As we enter the 250th anniversary year of the Declaration of Independence, the Trump Administration has decided to behave like a monarchy. Trump assumes the air of a king when he builds his knock-off Versailles, when he conflates opposition to him with treason, when he uses the language of force rather than consensus.
In Richardson's dispatch, she notes that Joe Rogan has likened the militarized ICE presence in Minnesota to the Gestapo. I know most people to his left consider Rogan a meathead, whose embrace of vaccine quackery and general rightward tilt make him suspect. If you're going to persuade America that Trump is acting, in fact, like a despot, then it's Rogan that you have to flip. It's Theo Von.
The state's "monopoly of violence" is actually a monopoly of legitimate violence, and the citizens of Minneapolis have made very clear what they think of ICE's good squad intimidation tactics. So have Chicago, LA and Portland. All policing requires the consent of the community, or else it ceases to be policing and becomes tyranny.
Americans have historically been a difficult lot to govern. Our institutions with their veto points and separated powers reflect this. Hopefully more and more Americans will become ungovernable in the face of Trump's emerging police state.
No comments:
Post a Comment