How I spent my summer vacation — watching America lean into autocracy
For years we've read stories about antidemocratic countries abroad — supreme leaders acting with impunity, masked agents rounding up residents, troops in the streets, crackdowns on peaceful protests, intimidation and arrests of opposition figures, show-of-force military parades and political assassinations.
For a time this month, I was abroad. And the antidemocratic country I was reading about was my own.
Tuning out the news on vacation proved impossible. Every day brought another must-read outrage, reflecting the punitive policies and hateful climate that wannabe strongman Donald Trump has fostered in the United States.
From the vantage of an ocean away, even as a visitor in a developing country with problems of its own, I read about events back home with the clarity of the proverbial 38,000-feet view: The news added up to a picture of a proud nation slipping into the authoritarian ways modeled by the kleptocratic dictators that President Trump so admires.
For perspective, I reread President Reagan's farewell address: Trump has taken America far from the shining 'city upon a hill' that Reagan, yesteryear's Republican icon, evoked. And far from our self-image as a land of immigrants and a bastion of freedom, democracy and the rule of law. Reagan's city on a hill was 'teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace.' If there had to be walls, he said, 'the walls had doors and the doors were open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here.'
That was then.
As I flew off for my break, the U.S. news was dominated by the tawdry breakup of Trump and 'first buddy' Elon Musk. But then that sophomoric saga was overshadowed by more serious stuff — starting with military-style raids throughout Los Angeles by thuggish agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, rounding up migrants, including children, for detention and deportation.
It's a drama that continues from big-city L.A. to small-town Great Barrington, Mass., in heartland hotels, meatpacking plants and restaurants. Descriptions of the shock troops have become too familiar: Many wear face masks and no badges to identify themselves. They often don't wear recognizable uniforms. They have no warrants but lots of guns. And migrants are disappearing into their unmarked vehicles. To where, families aren't told; when they find out, it's often too late to help their loved ones assert their due process rights.
On Day 2 of my vacation, Trump took the all but unprecedented step of federalizing the California National Guard to act against protesters in L.A., over the objections of Gov. Gavin Newsom and Mayor Karen Bass and despite police assurances that local law enforcement could handle even the most confrontational of demonstrators. Next came the Marines.
That only seemed to exacerbate the unrest, as drama king Trump, who governs as if he were still scripting a reality TV show, surely intended. With Los Angeles as a testing ground, he may be seeking a pretext to invoke the 1807 Insurrection Act so he can freely deploy the military nationally against any who oppose him. He toyed with the idea during his first presidency. Back then he was constrained by responsible advisors; now he has surrounded himself with sycophants.
Meanwhile, he's as unnervingly erratic on his deportation policy as on tariffs. First Trump posted that he'd lighten up on farm, restaurant and hotel raids because those industries complained that they were losing 'very good, long time workers.' But days later, he ordered ICE to expand its efforts in L.A. and other big cities where Democrats, he lied, 'use Illegal Aliens' to cheat in elections and steal jobs from citizens.
Amid the mayhem, the commander in chief traveled to Fort Bragg, N.C., and disgracefully crossed the line that, since the founding, has kept the military out of politics. He goaded the young troops he addressed — reportedly vetted for their political leanings — to cross it too. He started by boasting about reversing former President Joe Biden's deletion of Confederate traitors' names from military bases, and throughout encouraged boos against Biden, Newsom, Bass and Democrats generally, and applause for himself. He wore a MAGA cap. Such merch was on sale.
Days later, he got the military parade he'd long wanted. Or maybe not: It was more historical than martial; instead of goose-stepping through the capital, the troops ambled, smiled and made hand hearts. And it was sparsely attended. The nationwide 'No Kings' counterprotests were not.
The toll that Trump's overreach has taken on America's reputation, especially in just a few weeks in June, has been heavy. Five Democratic politicians detained or arrested. An uncountable number of workers — not criminals, and many here legally — removed and sometimes disappeared from their families, jobs, communities and even the country. Armed military facing down peaceful protesters and protecting ICE and FBI agents as they snatch people off the street without due process.
On Tuesday, California Sen. Alex Padilla — who five days earlier had been wrestled to the floor and handcuffed by federal agents for interrupting Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem as she claimed Trump's actions were liberating L.A. from socialists — delivered an emotional speech in the Senate. In U.S. history, he said, 'we've had tumult. But we've never had a tyrant as a commander in chief.'
Until now.
Reagan ended his farewell with a sentiment that was inarguable 36 years ago: America, he said, 'is still a beacon, still a magnet for all who must have freedom.' No longer. Even many citizens live in fear for their freedoms; I've heard from them. And I've felt it myself — no more so than when I was out of the country, looking back from afar.
@Jackiekcalmes @jackiecalmes.bsky.social @jkcalmes
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