Not since the Federalists controlled the White House and Congress at the end of the 18th century have we seen this kind of systematized, lock-step domestic political repression perpetrated in unison by the political branches of our government.
Trump's militarization of immigration enforcement and "crime control" is, of course, nothing more than a smokescreen for preparing for further such political repression operations in other areas of the country under the control of elected Democrats.
If you're a member of the United States Senate in 2025, you don't keep writing checks to the guy who's in the process of actively destroying a 250-year-old experiment in representative government.
The question right now is whether O'Donnell, who has engaged in high-profile legal battles in the past, wants to go after Trump for defamation in American courts, assuming the Supreme Court does not foreclose such an option.
The American Republic cannot defend itself. This is especially true when members of one major political party decide to either pledge their loyalty to a would-be dictator masquerading as president or to slink away when that same tyrant-in-the-making says nasty things about them on social media. Both are forms of
The tactics used by civil rights and anti-Vietnam War protesters during the 1960s and early 1970s had a political effect because JFK and LBJ were at least somewhat responsive to the political pressures the groups generated. Trump is overtly contemptuous of his political opposition, using lawfare against a Democratic mayor,
In the weeks and months ahead, it may be necessary for each of us to make a life-altering decision: whether to confront the regime ourselves, in concert with like-minded people loyal to the constitutional Republic.
Federal senators, along with state and local officials across the country, should be prepared to utilize all available tools to the maximum extent possible to thwart regime actions that are unconstitutional, illegal, or otherwise endanger public safety.
If you live in a state with one or more Democratic Senators, tell them to refuse unanimous consent on any Trump-desired legislation or Trump nominees until he obeys federal court decisions barring his unconstitutional acts.
If all of this sounds eerily familiar and frightening, it's because Trump is clearly--and enthusiastically--blazing his own infamous trail of authoritarianism that already matches, and in some cases is poised to surpass, the outrageous conduct of those who came before him.
The story it tells is not, unfortunately, an April Fools joke.
The Roman example serves as a cautionary tale: their republic didn't collapse in a single moment but through a gradual erosion of institutional constraints and normative boundaries over decades.