Dictator for a day, or president for life?
To the Editor:
Former President Donald Trump is known to be an admirer of autocratic rulers, particularly President Xi Jinping of China. According to CNN, when Trump heard that Xi was about to be gifted a constitutional amendment that would eliminate term limits for the president, Trump was reported to have said “He’s now president for life, and he’s great.
I think it’s great. Maybe we’ll give that a shot someday.” This is the same man who recently said he would like to be “Dictator for a Day.” Can you imagine anyone giving up that kind of power after a day, let alone Trump?
Recent changes in our law, a gift of our politicized Supreme Court, renders our president bullet proof by making him/her immune from prosecution for official acts. With the Project 2025 agenda enacted by a president where absolute power is bestowed on the executive branch, one can only imagine what life could be like for the average citizen.
If the Justice Department comes under the control of the White House, citizen arrests could become common. Anyone could be conceived as an enemy of the state, and like Russian citizens, find themselves at the mercy of the courts without due process. Writing a letter such as this could be a crime, printing also a crime. Freedom of speech could be a thing of the past. We have only to look at Hungary and how the free press has become less than free under the autocratic rule of Victor Orban to see the future.
If a president decides to round up and detain illegals until they can be shipped out of the country, we could all have reason to fear. While federal law known as the Posse Comitatus Act generally forbids the use of the armed forces for law enforcement purposes, another law called the Insurrection Act creates an exception. This could enable the president to mobilize Federal troops to build detention camps and apprehend illegal residents. Much of this is laid out in Project 2025. And it is not a leap to imagine American citizens having to carry their birth certificate as proof of citizenship, running the risk of that document being declared fake. Citizens could be denied legal counsel and held against their will with no legal recourse. When one thinks about how power corrupts it is not hard to imagine how the power to arrest illegals could be abused.
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And if the president decides to close the borders of the country to keep illegals out who is to say that effort won’t be used to detain citizens in the country. Freedom to travel out of the country for work or pleasure could be curtailed and only granted at the behest of the government. Interstate travel could be limited just as easily. Since there is already discussion of tracking women seeking reproductive care outside of their state of residence it is not difficult to imagine.
There are so many ways the government under a dictator could eliminate the freedoms we take for granted that it is impossible to enumerate them here. If we look to current and recent countries under autocratic rule, we know that the availability of goods and services under government control can be severely limited, to include healthcare, education, housing, food, transportation or as the case of China the right to procreate.
At this moment in time our rights are protected by the rule of law. If it continues to be undermined by the present Supreme Court in conjunction with the Executive Branch our way of life could erode and become recognizable only in books. Except those could be banned and the teaching of history could be forbidden. Isn’t that already being attempted?
We the people have served our country in many ways, including military service. Many have sacrificed their lives to save our democracy, however imperfect. It is our duty to follow their lead and fight with our votes to protect the freedoms we have enjoyed and taken for granted. Going back to a time when power was in the hands of the few is not an option. As a veteran myself, I hope not to see over 200 years of service and sacrifice thrown away to serve the vain, grandiose and dictatorial ambition of one man, one political faction or one religious sect.
Robert G. Wertzler
Franklin
