America’s Slide Into Authoritarianism: Another Step Along The Way

Many sources have written on the resignation letter that Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis submitted to President Trump a few days ago. Mattis planned to retire at the end of February, but Trump fired him effective immediately, two months early. The reason Trump fired Mattis is because in his resignation letter, Mattis criticized Trump and his policies. The Washington Post writes this about the firing: “President Trump, who aides said has been seething about news coverage of Defense Secretary Jim Mattis’s pointed resignation letter, abruptly announced Sunday that he was removing Mattis two months before his planned departure and installing Patrick Shanahan as acting defense secretary.”

Clearly, Trump is not concerned about a smooth transition. He moves to eliminate people who are not fawning sycophants or other forms of ‘yes’ people without regard for consequences beyond himself. Independent thinkers are obviously not welcome.

Mattis included the following comments in his December 20 letter of resignation:

One core belief I have always held is that our strength as a nation is inextricably linked to the strength of our unique and comprehensive system of alliances and partnerships. While the US remains the indispensable nation in the free world, we cannot protect our interests or serve that role effectively without maintaining strong alliances and showing respect to those allies.

Similarly, I believe we must be resolute and unambiguous in our approach to those countries whose strategic interests are increasingly in tension with ours. It is clear that China and Russia, for example, want to shape a world consistent with their authoritarian model gaining veto authority over other nations' economic, diplomatic, and security decisions to promote their own interests at the expense of their neighbors, America and our allies.

My views on treating allies with respect and also being clear-eyed about both malign actors and strategic competitors are strongly held and informed by over four decades of immersion in these issues.

Because you have the right to have a Secretary of Defense whose views are better aligned with yours on these and other subjects, I believe it is right for me to step down from my position.

The accusations -- true or false?: In essence, Mattis accuses Trump of not maintaining America’s alliances or showing respect our allies, and not defending America, its allies and the rest of the world against aggressive authoritarianism from China and Russia. Trump and most of his supporters will reject that as nonsense or lies. Others will see it as true.

For those who see the Mattis allegations as true, Trump’s response can be seen as another step by Trump toward authoritarian government because he is moving to establish his own authoritarian brand in America. If Mattis is speaking truth to Trump and American authoritarian populists, they have no choice but to (1) reject the allegations as false, or (2) concede that Mattis is basically right, authoritarianism is better than liberal democracy and American policy and alliances need to be changed.

Since truth and sound reason are antithetical to authoritarians whenever they get in the way, there is no reason to think that Trump or most (~95%?) of his supporters including congressional republicans will accept what Mattis alleges as basically true. The failure of Trump supporters fail to condemn Trump’s policies enables Trump to keep building his authoritarian kleptocracy. In itself, that is another step toward authoritarianism, and another step away from liberal democracy.

B&B orig: 12/24/18