Tom Cruise has a good story about the incredibly dangerous stunt he did climbing the side of the world’s highest building in Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol. He had been dreaming about doing that stunt himself for years, finally got to the point of planning it out for the movie with his safety guy, and Tom says, “My safety guy told me, 'We can't do that. It's too dangerous, it’s too risky, you can't do that.’ So I got a new safety guy.”
President Trump has been dreaming about prosecuting former FBI director James Comey going back to the FBI investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. In Trump’s first term a special prosecutor, John Durham, spent three years looking at the FBI investigation but did not recommend any charges for anyone involved. This year Trump got a second try with a more pliant Justice Department. But eight months in, Comey still hadn’t been charged with anything.
On September 19 the US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, who reportedly didn’t think there was enough evidence to bring charges, resigned. Trump had just said to reporters, “I want him out.” Trump then filled the vacancy with one of his personal lawyers who has never tried a case as a prosecutor. So Trump got a new safety guy too. The new US attorney promptly charged Comey with lying to Congress and obstruction of justice. (The statute of limitations was up in a week.)
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My point, and I do have one, is that this is dictionary-definition weaponizing the Justice Department against enemies, real or imagined. My greater point is that prosecuting enemies is just one example of the creeping authoritarianism that is happening here, slowly but surely.
- Intimidating and suing media companies over negative coverage.
- Blackmailing universities by withholding hundreds of millions of federal research dollars until they send a seven figure check for alleged violations of education law.
- Troops in the streets in LA, Washington, Chicago, and Portland so far.
- Pardoning nearly 1,600 January 6 rioters and sending the message that anyone rioting for the right reasons could hope to get a pardon.
- I could go on.
President Trump has a compliant Congress with Republican majorities in the House and Senate that like the Constitution and its separation of powers, but like their jobs a little more and don't want a primary. He also issued a mostly illegal executive order that would give the federal government much more control over elections if it is ever implemented.
There’s also the grift. No president or president’s family has monetized the presidency like this one, another hallmark of authoritarianism. Forbes just estimated that the Trump family’s net worth has increased by $5 billion since election day, largely through investments in the family’s new crypto start-up by people and countries that could stand to gain from decisions by the federal government. Is that something you’re likely to just give up?
I’ve seen too many articles by people saying “this is how authoritarianism started in my country.” Let your representatives know that you expect them to act like an independent branch of government that will push back when the executive branch exceeds its authority, weaponizes an agency, refuses to spend Congressionally appropriated funds, or avoids complying with a court order. Sometimes they know the right thing to do, but they need some evidence that that’s what constituents want.
We have three years and four months to go. If the water's heating gradually, how do we know when we're about to boil? No one including me knows if authoritarianism is an existential threat or not, but let’s act like it is. The first step is to win the 2026 elections so checks and balances come back. Start getting involved now. Your local party organization would welcome your help in getting people registered, helping local candidates, and planning now for the 2026 campaigns. A lot of states and districts were won by very small margins. They can swing right back.
Now, I'm going back to protecting the equal rights of nonreligious Americans, just like my card says.
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As I’m writing this I’m watching the third hearing of the President’s Religious Liberty Commission. One of the witnesses is the high school coach who went to the Supreme Court over whether he could pray on the football field after a game. He said he was praying alone. Photos said he was praying with players. He won.
Despite his book and movie deals the coach claims to have been terribly victimized and he had this to say (almost quoting); “The school district was advised by the church and state separation groups, and they have an agenda, and it’s working very well, and they need to be exposed.” So we must be doing something right. And we welcome the exposure. Please expose the Secular Coalition for America to your friends.
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Your advocate,
Scott MacConomy
Director of Policy and Government Affairs
Secular Coalition for America
[email protected] |
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The Secular Coalition for America works every day to defend the separation of religion and government and to fight anti-democratic ideologies like Christian nationalism. Your support for this work is vital.
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