No Regrets Journal Essay - May 2017

No Regrets Journal Essay Trump’s Populism: A Threat to Democracy May 2017

Trump’s Populism: A Threat To Democracy Populism sounds harmless. It isn’t. Populism is used to describe a wide range of politicians that can include both Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders. There is little insight to be gained by conflating these two political figures. What follows is a focus on the form of populism that is being manifested by the words, actions and governmental appointments of Donald Trump.

Trump’s populism is an attempt to bypass the mechanisms of representative democracy with its separation of powers among the judiciary, legislative and executive branches of government and with its constitutionally protected civil rights including the rights of free speech, free assembly and the right to vote.

Trump’s populism establishes a symbolic position that claims to represent the will of the people. He speaks in the name of the people, divines the will of the people and defines his supporters as the only real Americans. Anyone who opposes him is not a real American. They are an enemy of the people. He speaks for the people who want to “make America great again.” If you oppose him, you do not want America to be great. You do not support American values and traditions. You are immoral. You are anti American. You are not a patriot.

Trump’s populist claims have nothing to do with facts or evidence.

His claims take the form of emotionally laden diatribes. The claims are not up for discussion. He holds an exclusive right to the truth, a truth where facts and rational discussion are irrelevant and illegitimate. His truth is flexible. It changes as his need for adulation and circumstances require. The truth can be continually manipulated and revised.

His ideas about immigration, health care, voting rights, taxes, climate change and any other subject are accepted and defended by his followers. If he changes his mind about a particular issue, that is also accepted by his followers. No disagreement is allowed from the

Republican party or from individual followers. Trump is as likely to attack a Republican as he is to attack a Democrat. You are either loyal or out. There is no debate. There is no deliberation. He is the sole representative of the truth. Disagreement is immoral and unpatriotic. Donald Trump’s populism is not democratic. It is exclusionary. It demands blind loyalty.

Democracy is an ongoing dialogue. Democracy considers empirical evidence and varying perspectives. It is open to compromise and consideration based on facts and discussion where different opinions can be articulated. Pluralism and inclusion are at the heart of a democratic society.

A free press and constitutional rights to speak and be heard that are protected by the courts and articulated by journalists are a threat to populism, a threat to Trump and a threat to his followers. The constitution contains the values that are essential for the establishment of a civil society. If the judiciary or the press disagree with Trump’s populist ideas or actions, they are attacked as the enemies of the people.

Without a free press, democracy is not possible. Without a constitutionally based judiciary, democracy is not possible. The press keeps the citizenry informed. The courts protect free speech, freedom to assemble and minority rights. Democracy is not exclusionary, it is inclusive. Democracy is not rule by the majority. It includes the rights of minorities protected by the rule of law.

During the election campaign and now that he is in power Trump attacks the press and the judiciary. Trump describes the press as purveyors of “fake news.” The courts are rigged and run by unscrupulous judges who are controlled by liberal elites. He threatens to limit the rights of the press and the courts by attacking them for disagreeing with policies and programs that he claims represent the will of the people. Only he speaks for the people.

Judges who disagree are corrupt. Journalists who disagree are liars.

This version of populism moves to directly and indirectly dismantle the administrative structures of government by limiting budgets, limiting staffs, attacking the civil service and appointing agency directors who oppose the underlying mission of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Education and other departments. The goal is to undermine the credibility of the agency or department by limiting funding so it cannot effectively do its job.

They specifically attack departments like the Department of Justice that are necessary to preserve and assure the integrity of political and civil rights. There is a focus on undercutting any authority that protects the rights of immigrants and minorities. They attack the civil servants who work in federal departments. They claim that the career staffs try to undermine the President and his policies by leaking information to the press. Often the leaks are actually from White House staff members who are fighting for the President’s attention and commitment to their political agenda.

In keeping with his version of populism, Trump does not believe in open, transparent government. Secrecy becomes common and takes place well beyond the needs of national security. Suddenly the lists of visitors to the White House are no longer made public. He does not release his tax returns. He holds meetings at Mar a Lago in Florida rather than at the White House in Washington.

The goal is to destroy the fabric of civil society and the structures necessary to its preservation, a free press, a strong judiciary, the right to vote and competent civil servants. Trump’s populism is exclusive. Only real Americans who support his policies are acceptable. A pluralist, inclusive society with rights offered to all of its citizens requires a defense of diversity and minorities. Trump does not support the rights of minorities including the unimpeded right to vote. His appointments to the Department of Justice share his view and will no longer enforce voting rights and other civil rights.

Any critique of the President and his policies is interpreted as a criticism of the people, the real people, the true Americans. Populism hardens into one leader, one acceptable group of people who are the real Americans and one set of true beliefs. If anyone disagrees with

those beliefs, they are corrupt. They are frustrated losers. They are liars whose facts and studies are skewed against the President.

They are not patriots. They are part of the liberal elite even if they are Republicans.

The people, the Volk become sacrosanct in this version of populism, but only some of the people count—real Americans who support Donald Trump. Everyone else becomes the opposition, enemies, the other. No one is allowed to disagree with the President. Judges are attacked, the media are attacked in the name of decent, ordinary, real people, real Americans. Everyone else is something other than decent, other than ordinary, other than real people, other than real Americans. They are dangerous. In the case of Donald Trump, the most dangerous and most easily targeted groups are immigrants, minorities, liberal elites including judges and journalists and the entire Democratic Party.

During his campaign Trump harangued the financial elites of Wall Street and the political class of Washington along with their supposed liberal supporters. He was going to limit the power of Wall Street and drain the swamp of Washington politics. Now that he is in office, he has appointed numerous Wall Street luminaries to all of the key economic posts and brought Washington politicians from the most conservative ranks of the House and Senate into critical cabinet positions. Lower level positions are being filled with consultants and lawyers who do not support the traditional roles of the Justice Department, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Education. Decisions are being made that limit the rights of consumers and borrowers in favor of businesses and banks.

Decisions are being made that no longer protect the environment and natural resources. Mining regulations are being withdrawn to allow companies to pollute rivers and streams. Mining, drilling and other leases on public lands are being let with no restrictions. Under Trump the officials that should be protecting citizens and resources are facilitating the rise of a Kleptocracy.

Even though he is in power, Trump acts as if he is a mistreated minority struggling against corrupt judges, fake media and

the Democrats who defend the rights of immigrants and other enemies. If the Republicans win an election, it is the will of the people. If they lose an election, the real people failed to come out and vote for them. People voted illegally. If they win the court case, it is a victory for the people. If they lose the court case, it is due to corrupt judges who are in the pocket of the liberal elites.

In America’s ideal democracy the people are diverse, inclusive, free to voice agreement and disagreement, free to socialize with whom they wish and they are protected by the rule of law, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. There is no single spokesperson for the people. There are spokespeople for endless configurations of persons with every person having the right to vote, the right to assemble, the right to agree or disagree with their elected representatives from the President of the United States to the local city council member.

The Constitution is not subject to the desires of Donald Trump or to his ever evolving statements about what is true. The Constitution is a rights based document including the Bill of Rights. The rule of law is the foundation of American democracy as embodied in our Constitution. The Constitution stands above the populist president and is not subject to his supporters desire to limit the rights of immigrants or limit civil liberties and the right to vote of minorities or anyone else.

Donald Trump’s populism has been created to bypass the mechanisms of representative democracy including the separation of powers divided among the judiciary, legislative and executive branches of government. He wants to limit constitutionally protected civil rights including the rights of free speech, free assembly and the right to vote. These rights are supported by the reporting of a free press and by the oversight of an independent judiciary.

Clayton Medeiros claymedeiros@aol.com Epublishing http://issuu.com/claymedeiros/docs https://www.facebook.com/NoRegretsJournal