The Rise of the American Autocracy

“I’ve seen this kind of violence… This is what autocrats do. This is what

happens in countries before a collapse. It really does unnerve me.”

Gail Helt, former CIA analyst responsible for tracking developments in China and Southeast Asia.

“It reminded me of what I reported on for years in the third world…

Saddam [Iraqi dictator]. Bashar [Syrian dictator]. Qaddafi [Libyan dictator]. They all did this.”

Marc Polymeropoulos, former head of CIA operations in Europe and Asia

“As a former CIA officer, I know this playbook.”

Congresswoman Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.), former CIA analyst with experience on issues including terrorism and nuclear proliferation.

All of the above are reactions, published in the June 2nd Washington Post, to the instructions of AG William Barr, acting on presidential orders on June 1st, ordering the White House police, backed by military units (see below), to fire tear gas and rubber bullets on a lawful and peaceful assembly of protesters in Lafayette Park (across from the White House). The purpose turned out to be to clear a path for the President to walk to neighboring St John’s Episcopal Church for a photo op, holding a bible in front of that house of worship (pictured above). Decried as contrary to the teachings of Christ by the diocese’s Episcopal Bishop, the effort was a combination of Trump’s “get tough” with protesters persona and his desire to show his evangelical base his commitment to the Holy Book.

A low-flying Lakota medivac helicopter, attached to an activated DC National Guard unit, hovered as a threat to the Lafayette protesters. Mark Ester, Trump’s Secretary of Defense, pledged to find out why that chopper was deployed and who ordered that flight. There has been a groundswell of senior military revulsion to the President’s stated intention to invoke the Insurrection Act (see my June 2nd Dominate or Dialog blog for a detailed discussion of that 1807 statute) against the George Floyd protests around the nation. Many military leaders view invoking that law as a desperate last-chance fallback for vastly more dire threats to the nation than faced currently. There is a rumbling that Trump’s attempt to introduce the regular military into these protests is an obvious attempt to politicize what is supposed to be a non-partisan and neutral federal military.

Writing an OpEd for The Atlantic (June 2nd), former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the highly respected Mike Mullin, said: “It sickened me yesterday to see security personnel—including members of the National Guard—forcibly and violently clear a path through Lafayette Square to accommodate the president's visit outside St. John's Church. I have to date been reticent to speak out on issues surrounding President Trump's leadership, but we are at an inflection point, and the events of the past few weeks have made it impossible to remain silent.

“Whatever Trump's goal in conducting his visit, he laid bare his disdain for the rights of peaceful protest in this country, gave succor to the leaders of other countries who take comfort in our domestic strife, and risked further politicizing the men and women of our armed forces… There was little good in the stunt…

“We must, as citizens, address head-on the issue of police brutality and sustained injustices against the African American community. We must, as citizens, support and defend the right—indeed, the solemn obligation—to peacefully assemble and to be heard. These are not mutually exclusive pursuits.

“And neither of these pursuits will be made easier or safer by an overly aggressive use of our military, active duty or National Guard. The United States has a long and, to be fair, sometimes troubled history of using the armed forces to enforce domestic laws. The issue for us today is not whether this authority exists, but whether it will be wisely administered.

“I remain confident in the professionalism of our men and women in uniform. They will serve with skill and with compassion. They will obey lawful orders. But I am less confident in the soundness of the orders they will be given by this commander in chief, and I am not convinced that the conditions on our streets, as bad as they are, have risen to the level that justifies a heavy reliance on military troops. Certainly, we have not crossed the threshold that would make it appropriate to invoke the provisions of the Insurrection Act…. Furthermore, I am deeply worried that as they execute their orders, the members of our military will be co-opted for political purposes.

“Even in the midst of the carnage we are witnessing, we must endeavor to see American cities and towns as our homes and our neighborhoods. They are not “battle spaces” to be dominated, and must never become so… We must ensure that African Americans—indeed, all Americans—are given the same rights under the Constitution, the same justice under the law, and the same consideration we give to members of our own family. Our fellow citizens are not the enemy, and must never become so.

“Too many foreign and domestic policy choices have become militarized; too many military missions have become politicized… This is not the time for stunts. This is the time for leadership.” Mullen made sure his piece would not be misconstrued as condoning looters and arsonists.

On May 3rd, Trump’s first and now former Defense Secretary, James Mattis, emailed reporters a statement regarding the Lafayette Park assault: “I have watched this week’s unfolding events, angry and appalled. The words ‘Equal Justice Under Law are carved in the pediment of the United States Supreme Court. This is precisely what protesters are rightly demanding. It is a wholesome and unifying demand—one that all of us should be able to get behind. We must not be distracted by a small number of lawbreakers…

“When I joined the military, some 50 years ago, I swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution… Never did I dream that troops taking that same oath would be ordered under any circumstance to violate the Constitutional rights of their fellow citizens — much less to provide a bizarre photo op for the elected commander-in-chief, with military leadership standing alongside.”

At a press conference, also on Wednesday, May 3rd, immediately before a scheduled White House meeting, current Defense Secretary Esper claimed he did not know that the June 1st presidential excursion to St John’s was over a photo op, believing that it was to be an inspection of any damage inflicted by protesters. Esper also disagreed openly with the President, probably sealing his fate as Defense Secretary, by saying, “The option to use active-duty forces in a law enforcement role should only be used as a matter of last resort and only in the most urgent and dire of situations… We are not in one of those situations now. I do not support invoking the Insurrection Act.” Our stature on the world stage, already tattered, plunged precipitously deeper.

Americans have been watching China of late, ignoring the treaty to maintain two systems within the People’s Republic of China as it annexed Hong Kong, has constantly passed contradictory legislation, constricting freedom, imposing censorship and amplifying the military clampdown on the former British Colony. Rubber bullets. Tear gas. Arrests of non-violent protesters, goading them – unfortunately successfully – into responding with violence. With Trump’s ever-escalating charges and demands against China, President Xi has had little or no reason to hold back on his suppression of Hong Kong and its citizens. And as the United States applies the same brutal techniques, threatening to deploy the same military units, against its own citizens, Xi seems to be completely vindicated in his own brutality.

Leaders all over the free world have been aghast at the invitation to escalate the violence and divisiveness uttered by the US President. If Trump manages to politicize the military to become his own personal “enforcer of Trump dogma,” it will take decades for the military to recover, to be able to recruit racial and ethnic minorities, which assumes that the nation can recover from this dictatorial abuse of power that borders on treason.

While “law and order” advocates may believe that to save America, it is necessary to pull out of the stops against those who are protesting to change what they believe is essential democracy, the excesses of repression will crush the very soul of the quest for liberty that gave rise to this nation in the first place. As the military and intelligence experts cited above suggest, however, this divisive President is creating a vastly bigger threat to the future of this nation than those protesters, who are merely seeking justice under the Constitution. We cannot permit a rogue president, twisting towards dictatorship and literally attacking constitutionally guaranteed rights, to enlist the noble US military in his quest for unrestrained power.

            I’m Peter Dekom, and a segment of this nation that has tried through legislation, negotiation, litigation and desperation to end systemic racism… has been driven (with all their supporters) to the streets to make their voices heard… and if those voices are not heard… we all lose.