It’s always unfair to identify an era with a single phrase or concept. The Twenties weren’t “Roaring” for everyone, there was conflict and disagreement during the early 1800s “Era of Good Feelings,” and the “Gilded Age” of the late 1800s only glittered for the upper crust. But our limited brains need simplicity and consistency, so we catalog periods with easy-to-remember names.
To that end, I propose naming the first nine months of Donald Trump’s second term “A State of Emergencies.” Both sides of our divided nation agree that we face significant emergencies, but disagree completely on their nature.
To avoid the constitutional, cumbersome, and inconvenient process of public, democratic debate, the Trump administration has substituted Chicken Little’s “the sky is falling” approach. They have declared multiple national emergencies to gain dictatorial powers.
According to them, the U.S. is being invaded by Venezuela; our trade deficit (consistently imbalanced for 50 years) is an “unusual and extraordinary threat,” and “hostile state and non-state foreign actors have targeted our domestic energy infrastructure.” In Trump’s two terms, his administration has declared 21 national emergencies in less than five years, compared to 14 in eight years for George W. Bush and 12 for Obama. The sky must be falling! Either that or they are attempting to rule as an autocracy or oligarchy rather than a democracy.
The imagined trade deficit emergency is the basis for Trump’s “now you see ‘em, now you don’t” tariffs, which is clearly creating economic chaos with rising consumer prices just around the corner. His own Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported a net loss of jobs in June and higher unemployment. The chickens (including Chicken Little) appear to be coming home to roost. (I wonder if the new BLS messengers will be fired for “rigged” results like their predecessors were just last month.)
Another imagined emergency in energy production (we are the world’s leading producer of oil and gas and a leading exporter) reversed America’s progress toward cleaner energy use by prioritizing coal and oil production and removing support for renewable energy. What’s the best answer when the sky is falling on rich donors like big oil and coal companies? “Drill, baby drill!” Environmental reviews for new projects are reduced from a year to 14 days because of the “emergency.”
It’s the avalanche of emergency, dictatorial powers that has Democrats declaring emergencies of their own. In general, I try to shy away from the Chicken Little approach to politics and government, but I’m also not content to wait for others to bend the arc of American history towards justice. Among multiple threats to democracy, I see two as especially dangerous.
First is the normalization of a military presence in our lives. President Trump sent the National Guard to Los Angeles against the wishes of the elected mayor and governor when large crowds protested ICE raids there. The protests were overwhelmingly peaceful and controlled, but about 5,000 troops arrived, costing taxpayers about $120 million, and a few hundred remain. Trump then declared a “crime emergency” and sent National Guard troops into the nation’s capital, many now doing maintenance work previously done by fired government employees.
It also has become normal for gangs of armed, masked men, unrestrained by normal police procedures or that bothersome concept of due process, to kidnap people off the street, at courthouses, workplaces, and even immigration offices. It is a horror scenario few could imagine just months ago. Accepting a constant military presence in our lives is a necessity for a government taking baby steps, and bigger ones, towards martial law.
Even more worrisome is the disregard for our legal system. A recent study found that in about 1/3 of the 160 cases in which courts ruled against them, the Trump administration has disobeyed or disregarded direct court orders. The justice system is the last defense against totalitarian actions. But so far, Trump and his power elite have shown no inclination to abide by judicial rulings. They are essentially daring the courts to stop them. So far they have not, partially because their enforcers, the U.S. Marshals, are another agency with a Trump-appointed leader which abdicates its oath to protect the Constitution and asks how high whenever Trump says “Jump.”
So, yes, I believe the sky is falling on our democratic tradition and our Constitution. We are living in “A State of Emergencies” when increasing power is seized and ceded to an executive branch which shows disdain and disregard for even our most cherished American ideas and institutions.
Allen Woods is a freelance writer, author of the Revolutionary-era historical fiction novel “The Sword and Scabbard,” and Greenfield resident. His column appears regularly on a Saturday. Comments are welcome here or at awoods2846@gmail.com.