A number of my friends, and a good deal of the pundits, seem to be
taking this "The sky is falling" attitude, when it comes to this year's
presidential elections. That is, they are seriously motivated by this
fear that if Donald Trump were elected president of the United States,
but somehow this would signal the beginning of an authoritarian rule in
the United States.
But the reality is if there is a danger of true authoritarian rule
coming to the United States, Trump is not the candidate fear; Hillary
Clinton is.
This is not to say that I am a big Trump supporter. The fact of the
matter is I find him to be an ignorant, boorish bully. I have no
intention of voting either for him or for Clinton in the November
elections. Trump simply does not possess the skills or support necessary to
turn the United States Government into an authoritarian government.
Consider the sources of Trump's popularity and power. Trump's numerous
business failures have been well documented. It is also well documented
that if he had just taken the wealth of each started out with and
invested conservatively, he would have amassed a far greater personal
wealth that he currently has. So it can't be seriously argued that Trump has any
real business acumen.
To the contrary Trump is only been able to maintain his position by
using his money to bully people. For example, a number of contractors on Trump's real
estate development projects allege that they have been forced to except far less than the
original agreed-upon payment because the threat of litigation costs
make it far more rational to except the meager amount Trump offers then to fight him.
If Trump were to become the president, he would not be able to rely upon
his personal wealth to bully others. There is far greater danger of Trump becoming frustrated
with the need to deal with Congress and other world leaders instead of just getting what he wants. His frustrations with no being the sole boss in charge is more likely cause him to quit than establish authoritarianism.
As for his supporters, they are drawn mostly from the Tea Partiers who
have recently dominated the direction of Republican politics. These are
people who have failed to recognize the lesson of the 2012 presidential
election that the GOP has lost its appeal to various segments of the
population. They are also drunk on their own Kool-Aid, as they cannot
see that their success in the 2014 mid-term elections had much to do
with gerrymandering and not the popularity of their agenda. While an
annoyance in today's political atmosphere, tactically these are not
people to be feared.
The source of Hillary Clinton's power and popularity, however, is far
more troubling as she has demonstrated the skill set and the temperament
that lends itself to authoritarian tendencies.
There is no doubt, Clinton is a brilliant tactician in the Machiavellian
mold. She has taken a long-term view, skillfully and patiently putting
all the pieces in place for her effort to rise to power.
Early in her career Hillary allied herself with a gifted and charismatic
man who turned politician. Despite his obvious and almost pathological
faults, Hillary has been unwavering in her support of Bill. Indeed, it
is clear that Hillary made a deal with Bill a long time ago to protect
his rise to power that has served her purposes well.
By this point, it is clear that the Clintons have a marriage that has
been mutually beneficial for their respective political careers, but not one based on love or respect. Bill's
womanizing can hardly be denied. Hillary's steadfast public support has
enabled Bill to avoid the consequences for his behavior, which some have
claimed has ventured into the area of sexual assault.
But Hillary did more than merely tolerate Bill's philandering. She chose
to denigrate and slander those who would attempt to sully Bill's
reputation. Dating back to
1978, Juanita Broaddrick reports that Hillary discouraged her from
reporting her claim that Bill raped her. Hillary's attack on the
character of the other women who came forward to accuse Bill is nothing
more than the very victim attacking feminists decry in rape accusations.
She likened Gennifer Flowers to money-hungry trailer park trash. When
the Monica Lewinsky scandal broke, instead of acknowledging the truth,
she attributed the scandal to some phantom "vast right wing conspiracy"
to distract the public. Even after the truth of the allegations was
shown, Hillary never offered an apology for deliberately and knowingly
misleading the public. For her, it was all about the preservation of
power.
And standing by her man has served Hillary well. Bill's charisma and
skill has repeatedly saved her from her own scandals from the Rose Law
Firm to Whitewater to her wanton and reckless handling of classified
information.
Her willingness to mislead and distract followed her to her stint in the
State Department. She was more than willing to promote the preposterous
position that the attack on the US Consulate in Benghazi, which left the
US Ambassador and three others brutally murdered, was caused by a
spontaneous protest over a silly and amateurish YouTube video in order
to cover up the utter ignorance and incompetence of the Obama
Administration's Middle East policy.
Indeed Clinton tolerates neither criticism nor dissent. The voting
public has all but forgotten how Hillary, as an unelected public
official in her husband's first term, met in secret with advisors to
formulate the Democrats' first major attempt to nationalize health care.
While working on the plan, she shielded herself from the transparency
critical to a functioning democracy.
And then there's her temperament: easily angered and according to both
Arkansas State Police and Secret Service sources, full of contempt for
the security details assigned to protect her.
Of great concern with Clinton is the cult of personality she commands.
She has always had the unmitigated support of the militant feminists.
But, for whatever reason, otherwise intelligent and reasonable people
have chosen to ignore her faults and her corruption, and place her high
on a pedestal. Indeed, the loyalty of her followers is so strong, so
sycophantic, that they cannot accept that anyone can oppose Clinton on
reasonable grounds. Instead, the intolerance and bigotry of her
followers causes them to accuse anyone who voices objections to Clinton
of misogyny. It is this intolerance of dissent among her followers that
is indeed the most frightening aspect of Clinton's candidacy.
So blinded are these followers to Clinton's faults, that they cannot
accept that the FBI report is a damning condemnation of her
lawlessness. The result of the FBI investigation into Hillary's use of
her personal email server was clearly that she broke the law. However,
despite the clear proof of illegality, the FBI Director bent over
backwards to find some reason not to prosecute Hillary. They mistakenly
view this as an exoneration, instead of a clear act of corruption meant
to protect the nominee from the president's party from scandal.
Indeed, it is this complete lack of tolerance and blind adherence of her
loyal following that truly, and frighteningly, conjures images of the
Nazi Brown Shirts. These are people more deserving of fear than the
bumbling Tea Partiers.
There's a scene from the original Independence Day where Jeff Goldblum's
character likens the appearance of the alien ships to a game of chess. A
master chess player patiently waits until all of the pieces are
properly in place before pouncing. For Hillary, the danger is that the
pieces may be in place for this election.
Her patient, Machiavellian plotting, combined with her temperament, her
inability to speak the truth and her intolerance of dissent all combine
to create the real warnings signs of an inclination to authoritarianism
should she be elected.
By: William J. Kovatch, Jr.
