Adam Nichols
February 22, 2025
RAW STORY
Phony Time magazine cover with Donald Trump wearing a crown (The White House)
The New York Times’ Maureen Dowd had a terrifying message to share on Saturday — when Donald Trump says he can do whatever he wants, he might actually be right.
The famed columnist ran through a now familiar list of Trump challenges to institutions set up hundreds of years ago to keep tyranny under control.
And, she suggested, they’re failing.
“America was forged in the blood and fire of rejecting tyranny; its institutions were meticulously formed around the principle that we would never be ruled by a king,” she wrote.
“Yet Trump delights in reposting memes of himself as a king and as Napoleon, with a line attributed to the emperor: ‘He who saves his country does not violate any law.’”
She went through examples of how the nation’s institutions were buckling to him.
Among them were the multitude of court cases, most of which failed to even bring him to trial. A criminal conviction in New York ended with no real punishment.
He’s voiced empire-building ambitions towards Canada, Greenland and Gaza, and wants to take mineral deposits from Ukraine. And he repeatedly demeaned America’s election integrity.
“His megalomania has mushroomed. His derisive behavior toward Zelensky — how can a modestly talented reality show veteran mock Zelensky as 'a modestly successful comedian'? — shows Trump can’t abide anyone saying he is doing anything wrong,” Dowd wrote.
“When The Associated Press refused to go along with his diktat to call the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America, the news organization was barred from covering some events with the president in the Oval Office and on Air Force One.”
And then on Friday he told the governor of Maine that he was the federal law.
“I’ve been reading a book called ‘How to Be a Bad Emperor: An Ancient Guide to Truly Terrible Leaders,” wrote Dowd.
“Osgood writes of Caligula’s 'propensity to give in to every whim and the relish he took in putting down others with cruel remarks.' … Sound familiar?”
She concluded, “Many who had hoped to tune out Trump this time realize they don’t have that luxury. It’s far more dangerous now.
“There are frightening moments when our 236-year-old institutions don’t look up to the challenge. With flaccid Democrats and craven Republicans, King Donald can pretty much do whatever he wants to whomever he wants.”
Phony Time magazine cover with Donald Trump wearing a crown (The White House)
The New York Times’ Maureen Dowd had a terrifying message to share on Saturday — when Donald Trump says he can do whatever he wants, he might actually be right.
The famed columnist ran through a now familiar list of Trump challenges to institutions set up hundreds of years ago to keep tyranny under control.
And, she suggested, they’re failing.
“America was forged in the blood and fire of rejecting tyranny; its institutions were meticulously formed around the principle that we would never be ruled by a king,” she wrote.
“Yet Trump delights in reposting memes of himself as a king and as Napoleon, with a line attributed to the emperor: ‘He who saves his country does not violate any law.’”
She went through examples of how the nation’s institutions were buckling to him.
Among them were the multitude of court cases, most of which failed to even bring him to trial. A criminal conviction in New York ended with no real punishment.
He’s voiced empire-building ambitions towards Canada, Greenland and Gaza, and wants to take mineral deposits from Ukraine. And he repeatedly demeaned America’s election integrity.
“His megalomania has mushroomed. His derisive behavior toward Zelensky — how can a modestly talented reality show veteran mock Zelensky as 'a modestly successful comedian'? — shows Trump can’t abide anyone saying he is doing anything wrong,” Dowd wrote.
“When The Associated Press refused to go along with his diktat to call the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America, the news organization was barred from covering some events with the president in the Oval Office and on Air Force One.”
And then on Friday he told the governor of Maine that he was the federal law.
“I’ve been reading a book called ‘How to Be a Bad Emperor: An Ancient Guide to Truly Terrible Leaders,” wrote Dowd.
“Osgood writes of Caligula’s 'propensity to give in to every whim and the relish he took in putting down others with cruel remarks.' … Sound familiar?”
She concluded, “Many who had hoped to tune out Trump this time realize they don’t have that luxury. It’s far more dangerous now.
“There are frightening moments when our 236-year-old institutions don’t look up to the challenge. With flaccid Democrats and craven Republicans, King Donald can pretty much do whatever he wants to whomever he wants.”
'Long live the king': Inside the real reason Trump may be trolling us
REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz
U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem gestures, as President Donald Trump delivers a speech, during the Laken Riley Act signing event, at the White House, in Washington, U.S., January 29, 2025.
REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz
U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem gestures, as President Donald Trump delivers a speech, during the Laken Riley Act signing event, at the White House, in Washington, U.S., January 29, 2025.
February 22, 2025
ALTERNET
President Donald Trump and his MAGA allies have never been shy about trolling liberals and progressives as well as traditional conservatives and Never Trumpers. And some Democrats are urging Trump's critics to avoid responding to every outrageous thing he says or does and be more selective in their criticism.
Steve Bannon, host of the "War Room" vodcast and former White House chief strategist for the first Trump Administration, famously described MAGA's approach as "flood the zone with s---" — meaning create as much chaos as possible if order to overwhelm and exhaust political opponents. And the Washington's Aaron Blake, in a February 22 column, argues that MAGA Republicans "appear increasingly consumed with trolling their opponents" during Trump's second term.
"A month ago," Blake observes, "Elon Musk rang in President Donald Trump's second term with a straight-arm salute that divided a political nation. Was it meant to be a Nazi salute? Just an awkward gesture? Or was it a deliberate provocation meant to spur all of this debate — and attention? Fast forward a month, and longtime Trump ally Stephen K. Bannon on Thursday offered a very similar gesture at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). He, like Musk, denies it was intended to evoke Nazism. But the leader of France's far-right party saw fit to cancel his own planned CPAC speech over Bannon's 'gesture alluding to Nazi ideology.'"
Blake continues, "These episodes by prominent Trump allies just a month apart would suggest this is indeed a provocation, at the very least. And it would have plenty of precedent; right-wingers in recent years have deliberately provoked similar debates with the 'OK' handsign."
Other recent examples of MAGA trolling, Blake notes, include Trump referring to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as "Governor Trudeau" — as in making Canada the 51st state — and the Trump White House saying of Trump, "Long live the king."
Another is Trump comparing himself to Napoleon Bonaparte.
"Trump has long exploited this dilemma between taking him seriously and taking him literally to great political effect, because it means he can say pretty much anything he wants and not lose support on his side," Blake observes. "It's a social contract with the American people that skews decidedly in Trump's favor. The downside of the public's built-up tolerance for it, though, is that nobody really knows where the trolling ends and the potentially troublesome begins."
Steve Bannon, host of the "War Room" vodcast and former White House chief strategist for the first Trump Administration, famously described MAGA's approach as "flood the zone with s---" — meaning create as much chaos as possible if order to overwhelm and exhaust political opponents. And the Washington's Aaron Blake, in a February 22 column, argues that MAGA Republicans "appear increasingly consumed with trolling their opponents" during Trump's second term.
"A month ago," Blake observes, "Elon Musk rang in President Donald Trump's second term with a straight-arm salute that divided a political nation. Was it meant to be a Nazi salute? Just an awkward gesture? Or was it a deliberate provocation meant to spur all of this debate — and attention? Fast forward a month, and longtime Trump ally Stephen K. Bannon on Thursday offered a very similar gesture at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). He, like Musk, denies it was intended to evoke Nazism. But the leader of France's far-right party saw fit to cancel his own planned CPAC speech over Bannon's 'gesture alluding to Nazi ideology.'"
Blake continues, "These episodes by prominent Trump allies just a month apart would suggest this is indeed a provocation, at the very least. And it would have plenty of precedent; right-wingers in recent years have deliberately provoked similar debates with the 'OK' handsign."
Other recent examples of MAGA trolling, Blake notes, include Trump referring to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as "Governor Trudeau" — as in making Canada the 51st state — and the Trump White House saying of Trump, "Long live the king."
Another is Trump comparing himself to Napoleon Bonaparte.
"Trump has long exploited this dilemma between taking him seriously and taking him literally to great political effect, because it means he can say pretty much anything he wants and not lose support on his side," Blake observes. "It's a social contract with the American people that skews decidedly in Trump's favor. The downside of the public's built-up tolerance for it, though, is that nobody really knows where the trolling ends and the potentially troublesome begins."
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