Trump has the whip hand now, but …
Artists and writers often seem to be ahead of the rest of us. Sixty years ago, TV’s “Lost in Space” featured the memorable phrase “resistance would be futile.” That evolved into a 1976 “Dr. Who” episode with a character saying, “resistance is futile now,” and the more recent “resistance is futile,” a catchphrase of the Borg in 1990s installments of “Star Trek.”
Today, a couple decades on, the phrase may come to mind as we see Congress and the Senate, as well as some courts and media magnates, roll over before the outrages of the Trump Administration. Barely a month into its tenure, this gang seems like an irresistible juggernaut, neutering or “assimilating” everything in its path, making a mockery of supposed checks and balances.
But is it just a matter of time before a credible resistance arises? Will Americans come to realize the depredations they are dealing with? Most Americans didn’t vote for Trump, and it may be that the tally of those disgusted by him will grow. As more people are hurt by his efforts to replace our government with a patronage system beholden to the president, will national revulsion rise?
Certainly, there’s plenty of reason in the short term for discouragement.
Department of Justice lawyers, such as former Chief Justice Roberts’ clerk Hagan Scotten and former Antonin Scalia clerk Danielle Sassoon, who resigned rather than drop the prosecution of Trump toady Eric Adams in New York are making a courageous and self-sacrificing statement, but surely the administration hacks will find willing replacements. The gutting of the federal workforce seems to be proceeding after a momentary legal hiccup. The approvals of Trump’s clown cabinet continue with an erratic former cultist now running intelligence, a wacko non-scientist running health and human services and a womanizer and abuser with a drinking problem now running defense. And Trump’s deportations are likely to have a major economic impact.
Globally, the sellout of Ukraine in a private Trump-Putin deal has people throughout the West alarmed, but it’s not clear that resistance by Europeans will amount to anything. Tariffs are poised to poison international relations and renew inflation at home with nary a peep from Trump supporters who thought their boy would lower their grocery prices. And efforts to take over Greenland, parts of Panama and even Canada seem to be proceeding.
So, is there any reason to believe resistance will be anything but futile? Well, courageous folks in the press continue to shine a spotlight on the pernicious effects of these Trumpian moves. They highlight the deadly global costs of the attack on USAID. They draw attention to the corruption of an Adams. They detail the shortcomings of the Cabinet buffoons and make note of the spinelessness of nearly all the Senate Republicans. They highlight protests, such as the dissent by military families in Germany on the visit of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Yes, the president is doing his best to muzzle the press. He has cowed some media magnates, such as Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos and Disney head Jeff Iger, and intimidated Meta chief Marc Zuckerberg. Trump’s Federal Communications Commission is doing its best to stifle critical reporting at CBS and NPR. He is ham-handedly trying to bludgeon the Associated Press into accepting his preposterous Gulf of America coinage.
But the spotlights, for now, continue to be trained on Trump’s overreaches and shortcomings. To the extent that factual information is power, they are flexing their muscles and letting Americans who are inclined to see the facts have access to them. In time, one would hope, more of the public will see the administration’s faults for what they are.
Even publications such as The Wall Street Journal, whose editorial pages have long genuflected to Trump, are exposing him and his family for the self-dealing frauds they are. A recent piece broke down the ways Trump has cashed in on his election, with tens of millions flowing into his pockets and into organizations he controls. Trump’s profiteering is the very face of corruption.
“The pace and volume of the family’s moneymaking efforts so far are unprecedented, surpassing even the activity of Trump’s first term, which drew condemnation from ethics watchdogs and congressional Democrats,” the WSJ piece reported.
Think tanks are churning out critical analyses. Surprisingly, the conservative Cato Institute is raising red flags about Trump’s deportation plans. “To the extent Trump’s broad deportation promises come to fruition, we can expect many immigrant-dependent industries to suffer, few American workers to gain, many other Americans to lose …” a Cato commentator wrote.
And plenty of capable people are taking to Substack to shed light on the administration’s destructions. They continue to find audiences.
Former CBS anchor Dan Rather, for instance, reported critically on Trump’s Ukraine betrayal, quoting a Washington policy institute, as saying: “Trump has given the upper hand to Putin, a dictator and alleged war criminal. He has given Russia free rein to decide Ukraine’s future, jeopardizing Ukrainian sovereignty, security, and prosperity. This isn’t just about being a bad partner to our European allies; it’s a critical national security failure. A stronger Russia is a bad deal for Ukrainians, it’s a bad deal for Europeans, and it’s a bad deal for Americans who want to deter future Russian aggression against U.S. allies.”
Former U.S. Attorney Harry Litman called out Trump’s Department of Justice for pursuing “the paramount value of whitewashing Trump’s federal offenses.” As he put it, “The day will come when it is remembered with deep shame. For now, it falls on all of us, but especially DOJ alumni, to keep the spotlight on the unprofessional, immoral practices of the Trump crowd and stand up for its victims within the department.”
Former Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin in her new online publication, The Contrarian, recently wrote of how inspectors general whom Trump fired have done far more than Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency to root out overspending. Several IGs have sued. “The IG firings and lawsuit reveal that Musk/Trump either have no idea how to root out waste, fraud, and abuse (e.g. by deploying skilled IGs to investigate and nominating competent people), or that the new clique is interested in disabling government regardless of the harm inflicted on people,” Rubin wrote. “What these characters are plainly NOT doing is reforming government to safeguard the taxpayers’ money.”
Lawsuits such as the IG one continue to climb against the administration’s outrages, with more than 65 now crowding judicial dockets, many with legal actions filed by officials of more than 20 states. The disgust that so many Americans feel is playing out in these actions. The legal moves will take time to wind their way through the courts, but Trump may well suffer some major black eyes before too long.
That will give most Americans victories in the opening rounds at least. And, of course, if Trump defies more courts, as he already has appeared to do, the backlash against him could grow. A contempt of court finding would foul even the seemingly unassailable Trump and would imperil those who serve him. “Public officials are well within the scope of the judiciary’s contempt power,” reported the Brennan Center. “Although federal courts have never held a sitting president in contempt of court, they have used the power to compel action by and punish government agencies, officials, and civil servants responsible for carrying out government actions.”
Already, in the cultural sphere, we are seeing repulsion to Trump arise. His petty move to take over the Kennedy Center in Washington, for instance, has led the more thoughtful artists to thumb their noses at him by cancelling their performances. Some involved in the center, such as “Gray’s Anatomy” creator Shonda Rhimes and musician Ben Folds have quit their associations with the center. One can expect subscriptions to shrivel there.
Certainly, by the midterm elections two years hence, more Americans will be onto Trump’s perfidies. In the end, the races to drive Trump sycophants out of the House and Senate may be the most powerful corrective, the most useful check and balance on a would-be tyrant.
For now, Trump has the whip hand and it’s difficult for thoughtful folks to watch him wield it. But whether his efforts to diminish our democracy will ultimately – and enduringly – pay off for him remain to be seen. The first month has been hellish and, no doubt, future months will bring home the awful costs of recent weeks.
But the pendulum can swing back. Resistance may seem futile now, but we’re in early days. As the casualties of Trumpism mount, there will be reason for hope again. This regime’s downward spiral is likely to accelerate. Thoughtful people will just have to find ways to undo its damage.