I genuinely fear an army of Trump informant types or direct retribution from the federal agencies he's in charge of. Trump's strong aversion to free speech and expression is frightening in and of itself, but it becomes more disturbing when one understands that a POTUS has enormous federal police agencies under his control. The head of the FBI is appointed by the President. The Director of the CIA is nominated by the President as is the head of the ATF, and the attorney general. In turn, those people make appointments, and for the most part, they don't have to answer for them. And let's not forget the Secretary of Defense either.
Given those facts, it is quite possible for a coordinated plan to harass, intimidate, and arrest Trump's critics to be put into place. It wouldn't take much. Imagine for example, a news anchor sitting at home on a Sunday morning when a knock comes at her door. She opens it to find several men in tactical gear or dark suits. One of them says, "You need to come with us."
Treason is the highest crime known to law. “Treason” consists of two elements: Adherence to the enemy, and rendering him aid and comfort, so that a citizen intellectually or emotionally may favor the enemy and harbor sympathies or convictions disloyal to policy or interest of the United States, but so long as he commits no act of aid and comfort to the enemy there is no treason, and a citizen may take actions which aid and comfort the enemy, but if there is no adherence to the enemy in that, and there is no intent to betray, there is no treason. Cr.Code, § 1, 18 U.S.C.A. § 1; U.S.C.A. Const. art. 3, § 3; Cramer v. United States, 325 U.S. 1 (1945).
I'll tell you this much, this^ is enough to arrest and hold somebody with. Remember now that a POTUS appoints federal judges; and because treason is a federal offense, the case would go to federal court. Any attorney worth their salt would properly allege a number of Constitutional violations for this hypothetical situation and demand a dismissal. But a judge could simply deny the motion for dismissal, and set a trial date based on a few manufactured facts. Now our hypothetical news anchor is looking at a relatively indefinite period of time in jail before trial (max of one year IIRC--I may not RC).
If that happens a few times, it could effectively intimidate the media into silence.
The record of governments doing things like this is no secret, and the comparison of Trump to other tyrannical regimes is not alarmist. He has spoken of shutting down media via libel laws, but that's been laughed off because those are state laws and a POTUS can't make such a thing federal law. But it only takes a brief moment to understand that libel laws are not the only way to do it, and that there are far more efficient ways.
He has said that protesters need to be handled like they used to. Now, take that for whatever you may think it means, but it's imprudent to take it as anything else but a threat to free assembly. He has said we should torture people and kill the families of terrorists. He can appoint and nominate people who will do all of those things before anything can be done to stop it, and all we can do is hope that he has the good nature not to do so.
That's truly frightening. And it's not stereotypical pussy-liberal, my feelings are hurt, I need a safe space fear. Trump has openly expressed admiration for Putin and even Kim Jong Un for the way he controls his country.
The danger is very real and we'll be very lucky as a nation to escape intact.
Given those facts, it is quite possible for a coordinated plan to harass, intimidate, and arrest Trump's critics to be put into place. It wouldn't take much. Imagine for example, a news anchor sitting at home on a Sunday morning when a knock comes at her door. She opens it to find several men in tactical gear or dark suits. One of them says, "You need to come with us."
Treason is the highest crime known to law. “Treason” consists of two elements: Adherence to the enemy, and rendering him aid and comfort, so that a citizen intellectually or emotionally may favor the enemy and harbor sympathies or convictions disloyal to policy or interest of the United States, but so long as he commits no act of aid and comfort to the enemy there is no treason, and a citizen may take actions which aid and comfort the enemy, but if there is no adherence to the enemy in that, and there is no intent to betray, there is no treason. Cr.Code, § 1, 18 U.S.C.A. § 1; U.S.C.A. Const. art. 3, § 3; Cramer v. United States, 325 U.S. 1 (1945).
I'll tell you this much, this^ is enough to arrest and hold somebody with. Remember now that a POTUS appoints federal judges; and because treason is a federal offense, the case would go to federal court. Any attorney worth their salt would properly allege a number of Constitutional violations for this hypothetical situation and demand a dismissal. But a judge could simply deny the motion for dismissal, and set a trial date based on a few manufactured facts. Now our hypothetical news anchor is looking at a relatively indefinite period of time in jail before trial (max of one year IIRC--I may not RC).
If that happens a few times, it could effectively intimidate the media into silence.
The record of governments doing things like this is no secret, and the comparison of Trump to other tyrannical regimes is not alarmist. He has spoken of shutting down media via libel laws, but that's been laughed off because those are state laws and a POTUS can't make such a thing federal law. But it only takes a brief moment to understand that libel laws are not the only way to do it, and that there are far more efficient ways.
He has said that protesters need to be handled like they used to. Now, take that for whatever you may think it means, but it's imprudent to take it as anything else but a threat to free assembly. He has said we should torture people and kill the families of terrorists. He can appoint and nominate people who will do all of those things before anything can be done to stop it, and all we can do is hope that he has the good nature not to do so.
That's truly frightening. And it's not stereotypical pussy-liberal, my feelings are hurt, I need a safe space fear. Trump has openly expressed admiration for Putin and even Kim Jong Un for the way he controls his country.
The danger is very real and we'll be very lucky as a nation to escape intact.
