Donald Trump

Alternet -  A quarter millennia after its founding, the United States faces a stark choice that will define its future.  In the years ahead, the country can continue to follow the path blazed by President Donald Trump, who is attempting to bring states under the authority of a more powerful federal government led by him. Or it can move in a different direction, one where states become a heavier counterweight to an aggressive White House and rebalance the relationship between the states and the federal government.

The United States’ foundations are undergoing a significant stress test, experts say, raising questions about whether a radical reconception of the nation lies ahead. The federalism that has helped bind the states — and therefore, the nation — together is fraying, pulled apart by a president who demonstrates little regard for many of the nation’s core principles.

….While a long line of modern presidents have expanded the powers of their office, Trump has wielded the executive branch as a weapon to punish states and those state leaders he views as enemies. Federal dollars and resources have become a form of leverage he has tried to use to pursue his political aims and deliver the retribution he promised to, if reelected. He is trying to assert an unprecedented level of White House control over state-run elections.  How states — and the people — respond will forever shape the nation. 

Newsworthy News -   During his Mount Rushmore address kicking off America's 250th birthday, President Donald Trump again painted the United States as "the most just and exceptional nation ever to exist on Earth." He said people do not have to be born here, but "do have to love what we have built" and "must love our country." He tied American survival not only to the Constitution but to the "culture and character of the people," suggesting shared values matter as much as written laws….

In the same speech, Trump described communism as a "mortal threat to American liberty" and blamed it for roughly "100 million" deaths in the last century. He warned that modern movements on the left are trying to tear down American history, weaken pride, and "beat the American spirit out of us." For many conservatives, this fits long-running fears about socialism, globalism, and "woke" agendas that they feel attack faith, family, and national identity.

Critics argue that Trump's language goes beyond normal debate and turns politics into a test of loyalty. They point out that his claims about communists being made up of "illegal immigrants, criminals, and everybody that doesn't want to work" have no evidence behind them and smear whole groups of people. They also challenge boasts like "We beat Venezuela in one day" or that Iran was "dying to settle," calling them more campaign talk than proven fact. Yet they often do not offer detailed government records to prove him wrong.

The word “communist” is not the bogeyman it was during the 20th century or even the first decade of the 21st century. The Cold War has long been over. Millennials and Gen Z Americans either were not alive or were not politically conscious at a time when communism was seen in popular culture as a serious national security and economic threat. To them, communism is a historical term, not a haunting specter. The Communist Party U.S.A. exists, but it is a tiny and politically irrelevant organization. Trump, perpetually stuck in the 1980s, likely overestimates the power of “communist” as a slur.  

Trump’s “communist” agenda is also inaccurate in a way that a good chunk of the public is likely to understand. He falsely claims that democratic socialists are no different from communists. The most prominent communist projects of the 20th century in the Soviet Union and China involved authoritarian political organizations and centrally planned economies, and were known for massive human rights abuses and dysfunction in distributing resources. By contrast, democratic socialists believe in democratic political organization and reject central planning.