The Will of The People: How far will we allow Trump to go?

All my recent listening to podcasts and reading of books is boiling down to this.

We need to pick our battles when it comes to Trump and his mafia making quite a lot of noise. Shock and awe (for example, vast numbers of executive orders on Day One) and relentless domination of the news cycle to grind down anyone Left of Center (hell, Leaning Center of Right) into exhaustion and crush our willpower. They’re pulling out every trick in the playbook while Trump tests how far he can push the Executive Branch’s power into territory that is openly illegal. Brazen. That’s not new for Trump but he’s taking it to the next level as he continues efforts to consolidate power.

It's going to get worse and then even more worse. Trump is going to keep pushing systemic limits as far as possible in his attempt to devolve the U.S. into a far more limited democracy (at best) and, yes, potentially form of dictatorship— which I’m learning can be rather nuanced and so we need to be careful not to dismiss shifts in this direction simply because they are not full-on totalitarian.

Trump and his lackeys have already completed a considerable number of “tasks” that are (apparently) well-known (historically speaking) as populists rise to power and lean into authoritarianism. I say “apparently” because this is only coming to my attention in recent times and I’m rather well-educated. This doesn’t give me much hope that your everyday American understands what is happening. It’s the combination of many maneuvers that brings the picture into focus. If you’re looking up close, it’s easier to dismiss Trump as a racist, a bigot, a misogynist, a xenophobe. Sure, but none of this is the point. It’s all about a larger agenda.

Anyone who has been paying attention has been concerned over Trump’s stacking the courts, deriding mainstream media, blaming elites, blaming migrants, scapegoating (insert already disenfranchised minority group), cutting off the pillars of Democracy at the knees.

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Trump’s populist rise, demagoguery, and aspirational dictatorship.

What are steps Trump has taken to pursue his agenda to make himself an American King?

What are some other “Supervillain” moves that Trump has implemented?

These range from sorta subtle to very obvious.

Trump has acted like a supervillain for a while (ditto: Elon Musk) but maybe the wildest, obvious, really almost too on the nose move has been the release of the J6 rioters— many of whom engaged in acts of violence on January 6^th. Others have pointed out that this is something straight outta comic books. The Joker does this. They even make a similar smirking face… but that’s besides the point. Trump is an actual person whereas Joker is, in theory, a fictional character. Trump is a little more like the villain in Daredevil (Wilson Fisk played by Vincent D’Onofrio) but I digress. (The series is artfully done imho, though violent as a warning).

The slow erosion of democratic norms. Insidious and nefarious. Related is his normalization of corruption and sexual misconduct.

Destroying trust in elections. This is extremely sinister. Breaking American trust in the concept of our ability to hold free and fair elections is going to be very difficult to reestablish. This is one way in which democracies can die.

Fostering a personality cult. Hello MAGA.

Undermining the free press. This is tied up with the strategic use of mis- and disinformation.

Abuse of emergency powers. Think of the ways some family members (maybe not your family but you’ve probably seen this play out in someone’s life) have a gross habit of holding money over people so that they bend to their whims. This relates to that same twisted logic.

Destroying the environment. This one seems “weird” right? It’s usually looked at through an economic lens; however, there are other reasons why creating a poor environment (in all manner of ways) can affect The People. Again, not just prioritizing corporate gains and high stock prices here. It’s partly about increasing the amount of destruction and chaos in everyday life so that citizens fall into a doom spiral of hopelessness and mindset of perpetual freefall.

Consolidation of power. Obvious. Focus on loyalty above all else. This is classic mafia shit. Where do you think Trump learned all this? Ok, aside from television. Many of us understand that Trump keeping everyone on their toes by dangling the Sword of Damocles over his minions is tactical; if you wake up and think, “If my loyalty is in question today, then I might get fired” it really keeps you perpetually under the gun. And Trump follows through on his threats. Or preemptively acts. His unpredictability adds to his success as a chaos agent. Of course, in other ways he’s highly predictable. If you suck up to him then he’ll be nice to you. That being said, I don’t think he completely lacks self-awareness. While flattery appears to be a massive weakness, I don’t think Trump has gotten where he is by failing to understand that people are being phonies (Salinger would love all this, right?).

Nationalism (America First) and co-opting the other team’s messaging. Trump and Co. flipped the script. Look at what the so-called “GOP” (which is just the party of Trump now) stands for. Previously, many of these positions were associated with Democrats. The difference is they mean entirely different things when they say what they say. As Maya Angelou reminds us, When someone shows you who they are, believe them.” Consider the difference when Democrats talk about “free speech” vs. Elon/MAGA. Democrats are now the party that is pro-police. Really. We’re the ones who “Back the Blue”. Consider January 6 and capitol police. We’re the ones who respect veterans. Consider who Trump has disparaged (think: John McCain). Democrats respect the rule of law. MAGA wants to throw out The Constitution.

Public takedowns of opposition. In short, look at how Putin has done this. We know Trump has long been salivating over the ways Putin and other dictators can wield power.

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Project 2025 vs. Margaret Atwood’s ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’. What is different? Well, TBD. It’s likely a matter of extremes. The dystopian novel envisions a totalitarian theocracy. The hope is that we (as a society) have advanced to a degree that it will be too difficult to put everything “back in the box”. I believe there are too many smart, strong women for the broligarchs to pull this off. Believing they can’t do it is important, I think. We will also find ways to prevent them from doing this in spite of their desire for a vision of a past America that never actually existed.

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A few questions to consider…

· What is the GOP “the party of” now? What are Democrats “the party of”? How has this shifted since Trump arrived on the scene and, moreover, since he became the GOP’s central figure and reshaped the party?

· Who is in a position to stand up to Trump? Weak links? Someone who can bend his ear towards agendas that are less sinister and, dare I consider, plausibly not a net negative? One person that comes to mind (possibly not a great example, just an example) is Miriam Adelson (after looking through a list of those close to Trump who have obscene wealth)… but this is likely wishful thinking.

· What is standing in Trump’s way and how can we prop up these institutions, individuals, and amplify opposition voices? How do we protect these individuals and institutions from the inevitable clapback and attempts to undermine their authority?

· How do we slow Trump down? Momentum is a factor. Roadblocks matter. Forcing him to go through the system takes time. We need to push back hard until Democrats can retake a commanding position in Congress. It’s clear that Hakeem Jeffries is not going to let anything slide once Democrats have a leg to stand on. Of course, that means we need to work hard to retake power in Congress in the 2026 midterms.

· How do we get power back in Congress? Well, for one thing, keep Trump accountable.

Keeping Trump Accountable

He made a lot of promises and many of them are not going to happen. We need to call him out relentlessly when he fails to come through on his promises.

Grocery prices still high?

Inflation still a problem?

The economy not looking so hot?

Gas prices over $3?

Less savings in the bank?

How’s your retirement looking?

How’s your discretionary spending?

How’s your housing situation?

Is your household budgeting getting easier?

Has your health insurance improved?

Has your life improved?

Do you feel safer with Trump as president?

Do you feel like America is heading in the right direction?

Do you feel better about life as an American under Trump vs. the past four years under Biden?

Do you think the next 6 months will improve?

How’s your future outlook?

Do you see a positive future for your children? Speaking of children, adolescents, teenagers, young adults— do they seem ok? How’s their life trajectory looking?

Is Trump taking measures to create a “great” future for humanity and not just the here and now?

How is the state of “The American Dream”?

How’s the price of your go to meals? How’s the price of a burrito at Chipotle?

Are you going out more or less? Do you feel safe going out? Do you enjoy yourself when you’re out?

Do you feel more or less isolated under Trump? In the spaces you occupy, how is the state of your community?

Do you feel like you are living “the good life”?

Let’s also consider some of the standard common questions that are asked by pollsters to gauge satisfaction with a sitting president:

General

Do you approve or disapprove of the way the president is handling their job?

Do you approve or disapprove of the president’s handling of the economy?

Do you approve or disapprove of the president’s handling of foreign policy?

Do you approve or disapprove of the president’s handling of healthcare?

Do you approve or disapprove of the president’s handling of immigration?

Do you approve or disapprove of the president’s response to national crises (for example, natural disasters, pandemics, or mass shootings)?

Leadership & Character

Do you believe the president is honest and trustworthy?

Do you feel the president cares about people like you?

Do you think the president provides strong leadership for the country?

Do you think the president is effective at working with Congress?

Policy

Do you approve or disapprove of the president’s handling of climate change and environmental issues?

Do you approve or disapprove of the president’s handling of taxes?

Do you approve or disapprove of the president’s handling of national security?

Do you approve or disapprove of the president’s handling of racial and social justice issues?

Do you approve or disapprove of the president’s handling of education?

Past & Future

Do you feel the country is moving in the right direction or on the wrong track under the president’s leadership?

Do you feel better or worse about the state of the country compared to before the president took office?

Do you feel confident in the president’s ability to handle future challenges?

Presidential Job Approval

Do you approve or disapprove of the way the president is handling their job overall?

Would you say you strongly approve, somewhat approve, somewhat disapprove, or strongly disapprove of the president’s performance?

Election & Party Affiliation

If the election were held today, would you vote to reelect the president?

Do you believe the president has fulfilled campaign promises?

Do you feel the president represents the values of your political party?

Crises

There’s usually a section regarding handling crises and challenges. That will be big once Trump has to face the unexpected as, we know, life happens while you’re making plans.

Then the questions include:

Do you approve of how the president handled X?

Do you feel the president is doing enough to address X?

Do you think the president has a clear plan for addressing major national challenges?

We already know this final answer. He has “concepts of a plan”. And he’s not joking.