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Saturday, May 24, 2025 10:35:28 PM
Donald Trump’s ‘chilling effect’ on free speech and dissent is threatening US democracy
"MAGA death threats drive Trump agenda - Violent Threats Against Members
of Congress Spiked as Senate Considered Trump’s Nominees"
See also:
Narcissist and Solipsist, why not both -
Trump isn’t a narcissist – he’s a solipsist. And it means a few simple things
[...]“This is from when Alexander the Great conquered
Egypt,” he told us, as I recall. “It says that
Alexander was the child of Amen, the god of all the
gods, the one who was so great that even to this day
we say his name at the end of prayers.”
“Why would Alexander make that claim?” I asked.
“Because” he said, “it’s a lot easier to seize and hold
power when people think you have a connection to
their idea of divinity.”
While modern Hebrew scholars may disagree about why “amen” ends our prayers, it was a lesson for me that I’ve kept in mind ever since. Beware of leaders asserting connections to divinity, particularly if they’re grasping for political or financial power.
P - Trump is now openly encouraging his followers to think of him as divine or, at least, divinely inspired. And this isn’t a new pitch, it’s just getting a new round of attention."
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=176214195
Published: March 27, 2025 4.30am AEDT
Author Dafydd Townley
Teaching Fellow in US politics and international security, University of Portsmouth
Disclosure statement...
The second Donald Trump administration has already sent shockwaves through the political establishment on both sides of the Atlantic. Overseas, the focus has been on the administration’s apparent dismantling of the post-war international order and Trump’s apparent pivot away from America’s traditional allies towards a warmer relationship with Russia and Vladimir Putin. But within the United States itself, the greatest concerns are associated with administration actions that, for many, suggest a deliberate destruction of American democracy.
Such fears in the US are not isolated to the political elites, but are shared by citizens across the entire nation. But what is also emerging is a concerted assault on people’s ability to push back – or even complain – about some of the measures being introduced by Trump 2.0. This will inevitably result in what is often called a “chilling effect” .. https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/publications/the-concept-of-chilling-effect , where it becomes too hard – or too dangerous – to voice dissent.
Many of Trump’s policies – the mass deportations, the wholesale sacking of public servants by Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (Doge), the decision to revoke birthright citizenship for the children of undocumented immigrants – have been challenged in the courts. The Trump administration is now embroiled in a range of legal challenges. It is here that Trump’s disdain for a legal system that has temporarily blocked the wishes of the president has emerged.
[Insert: [...]Senators may not have confirmed Hegseth at gunpoint—but may have at the threat of a gun being pointed at them.
P - In the few short weeks since the cabinet confirmation battles closed, the Trump administration has issued a litany of illegal and unconstitutional orders, claimed extraordinary powers to seize and deport people without due process, to round up residents and deport them based on their speech, to deny some infants birthright citizenship, to retaliate against law firms and universities based on speech, to dismantle federal agencies and fire watchdogs and commissioners whose jobs are protected by law. The list goes on. Republicans in Congress, meanwhile, have hardly protested. Some are likely on board with all Trump’s actions and nominees. Others may simply fear political retribution. But if the level of threats against members of Congress holds steady, it will be hard to ignore the degree to which violence, or the threat of it, is keeping Trump’s agenda rolling. https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=176235700]
Chilling effect
Judicial decisions calling for the administration to reverse or pause some of these policies have been greeted by Trump and some of his senior colleagues (including Musk and the vice-president J.D.Vance), with noisy complaints at judicial interference in government. Even, in some cases, calls for the impeachment of judges who rule against the government.
Not only did the administration ignore the court’s ruling that suspended the forced expulsion of Venezuelans to El Salvador, some of whom were in the US legally, but Trump attacked the judge on social media calling him a corrupt “radical left lunatic” and called for his impeachment.
This stirred the chief justice of the Supreme Court, John Glover Roberts Jr., to intervene. He reminded the president that America doesn’t settle its disputes, saying that the “normal appellate review process exists for that purpose”. Later, Tom Homan, Trump’s chief adviser on immigration issues, told ABC News that the administration would abide by court rulings on the matter.
The pressure being brought to bear on America’s legal system has not stopped at the judiciary. Trump has recently targeted some of America’s biggest and most powerful law firms, seemingly for no other reason than their acting for clients who have opposed his administration.
On March 25, Trump signed an executive order targeting Jenner & Block .. https://www.ft.com/content/4f1aca93-62b5-419f-9182-a3a10bbe77c6 , one of whose partners, Andrew Weissmann, worked with special prosecutor Robert Mueller on the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. The executive order calls for the firms to be blacklisted from government work and for their employees to have any security clearances removed, for them to be barred from any federal government contracts and refused access to federal government buildings. A death warrant for the firm in other words.
This follows the news that the head of the prestigious law firm Paul Weiss, Brad Karp, had signed a deal with the White House committing to providing millions of dollars worth of pro-bono legal work for causes nominated by the president. He’s also agreed to stop using diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies, which had been faced with a similar fate.
[First big lawyer firm caves... more to follow? weiss did it because it was impactful to
their bottom lines and shareholders... not about fighting for democracy and what is right.
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=175963377]
Silencing dissent
This administration’s chilling effect has also extended to an attack on press freedom. Trump has expelled ..
[Pentagon removes major media outlets, including NBC News, from dedicated workstations in new 'rotation program'
NBC News, The New York Times, NPR and Politico must vacate their office spaces in two
weeks for other news organizations — including at least one that did not request to be added. ]
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/pentagon-removes-major-media-outlets-nbc-news-dedicated-workstations-p-rcna190276 ..
established news organisations from the Pentagon, curtailed access .. https://theconversation.com/white-house-spat-with-ap-over-gulf-of-america-ignites-fears-for-press-freedom-in-second-trump-era-251163 .. to press events for the esteemed Associated Press, and taken control ..
[[...]Controlling the message
The recent decision by the Trump administration to take over selection of pool journalists from the notionally independent White House Correspondents’ Association is unsurprising. The approach is consistent with the first Trump presidency’s refusal to answer questions from journalists who tried to carry out the press’s watchdog function. ]
https://theconversation.com/the-white-house-press-pool-became-a-way-to-control-journalists-trump-is-taking-this-to-new-levels-250960 ..
of the White House press pool, sidelining major media outlets.
These actions mark a significant downgrading of press freedom in America. They are undermining the role of independent journalism in their key function of holding power to account. By restricting access and silencing critical voices, his administration has raised concerns over transparency and the free flow of information in the domestic media landscapes.
Dissent: student activists protest the arrest of Columbia university graduate and Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil. EPA-EFE/Sarah Yenesel
Universities have traditionally been bastions of independent thought. We saw that with the massive protests against US policy towards Israel and Palestine which have roiled campuses during the conflict in Gaza. But universities are also seen by many in the administration as a hotbed of “woke” activism. Accordingly Trump 2.0 has fixed its sights on one of the most prominent US universities: Columbia.
Citing what it says is a repeated failure to protect students from antisemitic harassment, the administration cancelled US$400m (£310 million) of federal contracts with the university. Columbia caved in to the pressure moments before the administration’s deadline passed. It agreed to overhaul its disciplinary procedures and “review” its regional studies programmes, starting with those covering the Middle East.
Columbia’s academic staff are horrified. They are launching legal action against the government, alleging that “the Trump administration is coercing Columbia University to do its bidding and regulate speech and expression on campus”.
Democracy in peril
Why is this all so worrying? The legal system, the media and universities are the pillars of US democratic freedoms. The Trump administration’s undermining of these institutions is a blatant attempt to impose an authoritarian rule by bypassing any counterbalance to executive power. And the US Supreme Court has ruled that he is almost entirely immune from prosecution while doing it.
The checks and balances system of government in the US was designed to ensure that no single branch could dominate the political process. But partisan loyalty, and loyalty to Trump over the party, now outweighs constitutional responsibility for the majority of those within the Republican Party.
[Felt it was Orwell in the first three sentences - "Now I will tell you the answer to my question. It is this. The Party seeks power entirely for its own sake." Guess it felt like that because we are experiencing it today more than we ever have before. It really is spot on isn't it ..
Project 2025: The right-wing wish list for Trump's second term
Related: Project 2025 Would Destroy the U.S. System of Checks and Balances and Create an Imperial Presidency
[...]· Yarvin: “Until this “unitary executive” is so much “more powerful” than the present office that the President considers both the judicial and legislative branches purely ceremonial and advisory — with the same level of actual sovereignty as Charles III today — the “unitary executive” will not work.” “A Conversation About Monarchy”, Gray Mirror, March 12, 2024
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=176213833]
American democracy is under threat. Not from the external existential threats it faced over the past century such as communism and Islamic fundamentalism, but from within its own system. Those Americans who are terrified about this threat are trying to fight back, but Trump’s assault on dissent is so chilling that this is becoming increasingly dangerous.
https://theconversation.com/donald-trumps-chilling-effect-on-free-speech-and-dissent-is-threatening-us-democracy-253139
"MAGA death threats drive Trump agenda - Violent Threats Against Members
of Congress Spiked as Senate Considered Trump’s Nominees"
See also:
Narcissist and Solipsist, why not both -
Trump isn’t a narcissist – he’s a solipsist. And it means a few simple things
[...]“This is from when Alexander the Great conquered
Egypt,” he told us, as I recall. “It says that
Alexander was the child of Amen, the god of all the
gods, the one who was so great that even to this day
we say his name at the end of prayers.”
“Why would Alexander make that claim?” I asked.
“Because” he said, “it’s a lot easier to seize and hold
power when people think you have a connection to
their idea of divinity.”
While modern Hebrew scholars may disagree about why “amen” ends our prayers, it was a lesson for me that I’ve kept in mind ever since. Beware of leaders asserting connections to divinity, particularly if they’re grasping for political or financial power.
P - Trump is now openly encouraging his followers to think of him as divine or, at least, divinely inspired. And this isn’t a new pitch, it’s just getting a new round of attention."
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=176214195
Published: March 27, 2025 4.30am AEDT
Author Dafydd Townley
Teaching Fellow in US politics and international security, University of Portsmouth
Disclosure statement...
The second Donald Trump administration has already sent shockwaves through the political establishment on both sides of the Atlantic. Overseas, the focus has been on the administration’s apparent dismantling of the post-war international order and Trump’s apparent pivot away from America’s traditional allies towards a warmer relationship with Russia and Vladimir Putin. But within the United States itself, the greatest concerns are associated with administration actions that, for many, suggest a deliberate destruction of American democracy.
Such fears in the US are not isolated to the political elites, but are shared by citizens across the entire nation. But what is also emerging is a concerted assault on people’s ability to push back – or even complain – about some of the measures being introduced by Trump 2.0. This will inevitably result in what is often called a “chilling effect” .. https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/publications/the-concept-of-chilling-effect , where it becomes too hard – or too dangerous – to voice dissent.
Many of Trump’s policies – the mass deportations, the wholesale sacking of public servants by Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (Doge), the decision to revoke birthright citizenship for the children of undocumented immigrants – have been challenged in the courts. The Trump administration is now embroiled in a range of legal challenges. It is here that Trump’s disdain for a legal system that has temporarily blocked the wishes of the president has emerged.
[Insert: [...]Senators may not have confirmed Hegseth at gunpoint—but may have at the threat of a gun being pointed at them.
P - In the few short weeks since the cabinet confirmation battles closed, the Trump administration has issued a litany of illegal and unconstitutional orders, claimed extraordinary powers to seize and deport people without due process, to round up residents and deport them based on their speech, to deny some infants birthright citizenship, to retaliate against law firms and universities based on speech, to dismantle federal agencies and fire watchdogs and commissioners whose jobs are protected by law. The list goes on. Republicans in Congress, meanwhile, have hardly protested. Some are likely on board with all Trump’s actions and nominees. Others may simply fear political retribution. But if the level of threats against members of Congress holds steady, it will be hard to ignore the degree to which violence, or the threat of it, is keeping Trump’s agenda rolling. https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=176235700]
Chilling effect
Judicial decisions calling for the administration to reverse or pause some of these policies have been greeted by Trump and some of his senior colleagues (including Musk and the vice-president J.D.Vance), with noisy complaints at judicial interference in government. Even, in some cases, calls for the impeachment of judges who rule against the government.
Not only did the administration ignore the court’s ruling that suspended the forced expulsion of Venezuelans to El Salvador, some of whom were in the US legally, but Trump attacked the judge on social media calling him a corrupt “radical left lunatic” and called for his impeachment.
This stirred the chief justice of the Supreme Court, John Glover Roberts Jr., to intervene. He reminded the president that America doesn’t settle its disputes, saying that the “normal appellate review process exists for that purpose”. Later, Tom Homan, Trump’s chief adviser on immigration issues, told ABC News that the administration would abide by court rulings on the matter.
The pressure being brought to bear on America’s legal system has not stopped at the judiciary. Trump has recently targeted some of America’s biggest and most powerful law firms, seemingly for no other reason than their acting for clients who have opposed his administration.
On March 25, Trump signed an executive order targeting Jenner & Block .. https://www.ft.com/content/4f1aca93-62b5-419f-9182-a3a10bbe77c6 , one of whose partners, Andrew Weissmann, worked with special prosecutor Robert Mueller on the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. The executive order calls for the firms to be blacklisted from government work and for their employees to have any security clearances removed, for them to be barred from any federal government contracts and refused access to federal government buildings. A death warrant for the firm in other words.
This follows the news that the head of the prestigious law firm Paul Weiss, Brad Karp, had signed a deal with the White House committing to providing millions of dollars worth of pro-bono legal work for causes nominated by the president. He’s also agreed to stop using diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies, which had been faced with a similar fate.
[First big lawyer firm caves... more to follow? weiss did it because it was impactful to
their bottom lines and shareholders... not about fighting for democracy and what is right.
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=175963377]
Silencing dissent
This administration’s chilling effect has also extended to an attack on press freedom. Trump has expelled ..
[Pentagon removes major media outlets, including NBC News, from dedicated workstations in new 'rotation program'
NBC News, The New York Times, NPR and Politico must vacate their office spaces in two
weeks for other news organizations — including at least one that did not request to be added. ]
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/pentagon-removes-major-media-outlets-nbc-news-dedicated-workstations-p-rcna190276 ..
established news organisations from the Pentagon, curtailed access .. https://theconversation.com/white-house-spat-with-ap-over-gulf-of-america-ignites-fears-for-press-freedom-in-second-trump-era-251163 .. to press events for the esteemed Associated Press, and taken control ..
[[...]Controlling the message
The recent decision by the Trump administration to take over selection of pool journalists from the notionally independent White House Correspondents’ Association is unsurprising. The approach is consistent with the first Trump presidency’s refusal to answer questions from journalists who tried to carry out the press’s watchdog function. ]
https://theconversation.com/the-white-house-press-pool-became-a-way-to-control-journalists-trump-is-taking-this-to-new-levels-250960 ..
of the White House press pool, sidelining major media outlets.
These actions mark a significant downgrading of press freedom in America. They are undermining the role of independent journalism in their key function of holding power to account. By restricting access and silencing critical voices, his administration has raised concerns over transparency and the free flow of information in the domestic media landscapes.
Dissent: student activists protest the arrest of Columbia university graduate and Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil. EPA-EFE/Sarah Yenesel
Universities have traditionally been bastions of independent thought. We saw that with the massive protests against US policy towards Israel and Palestine which have roiled campuses during the conflict in Gaza. But universities are also seen by many in the administration as a hotbed of “woke” activism. Accordingly Trump 2.0 has fixed its sights on one of the most prominent US universities: Columbia.
Citing what it says is a repeated failure to protect students from antisemitic harassment, the administration cancelled US$400m (£310 million) of federal contracts with the university. Columbia caved in to the pressure moments before the administration’s deadline passed. It agreed to overhaul its disciplinary procedures and “review” its regional studies programmes, starting with those covering the Middle East.
Columbia’s academic staff are horrified. They are launching legal action against the government, alleging that “the Trump administration is coercing Columbia University to do its bidding and regulate speech and expression on campus”.
Democracy in peril
Why is this all so worrying? The legal system, the media and universities are the pillars of US democratic freedoms. The Trump administration’s undermining of these institutions is a blatant attempt to impose an authoritarian rule by bypassing any counterbalance to executive power. And the US Supreme Court has ruled that he is almost entirely immune from prosecution while doing it.
The checks and balances system of government in the US was designed to ensure that no single branch could dominate the political process. But partisan loyalty, and loyalty to Trump over the party, now outweighs constitutional responsibility for the majority of those within the Republican Party.
[Felt it was Orwell in the first three sentences - "Now I will tell you the answer to my question. It is this. The Party seeks power entirely for its own sake." Guess it felt like that because we are experiencing it today more than we ever have before. It really is spot on isn't it ..
Project 2025: The right-wing wish list for Trump's second term
Related: Project 2025 Would Destroy the U.S. System of Checks and Balances and Create an Imperial Presidency
[...]· Yarvin: “Until this “unitary executive” is so much “more powerful” than the present office that the President considers both the judicial and legislative branches purely ceremonial and advisory — with the same level of actual sovereignty as Charles III today — the “unitary executive” will not work.” “A Conversation About Monarchy”, Gray Mirror, March 12, 2024
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=176213833]
American democracy is under threat. Not from the external existential threats it faced over the past century such as communism and Islamic fundamentalism, but from within its own system. Those Americans who are terrified about this threat are trying to fight back, but Trump’s assault on dissent is so chilling that this is becoming increasingly dangerous.
https://theconversation.com/donald-trumps-chilling-effect-on-free-speech-and-dissent-is-threatening-us-democracy-253139
It was Plato who said, “He, O men, is the wisest, who like Socrates, knows that his wisdom is in truth worth nothing”
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