Observations on the authoritarian takeover of the United States - June 2, 2025 edition

I watched "The Manchurian Candidate" (the 1962 version with Laurence Harvey, Angela Lansbury and Frank Sinatra) this week. It's an excellent film and I highly recommend it. But I was surprised to see the theme of a Russian takeover of the US presidency so prominently displayed during the Kennedy era. Of course, that was during the height of the Cold War, when we were so fearful of a global communist takeover that we went to wars in Korea and Vietnam in order to prevent such a disaster. The wars themselves were disasters. Communists were the enemies we fought and in "The Manchurian Candidate," the Russian communists very nearly gain the presidency. 

But now it is a quarter century into the 21st century; Russia is no longer a communist nation, but until recently, it remained our enemy. Trump, of course, has had a long relationship with Putin; he frequently expresses admiration for the man who is a dictator. In 2018, he took the side of Russia instead of the FBI, according to the BBC, and even Republicans were alarmed by his apparent alliance with Putin. 

Today, no Republican speaks out against Trump. Though Trump is violating the emoluments clause of the constitution by selling a crypto coin to those who want favors (some call that bribery), there seem to be no Republicans opposed to Trump's selling of influence as president. 

SCOTUS in the summer of 2024 gave all presidents immunity for all executive acts in an astonishing ruling that allows Trump the freedom to do whatever the hell he wants with impunity. From the ruling:

"Held: Under our constitutional structure of separated powers, the nature of Presidential power entitles a former President to absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for actions within his conclusive and preclusive constitutional authority. And he is entitled to at least presumptive immunity from prosecution for all his official acts. There is no immunity for unofficial acts. Pp. 5–43. 

(a) This case is the first criminal prosecution in our Nation’s history of a former President for actions taken during his Presidency. Determining whether and under what circumstances such a prosecution may proceed requires careful assessment of the scope of Presidential power under the Constitution. The nature of that power requires that a former President have some immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts during his tenure in office."

Why did SCOTUS claim a president needs the freedom to act without fear of prosecution? I will never know. At the time of this ruling, issued in the summer of 2024, a former president had been indicted for inciting violence on 1/6/21 and for stealing classified documents and refusing to return them. Neither of those actions should be allowed to happen with impunity, but here we are. The Federalist Society has invested many years and a lot of money to purchase the SCOTUS we have today, and this is the kind of anti-constitutional rulings we get out of the Roberts Court. 

The Trump administration is ignoring court orders about retrieving migrants apparently sent to a life sentence in an El Salvador jail - even ones issued by SCOTUS. BUT SCOTUS also gave Trump immunity for all official acts, so it seems Trump gets to do what he wants with impunity. 

God bless us everyone. 

Some news stories on the new US immigration policy, which seems to be to arrest anyone who looks vaguely like a non-white migrant:

– ICE men, often masked, without any identifying uniform or ID, go to courts where immigrants in attending hearings on their immigration status. In those hearings, their immigration status case is dismissed; they are then immediately arrested by ICE and sent to jail because when the case is dismissed, ICE claims they are in the country illegally. This is a disgraceful way for the US government to game the system in order to jail more immigrants. 

– People who voted for Trump, who, during the campaign, promised to deport violent criminals, express dismay when they see someone they know arrested for being undocumented. They took Trump at his word when he said that he was going after criminals and gang leaders. 

– All while Trump's team is rounding up pretty much anyone with dark skin to arrest, deport, possibly send to a jail in an authoritarian nation, Trump identifies white South Africans as "refugees" in need of protections. 

– A woman who'd been in the US legally for 50 years was arrested by ICE in February for the suspicion of being undocumented – and was released three months after her illegal arrest. 

– Some migrants are being sent to troubled third world countries with less than 24 hour notice.  

– Trump is sending Venezuelan migrants to a notorious jail in El Salvador and when ordered by courts to return some of these people to the US, HHS leader Kristi Noem says that it's out of the hands of anyone in the US - people concerned about the whereabouts of people sent to this El Salvador prison need to talk to the El Salvador president. 

– People have been sent to the El Salvador prison without due process and accused of having gang tattoos, though with no convictions of any crimes or any evidence of gang affiliation. 

What we are seeing is the shift from democracy to an authoritarian state. The president decides who stays and who goes. The president can take money for influence. The president has immunity and cannot be prosecuted for "official acts." I never in a million years expected the Republican Party to abandon the Constitution, but that is what we see today – one of two parties has abandoned the rule of law and the constitution. Terrifying times.