<
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/aug/29/us-authoritarian-donald-trump-national-guard>
"If this were happening somewhere else – in Latin America, say – how might it
be reported? /Having secured his grip on the capital, the president is now set
to send troops to several rebel-held cities, claiming he is wanted there to
restore order. The move follows raids on the homes of leading dissidents and
comes as armed men seen as loyal to the president, many of them masked,
continue to pluck people off the streets …/
Except this is happening in the United States of America and so we don’t quite
talk about it that way. That’s not the only reason. It’s also because Donald
Trump’s march towards authoritarianism is so steady, taking another step or two
every day, that it’s easy to become inured to it: you can’t be in a state of
shock permanently. And, besides, sober-minded people are wary of sounding
hyperbolic or hysterical: their instinct is to play down rather than scream at
the top of their voice.
There’s something else, too. Trump’s dictator-like behaviour is so brazen, so
blatant, that paradoxically, we discount it. It’s like being woken in the night
by a burglar wearing a striped shirt and carrying a bag marked “Swag”: we would
assume it was a joke or a stunt or otherwise unreal, rather than a genuine
danger. So it is with Trump. We cannot quite believe what we are seeing."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
