Augustus of Prima Porta, Ist century, Vatian Museum. Wikicommons/ Till Niermann. Some rights reserved.As Donald Trump rampaged through the Republican primaries last March, I argued here and on the New York National Public Radio station’s Brian Lehrer Show that neoliberal Democrats as well as free-marketeering Republicans were leaving it to Trump to do what his Inaugural Address has left him no choice but to do: to become the dictator of the nationalist, plutocratic regime that he is installing under the banner of what he called “a historic movement the likes of which the world has never seen before.”
He has vowed to vindicate forgotten Americans and, through them, American greatness: “January 20th 2017, will be remembered as the day the people became the rulers of this nation again. The forgotten men and women of our country will be forgotten no longer…. I will never, ever let you down. America will start winning again, winning like never before.”
Never? Ever? Like never before? As Trump puts his forgotten Americans to work while rolling back overtime pay, benefits, and union-organizing rights, and while protecting those who have already enriched themselves, and channels resentment against only certain neoliberal elites who were complicit in the theft, the word “dictator” will be no euphemism. Let me explain why, in the days ahead, we’ll be left breathless by swift, forceful moves (or lurches) toward an authoritarian, Constitution-warping presidentialism.
