Who will rid us of this meddlesome grief?

Trump doesn't need Republicans or broad public opinion for a reason.

Only a handful of media outlets have used the term, but America is under siege, in the throes of Trump’s second coup attempt. So far, Trump’s plan to subvert the rule of law and destroy/ sell the federal government has been administrative and largely nonviolent, but it’s early days.

By firing JAGS whose sole duty is to assert Constitutional guardrails, and by politicizing the military and all federal offices that possess the power of force, Trump has laid solid tracks to execute wildly unconstitutional orders. I fear those orders are coming, and that they will follow a series of declarations, first of manufactured and hyped national “emergencies,” then of martial law. Fox News, Newsmax, OAN, and the rest of the more than 2000 right wing media outlets will amplify the danger perpetually to keep martial law in place, because it will financially benefit the oligarchs who own them, at least in the short term.

For the first time in my life, I am considering leaving the US permanently, not because I dread the door-knock in the middle of the night, but because I can no longer relate to a country that would trash its values and abandon its allies. Relinquishing my American citizenship is not a light consideration- I’ve spent my life in the law, adjacent to politics; I even ran for Congress not long ago. But wow, as the saying goes, change happens slowly, then all at once. This is not the same country it was when I ran for office in 2020, and, judging my own wariness in reading the news, I am not the same person either.

Trump is still demonizing others for a reason

Back in the distant past of January, I thought Trump would limit his illegal use of military force to showy videos of ICE agents roughing up immigrants, something special for Fox News viewers to enjoy. That was distressing and heartbreaking enough-- distressing that it was happening, heartbreaking that Trump supporters, like Trump, enjoy causing pain. I still reach unsuccessfully for compassion for the cruelty and suffering they must have endured in life to arrive at that level of inhumanity.

But reading Trump’s address to Congress, I started to get the queasy feeling that he’s thinking larger, much larger than immigrants; using the military to abuse one group of people won’t satisfy the voracious malignancy eating at his brain. After barking his foundational “I won a mandate” lie, (he won only 1% more of the popular vote than Harris), he spewed one deliberate falsehood after another. He then pivoted to disparaging Democrats:

“I look at the Democrats in front of me and I realize there is absolutely nothing I can say to make them happy or to make them stand or smile or applaud – nothing I can do. I could find a cure to the most devastating disease, a disease that would wipe out entire nations or announce the answers to the greatest economy in history, or the stoppage of crime to the lowest levels ever recorded, and these people sitting right here will not clap, will not stand and certainly will not cheer for these astronomical achievements.”

Just as he and JD Vance ambushed President Zelensky then demanded that he thank them for it, Trump is trying to ‘other’ everyone who opposes his agenda. “Vermin” as political subtext is morphing into state policy. It’s made-for-TV divisiveness on a perpetual feed loop. It is also a steady if yet distant drumbeat for his pardoned J6 goons and assorted weirdos who are nursing an itch for political violence.

My personal takeaway

I came away from reading Trump’s speech with an insight so compelling it smacks of certainty. The reason he’s alienating allies and dehumanizing non-supporters is the same reason he doesn’t care about the fate of the Republican party: broad public opinion doesn’t matter because he’s planning to stay in power again by force.

Trump has bragged that there will be no more elections, and circulates an image of himself as a king. He has made repeated references to staying in office past his expiration date, and lusts openly for China’s presidential power “for life.” His J6 coup attempt failed, but now he has the US military at his disposal. Anyone who doesn’t see where this is going is lying to themselves or is being lied to.

He is mentally unfit, unwell, and singularly dangerous, an ignorant malign force loosed upon the world by 90 million Americans who didn’t bother to vote. On a good day I relish the fight. Today is not a good day.

Sabrina Haake is a 25+ year federal trial attorney specializing in 1^st and 14^th A defense. Her columns are published in Alternet, Chicago Tribune, MSN, Out South Florida, Raw Story, Salon, Smart News and Windy City Times. Her Substack, The Haake Take, is free.