislation.  Instead, they have gutted the Affordable Care Act, refused to pass universal background checks and have sold out America to lobbyists, special interests and Corporate America.  Surely the Republican Party will deny to the bitter end their fascists agenda.  But, the proof is in this “Tasty Republican Duck.”  This duck looks like a fascists, quacks like a fascist and goose steps like a fascist.  No doubt about it, America is a fascist state and you can thank the Republicans for it by voting them out of office in 2020.  But, considering Trump’s Russia relationship, his open invitation to other foreign powers to interfere in our elections and the Republican Party’s complicity in these crimes, you shouldn’t bet your life on it.  Just bend over, part your cheeks, smile and say “thank you Republicans, may I have another!”

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Linked Sources and Documentation

1. Fascism: https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fascism
2. New York Times essay: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/05/opinion/trump-white-house-anonymous-resistance.html
3. 2010 – Citizens United v Federal Election Commission – pdf
4. 2014 – Burwell v Hobby Lobby – pdf
5. May 21,2018 – Epic Sytems v. Lewis Supreme Court Case – pdf
6. 2011 – AT&T Mobility v Concepion – pdf
7. March 27, 2013 – Comcast Corp v. Behrend – pdf

Copyright © 2019, Glen Reaux, all rights reserved