Now Is the Time for Monsters: The Would-be
Dictator’s Foreign and Military Commitments
Joseph Gerson / Campaign For Peace, Disarmament & Common Security

(November 15, 2024) — On November 6, many of us woke to the reality that our nation is even more corrupt and dangerous than we had realized as a majority of U.S. voters embraced and voted for a fascist, racist, convicted rapist and felon, compulsive liar, insurrectionist, and would be a dictator. During the election, the country was warned that a Trump election could signal the end of constitutional democracy here.

In this period of tectonic geopolitical and political changes, we do well to heed Antonio Gramsci’s wisdom about interregnums: “The old world is dying, and the new world struggles to be born. Now is the time of monsters.” Trump’s rule will certainly hasten the U.S. decline and that of its empire with Beijing looking to be the greatest beneficiary.

Consolidating Power
Beginning with his January 20 inauguration, Trump will be consolidating what will increasingly be dictatorial power. With a stacked right-wing Supreme Court that last year ruled that the president cannot be held legally accountable for his official acts, Trump will preside as a near-absolute monarch.

Consistent with the notorious Project 2025 recommendations, his immediate priorities will include replacing thousands of civil servants and replacing them with loyalists to block bureaucratic resistance, which he terms the “deep state.”

He will begin deporting the estimated 11 to 20 million undocumented immigrants. That will require police state methods including possible use of the military. Fulfilling his promise of retribution, Trump will use the Justice Department, led by the ethically challenge Matt Gaetz, to put his political opponents on trial and in jail.

As commander-in-chief, he can recall retired generals and admirals back into service and court martial those who served him but later and accurately reported that he is fascist to the core. Trump will purge some current military leaders, putting loyalists in their place.

Relying on an 18th century law, he will attempt to circumvent the constitution to use the military to repress protests. In the tradition of Putin, Orban, and Xi, he has promised to target the media. As the saying has it, first they came for the press, and we don’t know what happened after that.

Legislation will likely be passed to enable Trump and his minions to attack and eliminate NGOs that criticize his policies. He will gut the Environmental Protection Agency so that the fossil fuel industry can reap greater profits and accelerate the already deadly climate emergency.

Dark times and creative opposition lie ahead.

Originally published by Pressenza Nov 15, 2024