America Doesn't Elect Kings
This edition tackles the alarming rise of authoritarianism in America and its historical implications.
When you don’t think it can get worse, it gets worse. The convicted felon—who campaigned by saying that if you vote for him, you won’t ever have to vote again—has declared himself king in new social media postings. I’m sorry but this should be absolutely infuriating and disturbing to no end. I posted a screenshot on Bluesky.
There are those who believe we shouldn’t even dignify it with a response. I’m sorry but we have to respond to it, even when we think it could be nonsense. We’re talking about a fascist authoritarian who is already saying that all his executive orders should be interpreted explicitly through the executive branch and bypass the judiciary. The U.S. Constitution set up checks and balances for a reason. It’s so that we didn’t have to go through what we went through with England.
Here we are in 2025 with a convicted felon elected to the presidency and he is speaking like a monarch. This should be unacceptable to anyone that calls themself an American patriot. If Republicans are on board with it, it’s probably because of cowardice. Americans did not fight the American Revolution only to have a king again.
This same man is under Putin’s spell, accusing Zelenskyy of being a dictator and starting the war with Russia. This is utter nonsense—under this logic, he would have you believe that Poland started World War II (completely untrue, by the way). It is common fact that Russia started the war when they invaded Ukraine in 2022. That former vice president Mike Pence is calling Trump out shows that maybe some Republicans have enough of a spine.
Speaking of, Mapquest is having some fun at the expense of the convicted felon. Unfortunately, this is another case of his inflated ego spreading even more hell by banning the Associate Press from Air Force One and the White House. The White House Correspondents Association isn’t doing enough to push back.
It’s probably a good idea to plug the upcoming 6-part, 12-hour documentary series, The American Revolution, directed by Ken Burns, Sarah Botstein and David Schmidt and coming to PBS in November. In light of his remarks, the documentary couldn’t be timelier and more relevant. Of course, the administration would prefer to cut PBS altogether if they had their way.