Donald Trump’s second presidency has stripped away the pretence, revealing how fragile democracy becomes when power is exercised without restraint, writes Dr Norm Sanders.
IN HIS FRENZIED effort to keep the Epstein files out of the headlines, U.S. President Donald J Trump has unleashed the mother of all debacles.
He is threatening Iran with retaliation for killing demonstrators, while his private Immigration and Customs Enforcement (I.C.E.) army is shooting protestors in the face and legs in Minneapolis.
His moves to take over Greenland have prompted NATO to send troops to defend the island against invasion — by another NATO member.
He has turned to piracy to capture Venezuelan oil tankers on the high seas and is blowing up boats and their crews in international waters in the Caribbean. After kidnapping Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, DJT has declared himself the new ruler of that country.
In an 11 January Truth Social post, Trump shared a doctored screenshot of his Wikipedia page that lists ‘Acting President of Venezuela, incumbent January 2026’ under his official portrait.
Back home, his overheated brain came up with the idea of tearing down the East Wing of the White House (and the famous rose garden) for a grandiose ballroom.
In his spare time, DJT is trying to force Jerome Powell, the Chair of the Federal Reserve Board, out of his position because he refuses to lower interest rates to make the Trump economy look better. Trump has instructed his Department of Justice to start a criminal investigation of Powell for allegedly lying to Congress about the renovation of the ageing Federal Reserve building.
Then, Trump, showing absolutely no concern about his own popularity, attacked Senator Mark Kelly for publicly saying in a widely seen video that no U.S. serviceman has to follow illegal orders. The statement was prompted by the murderous (and illegal) Caribbean boat strikes. Trump described the video as seditious behaviour punishable by death.
In fact, U.S. servicemen and women must disobey illegal orders as required by the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Trump, who dodged the draft during the Vietnam War due to “bone spurs”, instructed Minister of War (formerly Defence) Pete Hegseth to punish Mark Kelly. Kelly sued the Pentagon in January 2026, calling the efforts to punish him unconstitutional and stating he would not back down.
Bad choice of targets, Donald. Senator Mark Kelly is an American hero. The 61-year-old Arizona Democrat is a U.S. Navy veteran who flew 39 combat missions in Iraq. He became an astronaut and flew into space four times. The fight with Trump has elevated Kelly’s national profile, especially in military and Democratic circles. Observers are suggesting that he might be a candidate in the 2028 Presidential elections.
During DJT’s first time in the Oval Office, there were still people who could stop him from doing whatever popped into his mind during his tweeting sessions at 2 A.M. This time, there is nobody but hand-picked yes men and women. The men are chosen for their absolute loyalty. The women must also be loyal in addition to being good-looking. Blondes are particularly in Trump’s favour.
Most conspicuous is Attorney General Pam Bondi (or “Pam Blondie” as one internet influencer calls her). Bondi is one of DJT’s favourite attack dogs. The iconoclastic (and brave) South Park TV series always depicts Bondi with a brown smear on her nose. The Department of Justice, once totally apolitical, has been used repeatedly under Trump as a means of getting even with anyone he doesn’t like.
The ABC reports:
The U.S. Justice Department is investigating whether Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and other officials have impeded federal immigration enforcement.
The investigation stems from statements made by Mr Walz and Mr Frey about the thousands of I.C.E. officers deployed to Minneapolis in recent weeks under President Donald Trump's orders.
In response to reports of the investigation, Mr Walz said the federal justice system was being weaponised to intimidate the president's perceived political enemies.
Another prominent denizen of Trump World is Vice President JD Vance. Originally from a poor background in Ohio, he became the definitive right-winger. Vance is opposed to immigration, abortion, same sex marriage, gun control and U.S. support for Ukraine. Given all this, it is worth noting that the Second Lady of the United States is Usha Chilukuri, a woman of South Asian descent.
Vance’s ambition drove him to get a BA from Ohio State and a law degree from Yale. Early in his career ,he associated himself with venture capitalist Peter Thiel. Now Vance is waiting in the wings for Trump’s morbidly obese body to give out. Don’t expect that things will change much for the better under a Vance presidency.
It takes a lot to get the attention of American voters, where going to the polls is not compulsory.
Trump has managed to do it to the point where USA Today said:
Democrats' odds of winning back the House of Representatives this year just got better.
The nonpartisan Cook Political Report shifted 18 midterm races in a direction more favourable to them. In an analysis published 15 January, eight elections moved from “Likely Democrat” to “Solid Democrat” outlooks, while seven others moved into “Toss Up” or “Lean Democrat” territory. Three others shifted from “Solid Republican” to “Likely Republican”.
The Republicans hold razor-thin margins in both the House and Senate at the moment, and the party in power traditionally loses members in a normal midterm. This could not be called a normal midterm by any stretch of the imagination. Americans are facing increasing economic hardship and are becoming alarmed about government tactics. They are witnessing events which, when they happened overseas, prompted a smug smile. “It could never happen here.”
The awakening is illustrated by the ratings of South Park. The very unflattering and occasionally obscene criticisms of Trump and his team rate higher than CNN in the same time slot.
Meanwhile, the Trump regime behaves like one that does not appear worried or constrained by what voters might do in the future. Here is an analysis by Ben Worthy of the London School of Economics that explains why they aren’t concerned. They simply plan to manipulate the midterm elections.
Worthy writes:
The manipulation takes two forms: controlling the process and controlling the narrative. In terms of process, if you want to undermine a democratic election, the easiest way to do it is to interfere with the procedures and systems and make it harder for certain groups and people to vote.
Trump’s strategy for 2026 is a huge, multi-pronged attack. On an everyday level, it will be harder to vote for some, through the possible ending of mail-in voting and, if it can be made into law, through mandating of ID checks. The Brennan Centre has estimated that “more than 9 per cent of American citizens of voting age, or 21.3 million people, don’t have proof of citizenship readily available”. It will also be harder to protect voting too, as many of the bodies and systems that protect the security, or push cases to strengthen voters rights, have been undermined or abolished.
More worryingly, there are backroom plans to control the voting system itself. As General Secretary Joseph Stalin apparently didn’t say, “The people who cast the votes decide nothing. The people who count the votes decide everything”. One of the most used types of voting machines, used in 27 states, has just been sold to a company owned by a Republican supporter.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) has made requests for access to voter files in several states and are suing six who won’t provide them. The DOJ has “confirmed that it is sharing the voter registration data it collects with the Department of Homeland Security”.
On a broader level Republican controlled legislatures such as in Texas, North Carolina, encouraged by Trump, have been determinedly trying to re-district in favour of Republicans.
No wonder DJT doesn’t care about his plummeting ratings and feels free to attack American icons like Astronaut Mark Kelly. He also sees no public relations problem with his private I.C.E. army shooting U.S. citizens in the street.
Benjamin Franklin said after the Constitutional Convention of 1787 that a republic isn't self-sustaining; it relies on an informed, virtuous and engaged citizenry to prevent its decay into despotism or monarchy. He added that they had created “A republic, if you can keep it”.
Dr Norm Sanders is a former commercial pilot, flight instructor, university professor, Tasmanian State MP and Federal Senator.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Australia License
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