My dear ol’ dad, near the end of his days, used to say, “America needs a dictator for eight years—and then shoot him.” Well, whether that’s so or not, it isn’t impossible that someday we might get one. Historian Sir Alexander Fraser Tytler said that democracies always end up in dictatorships, and he had a good argument. “Periclean democracy” in Athens eventuated in Pericles’s dictatorship. The “Republic” in England produced Cromwell, and the “Directory” in France led to Napoleon. The Weimar Republic in Germany collapsed into Adolf Hitler. “Rule by the ignorant mob” (democracy) will eventually require a strong hand to control it. Hence, a dictator.
America, of course, has never had a dictator, we don’t desire one, and I certainly don’t want Donald Trump to assume that role. I also don’t believe that he has any chance of becoming one, though the powers of the Presidency which he anticipates exercising are far greater than the Constitution gives him, or the Founding Fathers ever intended. But all Presidents (including Biden, Obama, Bush, etc.), especially in the past 100 years, have far exceeded their Constitutionally-ordained limitations. However, no branch of our current government pays any attention whatsoever to the powers delegated to it in our so-called “Supreme Law of the Land.”
Trump will apply powers the Constitution doesn’t give him, but he won’t become a dictator. There are still too many forces in America opposed to that. In what he has done since November 5, Trump has already been a better President than Joe Biden was in four years, and he isn’t even inaugurated yet. The world respects—yea, fears—Trump in a way they never respected Biden, whom they only laughed at. Trump’s Cabinet will be composed of strong, pro-American people, but not a crowd who thinks the United States ought to rule the world and fight in every war on every continent. The greatest need in the country—next to a moral revival—is government frugality, and Elon Musk is already exposing to us untold amounts of government waste. If Trump does nothing more than get government spending under control—with its myriads of harmful offshoots—he will have a very successful second term.
How much can Mr. Trump accomplish? I don’t know. The forces arrayed against him are mighty. Here are three of them.
1. The entire Democratic Party. There will be an occasional rogue Democrat, in a purple district who fears the next election cycle, who will occasionally back something Mr. Trump proposes, but by and large, the whole Democratic Party will be dead set against his agenda, and will do everything it can to stop him. That doesn’t mean just Democrats in Congress; the media has been rocked backed on its heels, but once Trump assumes offices, they will regain their footing and throw everything they can at him, as they did in his first term. Blue states will also try to find ways to undermine any good Trump attempts to do. Trump isn’t a dictator, he doesn’t have absolute power, and we don’t want him to—well, maybe my dad still does. Trump will get a lot of things done, but there’s no question the Democrats will oppose him and probably be successful in stymying some of what he wants. They will have some success because,
2. RINOs in Congress aren’t going to support all of Trump’s agenda, either. There is a reason we call them “RINOs”—“Republicans in Name Only.” They aren’t really Republicans, at least not “based” Republicans. They aren’t true-blue, hard-left, Pelosi Democrats, but they do tend to be more center-left than center-right, and they are certainly not conservative. They will have pressure from their Republican colleagues to toe the line on most things, and they might. But that will depend on how squishy Mike Johnson and John Thune are. Or, perhaps, whether Trump can dominate those two by the force of his will. The Republican Party has a history of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, and we have no guarantees that they won’t do it again this time.
3. The Deep State. The Deep State Establishment is Trump’s—and America’s—greatest enemy. It is composed, not only of the two groups mentioned above (Democrats and RINOs), but of a massive, monolithic bureaucracy that has a vested interest in seeing the status quo perpetuated so that they can continue to rule, unmolested and unhindered, over the people. It’s big government, and it is destroying the country.
I’ve recently been having a fight with a major American company (which I won’t name). Almost two weeks ago, they put a “hold” on my account for unspecified “suspicious activity.” In the past week-plus, I have called them almost 10 times, and, more than once, sent them the information they requested to unlock my account. They said they would respond in 24-48 hours. A week later, I’ve still not heard from them. My account, which has materials I need for my teaching and writing, remains locked. I’m not permitted to talk to someone who can unlock my account, and even the associates I DO talk to can’t talk to the “higher ups” who can unlock my account. If it wasn’t such an aggravation, it would be a comic farce.
The company has gotten too big; its right hand no longer knows what its left hand is doing. And this is the problem with the American government. Too many departments, too much division of labor, too little communication, and especially no responsibility or consequences for poor performance. When something gets too big, it becomes unwieldy and usually unmanageable. Such is the Deep State in America, and to change it will require a massive effort. They will oppose everything Trump tries to do.
So, Mr. Trump has his work cut out for him. Can he overcome? He will in some areas, but we mustn’t expect perfection. There are too many selfish forces organized against him.
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