Thank you again for this cogent piece. I would actually respectfully disagree, particularly on this point:
"MAGA does not act to defend “the people,” but rather only a minority who give the project its unbounded support. MAGA is not only a movement devoid of respect for law but a movement whose moral edifice is crumbling, if it was ever there to begin with. Acting in defense and subservience to a singular person is no representative sovereign, but the act of a cult defending a petty tyrant."
When one looks at the exit polls from November, 57% of white people in America voted for Trump. I think your piece actually misunderstands and misrepresents how ubiquitous racism is in America. Trump's campaign, which prominently featured the slogan "Mass Deportations Now!" played on American's anxieties to scapegoat Black people, Muslims, and immigrants.
Americans by and large accept the ruse, except for those in urban settings.
In fact, when you say that "MAGA is not only a movement devoid of respect for law but a movement whose moral edifice is crumbling," I believe that you misrepresent American law and the foundations of America.
Trump is not an exception.
Obama and Musk were talking just a day or two ago.
As I wrote back in December (https://thereis1.wordpress.com/2024/12/03/trump-stands-for-slavery-we-need-to-stand-for-abolition/), Trump stands for slavery vis-a-vis the 13th Amendment exception clause, “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.”
That part about "whereof the party shall have been duly convicted" has always been applied in a racist fashion. So the Black codes meant that if Black people crossed the street, ate or drank in certain places, appeared in certain places, or looked at anyone in a particular way, they would be once again subject to enslavement once again.
Frederick Douglass' 1888 speech, in which he said, "I denounce the emancipation proclamation as a stupendous lie," is just as relevant today:
"I admit that the Negro, and especially the plantation Negro, the tiller of the soil, has made little progress from barbarism to civilization, and that he is in a deplorable condition since his emancipation. That he is worse off, in many respects, than when he was a slave, I am compelled to admit, but I contend that the fault is not his, but that of his heartless accusers. He is the victim of a cunningly devised swindle, one which paralyzes his energies, suppresses his ambition, and blasts all his hopes; and though he is nominally free he is actually a slave. I here and now denounce his so-called emancipation as a stupendous fraud — a fraud upon him, a fraud upon the world. It was not so meant by Abraham Lincoln; it was not so meant by the Republican party; but whether so meant or not, it is practically a lie, keeping the word of promise to the ear and breaking it to the heart."
"Do you ask me why the Negro of the plantation has made so little progress, why his cupboard is empty, why he flutters in rags, why his children run naked, and why his wife hides herself behind the hut when a stranger is passing? I will tell you. It is because he is systematically and universally cheated out of his hard earnings."
If Douglass said this in 1888, then is it not just as true today, when, according to a report released by fwd.us last week, "Incarceration Costs American Families Nearly $350 Billion Each Year"?
As I said in my piece in December, "Less than a week after the election, Forbes Magazine reported that the stocks of the multibillion-dollar private prison companies CoreCivic and Geo Group—which are Immigration and Customs Enforcement contractors—were up 76% and 75% since Election Day, respectively."
As such, we need to acknowledge America's slavery system as the problem that it is, one that Trump and Stephen Miller seek to exploit for many purposes. And we need to actually revise the US Constitution and eliminate the exception clause from the 13th Amendment.
Otherwise, it won't be lawlessness. The US law will continue to function exactly as it has, in its racist, morally insidious ways, sanctioning the government's kidnappings and murder.
Thanks for the comment :) I think there's two potential issues where I'd disagree. First, is that Trump represents America in general. So, current polling has him soaring in disapprovals and even in the election we saw the final results not giving him the kind of electoral victory initially thought. So, I think you tend to overplay his popularity here. Indeed, even 57% is hardly everyone, even if it is a majority.
Second, I would say the 'spirit of America' is different from what you claim. Your choice of Douglass is interesting in this sense. I'm no expert on Douglass but his letter to the 4th of July and obituary of Lincoln is clear in what he felt America's principles and founding ideas should be. He saw slavery and black codes not as principally American ideas but a hideous betrayal of what America was and should be. So, even the author you use for your example here, I don't think would agree with your overall premise.
It strikes me that what Trump's administration is doing is different from what Obama was. It's aggressiveness and attempts to circumnavigate the legal system, even going as far as to indict judges, is something distinctive and different. Pretending it's 'business as usual' strikes me as simply wrong and underestimating the real dangerousness and shifts in politics we are seeing today.
Sorry for the late and terse response, marking essays has engulfed almost all my time recently.
“Trump’s use of law to detain, deport, and persecute non-enemies of the American people represents not the apotheosis of sovereignty but its ultimate demise.” Doesn’t this precisely beg the real question which you seem to hint at earlier in your piece? How do you know those who are deported are “non-enemies”? So far, Trump has targeted illegal aliens (who one could argue are enemies by their very nature of violating our immigration laws) and those legal aliens who express radical anti-Semitic or anti-American views; not a stretch to consider them enemies! Oh - let’s not forget Chinese spies; again, a fair enemy category!!
Not really. As outlined in the piece, enemies are a physical threat not a psychological one. An enemy is not even someone who breaks the law. As stated in the piece, constitutions which define a people and legalise that connection of unity which Schmitt seeks to inhabit, are distinct from other types of laws. Indeed, Trump's attempts to reverse naturalisation are arguably a greater threat to the construction of the American polity than anything else in this context.
Chinese spies are a distinct category and an interesting case under a Schmittian framework.
Trump, so far, is pretty much getting away with his fascist Constitutional violations. Why? Let's forget, for a moment, Putin's Useful Idiot. Trump is incredibly stupid. I think Lawrence O'Donnell hit the proverbial nail on the head in repeatedly calling Trump the stupidest president of all time. No doubt, Trump is a "stable genius" if you mean by "stable" a structure that houses horses. Trump shovels horseshit better than anyone I know. However, Trump gets away with his odious actions, his fourth-grade vocabulary, and his vulgarisms in speech and social interactions because of mitigating factors. These co-factors have enabled an otherwise puny individual.
Here is my list of enablers.
• A hypocritical and ill-informed following that consists of religious right, anti-social individuals who identify with bullies, and a large population of ignorant constituents.
• People who want someone to tell them what to do; they are fodder for dictators.
• People who are disgusted with the poor achievements of the Democrats and how they give away taxpayer dollars to non-citizens, and who are now overreacting by turning to Trump and the GOP.
• An immoral and unethical GOP that is the vast majority in the House and Senate. These are the most significant offenders.
• A Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) that has three justices who are unethical and are owned by Trump. These are Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and John Roberts. They have empowered Trump and allowed him, along with Musk, to create chaos in the US.
• The rest of the citizenry who have sat on their asses and recently seem to have waken up. They should have been screaming to the high heavens about Trump's incompetence, immorality, and lawlessness from day one.
Unless the courts ACT, this country will deteriorate further into fascism a la Trump and the GOP.
Dear Sam,
Thank you again for this cogent piece. I would actually respectfully disagree, particularly on this point:
"MAGA does not act to defend “the people,” but rather only a minority who give the project its unbounded support. MAGA is not only a movement devoid of respect for law but a movement whose moral edifice is crumbling, if it was ever there to begin with. Acting in defense and subservience to a singular person is no representative sovereign, but the act of a cult defending a petty tyrant."
When one looks at the exit polls from November, 57% of white people in America voted for Trump. I think your piece actually misunderstands and misrepresents how ubiquitous racism is in America. Trump's campaign, which prominently featured the slogan "Mass Deportations Now!" played on American's anxieties to scapegoat Black people, Muslims, and immigrants.
Americans by and large accept the ruse, except for those in urban settings.
In fact, when you say that "MAGA is not only a movement devoid of respect for law but a movement whose moral edifice is crumbling," I believe that you misrepresent American law and the foundations of America.
Trump is not an exception.
Obama and Musk were talking just a day or two ago.
As I wrote back in December (https://thereis1.wordpress.com/2024/12/03/trump-stands-for-slavery-we-need-to-stand-for-abolition/), Trump stands for slavery vis-a-vis the 13th Amendment exception clause, “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.”
That part about "whereof the party shall have been duly convicted" has always been applied in a racist fashion. So the Black codes meant that if Black people crossed the street, ate or drank in certain places, appeared in certain places, or looked at anyone in a particular way, they would be once again subject to enslavement once again.
Frederick Douglass' 1888 speech, in which he said, "I denounce the emancipation proclamation as a stupendous lie," is just as relevant today:
"I admit that the Negro, and especially the plantation Negro, the tiller of the soil, has made little progress from barbarism to civilization, and that he is in a deplorable condition since his emancipation. That he is worse off, in many respects, than when he was a slave, I am compelled to admit, but I contend that the fault is not his, but that of his heartless accusers. He is the victim of a cunningly devised swindle, one which paralyzes his energies, suppresses his ambition, and blasts all his hopes; and though he is nominally free he is actually a slave. I here and now denounce his so-called emancipation as a stupendous fraud — a fraud upon him, a fraud upon the world. It was not so meant by Abraham Lincoln; it was not so meant by the Republican party; but whether so meant or not, it is practically a lie, keeping the word of promise to the ear and breaking it to the heart."
"Do you ask me why the Negro of the plantation has made so little progress, why his cupboard is empty, why he flutters in rags, why his children run naked, and why his wife hides herself behind the hut when a stranger is passing? I will tell you. It is because he is systematically and universally cheated out of his hard earnings."
If Douglass said this in 1888, then is it not just as true today, when, according to a report released by fwd.us last week, "Incarceration Costs American Families Nearly $350 Billion Each Year"?
As I said in my piece in December, "Less than a week after the election, Forbes Magazine reported that the stocks of the multibillion-dollar private prison companies CoreCivic and Geo Group—which are Immigration and Customs Enforcement contractors—were up 76% and 75% since Election Day, respectively."
As such, we need to acknowledge America's slavery system as the problem that it is, one that Trump and Stephen Miller seek to exploit for many purposes. And we need to actually revise the US Constitution and eliminate the exception clause from the 13th Amendment.
Otherwise, it won't be lawlessness. The US law will continue to function exactly as it has, in its racist, morally insidious ways, sanctioning the government's kidnappings and murder.
Thanks for the comment :) I think there's two potential issues where I'd disagree. First, is that Trump represents America in general. So, current polling has him soaring in disapprovals and even in the election we saw the final results not giving him the kind of electoral victory initially thought. So, I think you tend to overplay his popularity here. Indeed, even 57% is hardly everyone, even if it is a majority.
Second, I would say the 'spirit of America' is different from what you claim. Your choice of Douglass is interesting in this sense. I'm no expert on Douglass but his letter to the 4th of July and obituary of Lincoln is clear in what he felt America's principles and founding ideas should be. He saw slavery and black codes not as principally American ideas but a hideous betrayal of what America was and should be. So, even the author you use for your example here, I don't think would agree with your overall premise.
It strikes me that what Trump's administration is doing is different from what Obama was. It's aggressiveness and attempts to circumnavigate the legal system, even going as far as to indict judges, is something distinctive and different. Pretending it's 'business as usual' strikes me as simply wrong and underestimating the real dangerousness and shifts in politics we are seeing today.
Sorry for the late and terse response, marking essays has engulfed almost all my time recently.
“Trump’s use of law to detain, deport, and persecute non-enemies of the American people represents not the apotheosis of sovereignty but its ultimate demise.” Doesn’t this precisely beg the real question which you seem to hint at earlier in your piece? How do you know those who are deported are “non-enemies”? So far, Trump has targeted illegal aliens (who one could argue are enemies by their very nature of violating our immigration laws) and those legal aliens who express radical anti-Semitic or anti-American views; not a stretch to consider them enemies! Oh - let’s not forget Chinese spies; again, a fair enemy category!!
Not really. As outlined in the piece, enemies are a physical threat not a psychological one. An enemy is not even someone who breaks the law. As stated in the piece, constitutions which define a people and legalise that connection of unity which Schmitt seeks to inhabit, are distinct from other types of laws. Indeed, Trump's attempts to reverse naturalisation are arguably a greater threat to the construction of the American polity than anything else in this context.
Chinese spies are a distinct category and an interesting case under a Schmittian framework.
Trump, so far, is pretty much getting away with his fascist Constitutional violations. Why? Let's forget, for a moment, Putin's Useful Idiot. Trump is incredibly stupid. I think Lawrence O'Donnell hit the proverbial nail on the head in repeatedly calling Trump the stupidest president of all time. No doubt, Trump is a "stable genius" if you mean by "stable" a structure that houses horses. Trump shovels horseshit better than anyone I know. However, Trump gets away with his odious actions, his fourth-grade vocabulary, and his vulgarisms in speech and social interactions because of mitigating factors. These co-factors have enabled an otherwise puny individual.
Here is my list of enablers.
• A hypocritical and ill-informed following that consists of religious right, anti-social individuals who identify with bullies, and a large population of ignorant constituents.
• People who want someone to tell them what to do; they are fodder for dictators.
• People who are disgusted with the poor achievements of the Democrats and how they give away taxpayer dollars to non-citizens, and who are now overreacting by turning to Trump and the GOP.
• An immoral and unethical GOP that is the vast majority in the House and Senate. These are the most significant offenders.
• A Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) that has three justices who are unethical and are owned by Trump. These are Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and John Roberts. They have empowered Trump and allowed him, along with Musk, to create chaos in the US.
• The rest of the citizenry who have sat on their asses and recently seem to have waken up. They should have been screaming to the high heavens about Trump's incompetence, immorality, and lawlessness from day one.
Unless the courts ACT, this country will deteriorate further into fascism a la Trump and the GOP.