Donald Trump and maga Republicans threaten American democracy by enabling Trumpzi-ism

Echo opinion letter publsihed in LancasterOnLine, in Pennsylvania:

We must speak out against Trump’s authoritarian rule in the US

“Retaliation, retribution and revenge” is a ridiculous way to run a business, let alone a country.

I’m still trying to grasp the concept of setting tariffs based on the whims of our would-be dictator. Brazil now faces an outrageous tariff, seemingly because Donald J. Trump doesn’t like the fact that Jair Bolsonaro is being prosecuted for trying to overthrow an election he lost.

Hmm.😟😒😕 Sound familiar, regarding the 2020, election here in the United States❓

Why aren’t more of our voices in Congress speaking out against the tariffs, which are nothing more than a tax increase on the hardworking people of this country? I hear crickets. Extortion is Trump’s answer.

Some law firms and legal professionals have been targeted because Trump wants to punish firms that had a role in investigating or bringing lawsuits against him. Extortion is Trump’s answer.

Colleges, universities and student groups have been targeted because Trump essentially claimed they were antisemitic and not sufficiently pro-Israel. Extortion is Trump’s answer.

Media outlets and journalists have been targeted because Trump deemed them to be critical of his administration. ABC, CBS, PBS and NPR have all been targeted in various ways.

Will Trump soon come after ordinary citizens for letters to the editor that he doesn’t like? Will he have his loyal MAGA followers take photos of our protest activities and report to him so that we can be sent off to Alligator Alcatraz❓

I don’t like living under authoritarian rule, and I will not be quiet.

From Barbara Bonanno in Lancaster Township

Donald Trump intends to create martial law in American cities just to prevent 2026 voters who oppose his policies from going to the polls

We tape Rachel Maddow to replay when Morning Joe turns to soft news. Rachel Maddow was on fire in this program, as is well reported in the Boston Globe❗  #RachelMaddowStrong❗

Rachel Maddow slams Trump’s National Guard deployment in D.C. as an ‘authoritarian takeover’

Echo report by Alyssa Vega in the Boston Globe

Augut 11, 2025:  MSNBC network host Rachel Maddow slammed Donald Trump’s deployment of the National Guard in Washington, D.C., as an “authoritarian takeover” that she says has little to do with combating crime in the nation’s capital.

Trump announced Monday (August 11) that he was putting the D.C. police department under federal control and deploying about 800 National Guard troops after asserting the district has been overtaken by “bloodthirsty criminals” and “drugged-out maniacs.”

Maddow, who lives in Western Massachusetts, opened Monday night’s episode of “The Rachel Maddow Show” by citing data that show D.C.’s crime rates have dropped in recent years.

“You think it’s really about crime? You think it’s really about being tough on crime?” Maddow said of the deployment.

“Let’s be generous here. Maybe it’s not really just a generic tough-on-crime thing. Maybe it’s specifically because it’s D.C., which is the seat of the U.S. federal government,” Maddow said. “Maybe [Trump’s] just really sensitive about protecting the federal government.”

“Jan. 6❓ (Insurrection❓) No, forget about that. He’s just sensitive about it now. Maybe that’s it,” Maddow said, referencing the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.  At the White House Monday, Trump did refer to recent incidents of violence in D.C., including the June 30, fatal shooting of a 21-year-old UMass Amherst student who was interning for a Kansas congressman. 

(Maine Writer- do you suppose "guns" had anything to do with this murder of an innocent student❓ Ya' think❓

The president has also taken to social media about the assault of a former DOGE employee in the district earlier this month.

But Maddow noted how Trump has yet to comment on the shooting that took place outside the headquarters of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta on Friday, killing a police officer. No one at the CDC was injured.
The suspect, Patrick Joseph White, who died during the incident, had blamed the COVID-19 vaccine for making him depressed and suicidal.
On her show, Maddow also cited Trump’s deployment of roughly 4,000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines in Los Angeles in June following protests over his immigration crackdown.
“When Donald Trump sent troops to Los Angeles this summer on the absurd pretext that some kind of war was on, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and other L.A. officials didn’t just protest against it and try to stop it. They also warned the country that, ‘Yeah, he’s doing this to us first, but it’s going to be you next,’” Maddow said.
She continued by calling Trump’s deployment of the National Guard as an “attempted authoritarian takeover where our authoritarian leader just starts trying to turn our own military to face us, the people of this country.”
“The questions that are equally important in response to that right now are, number one: What will the troops do about that❓ And number two: What will we do❓” Maddow said.
On Tuesday, Maddow posted on Instagram from an episode from last week saying that after six months of Trump’s second term Americans now “live in a country that has an authoritarian leader in charge.”
“We have a consolidating dictatorship in our country,” Maddow added.  (Maine Writer: In my opinion, Donald Trump wants to order martial law in all American cities where he knows 2026, mid term voters will vote against him and his right wing maga authorian policies.)

#DemocratsMustDOSomething❗