Trump, for once, is living up to his promises made on the campaign and what he would do on his first days in office. In fact, his executive orders, in several ways, have exceeded those pledges and the rule of law.
“We’re going to do things that people will be shocked at,” Trump declared, and the first wave of shock is resonating across the nation with only a modicum of outcry, of vengeance. Retaliation is evident after he pardoned all those who violently trespassed in the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. Equally ignominiously, with a stroke of his pen, he moved to eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion, and ordered government workers to snitch on anyone suspected of not acceding to his wishes, threatening them with “adverse consequences.”
Several years ago, the Supreme Court eviscerated Section 5 of the Civil Rights Act of 1965, and Trump has gone one better, signing an executive order ending birthright citizenship, a menacing step to eradicate the power of the 14th Amendment.
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The nation appears powerless to intercept the march against constitutional rights, of a reign of terror. Evidence of a rough ride ahead occurred during his inaugural address when he talked about acquiring Greenland, retaking the Panama Canal, and changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.
Not since President William McKinley were such rash international moves attempted, and he was perhaps feeling extra-powerful by taking control of Hawaii, Puerto Rico, the Philippines, and Guam. In effect, what he proposed was another echo of the past and his claim of “manifest destiny.”
When he stated that he would pursue manifest destiny into outer space and plant the flag on Mars, that must have appealed to one of his main allies, Elon Musk, and it’s another promise, although quite improbable, that we should not dismiss.