Robert Reich: Trump is already abusing his power and acting like a two-bit dictator

[babylonsister]

http://www.rawstory.com/2016/12/robert-reich-trump-is-already-abusing-his-power-and-acting-like-a-two-bit-dictator/


Robert Reich: Trump is already abusing his power and acting like a two-bit dictator
Robert Reich
09 Dec 2016 at 11:35 ET


On the evening of December 7, minutes after a local Indiana union leader, Chuck Jones, criticized Trump on CNN for falsely promising to keep Carrier jobs in the U.S., Trump tweeted, “Chuck Jones, who is President of United Steelworkers 1999, has done a terrible job representing workers. No wonder companies flee country!”

Since that tweet went out, Chuck Jones says “I’m getting threats and everything else from some of his supporters.”

A few days before, Boeing’s CEO Dennis Muilenberg was quoted in the Chicago Tribune gently chiding Trump for being against trade. Muilenberg noted that trade is essential to the U.S. economy, as reflected in the “large and growing percentage of our business” coming from international sales, including commercial jet orders from China.

Moments later, Trump tweeted: “Boeing is building a brand new 747 Air Force One for future presidents, but costs are out of control, more than $4 billion. Cancel order!”

Boeing shares immediately took a hit. As it turns out, Boeing doesn’t even have a $4 billion order to make Air Force One planes.

Trump doesn’t take kindly to anyone criticizing him – not journalists (whom he refers to as “dishonest,” “disgusting” and “scum” when they take him on), not corporate executives, not entertainers who satirize him, not local labor leaders, no one.

The President-elect’s tendency to go after people who criticize him by sending false and provocative statements to his 16 million twitter followers not only imperils those people and their organizations.

It also poses a clear and present danger to our democracy.

Democracy depends on the freedom to criticize those in power without fear of retribution.
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No President or President-elect in history has ever before publicly condemned individual citizens for criticizing him. That occurs in two-bit dictatorships intent on stamping out dissent.

No President or President-elect has ever before bypassed the media and spoken directly to large numbers of his followers in order to disparage individual citizens who criticize him. That occurred in the fascist rallies of the 1930s.

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http://www.rawstory.com/2016/12/robert-reich-trump-is-already-abusing-his-power-and-acting-like-a-two-bit-dictator/

[Ilsa]

1. Trump is a danger to free speech and the First Amendment.

This is how it's done: suppress criticism and speech by making people afraid of retribution by either the govt or fellow radical citizens who unlawfully threaten physical harm.

[Zing Zing Zingbah]

2. Has Trump no decency?

Answer: Yes, he has no decency.

[JCMach1]

3. Everyone: MSM, DEMS, the whole freaking country need to stop normalizing

the actions of this man.

The only question is will there be any democracy left when this man leaves office.

All of the above need to start taking all of this very, very seriously.

They can all begin by stepping away from the Trump distortion field and automatically understand everything he says and does is to further his anti-democracy ideas. There is NOTHING else there... nothing.