Dictatorship Is as Dictatorship Does

The lower President Biden sinks in the polls, the more outlandish his claims about his likely 2024 opponent become. He insists that the main reason he is running for another term is that former President Trump poses an existential threat to “our democracy.” Recently, for example, Biden equated Trump’s speeches with the “language you heard in Nazi Germany in the ‘30s.” This is an increasingly popular theme with Trump’s antagonists. TDS victim Liz Cheney recently told CBS News that electing Trump was analogous to “sleepwalking into dictatorship.” Trump, on the other hand, says that Biden is the real threat: “Joe Biden is the destroyer of American democracy.”

Biden knew perfectly well he had no power to cancel student debt. Still, he tried to push it through pursuant to the HEROES Act.

In a healthy political environment with a properly functioning Fourth Estate, the voters could easily differentiate between fact and fiction in this surreal debate. Sadly, the legacy media amounts to little more than the propaganda arm of the Democratic Party. There are still honest news outlets — like the one you’re reading now — but many are being systematically suppressed on behalf of the government through entities such as Newsguard that ostensibly identify and demonetize purveyors of “misinformation.” But authoritarian regimes have long been with us and historically literate voters know their basic traits. Thus, the dictatorial tendencies of Biden and Trump can be ascertained by asking a few basic questions:

Which of the two made history by ordering the indictment of a former president who happens to be his main rival in the 2024 election?

This is a classic hallmark of totalitarian regimes and anyone who doubts that Biden gave the final go ahead on that outrage is delusional. There isn’t the slightest possibility that Attorney General Merrick Garland or Special counsel Jack Smith would have taken such an unprecedented step without Oval Office approval. Does this make Biden a dictator? Ask Alexey Navalny, Vladimir Putin’s most prominent political opponent.

Which of the two ordered 100 million Americans to get the COVID-19 vaccination, saying he was losing patience with those who refused it?

Biden’s imperial edict was not merely unconstitutional, it was idiotic, considering what we now know about the vaccine’s efficacy (or lack thereof). Fortunately, the Supreme Court blocked enforcement for most employers, though it did allow a more limited requirement for health care workers. If the Court hadn’t struck down the mandate, companies with more than 100 employees could have been fined as much as $700 thousand.

Which of the two ordered the EPA to impose draconian carbon emission caps that would have endangered the stability of the nation’s power grid?

Biden directed the EPA to attempt an end run around Congress by dramatically overreaching its constitutional authority under Section 111 of the Clean Air Act. Once again, the Supreme Court was forced to step in. Chief Justice Roberts, writing for a 6-3 majority, put it thus: “A decision of such magnitude and consequence rests with Congress itself, or an agency acting pursuant to a clear delegation from that representative body.”

Which of the two directed the CDC to extend the so-called “eviction moratorium” beyond the expiration date set by Congress in the 2020 CARES Act?

The original expiration date for the moratorium under the CARES Act was July 25, 2020. Congress subsequently extended the date to January of 2021. On January 20, 2021 Biden directed the CDC to “temporarily” extend the moratorium, whereupon SCOTUS warned the Biden administration that only Congress had the authority to do so. Biden ignored the Court, which struck down the CDC moratorium in August of 2021. (READ MORE: The Scariest SCOTUS Case This Term)

Which of the two attempted to bypass Congress and the courts to “forgive” $400 billion in student loans in a transparent vote-buying scheme?

Biden knew perfectly well he had no power to cancel student debt. Still, he tried to push it through pursuant to the HEROES Act, passed after the 9-11 attacks to give the Education Secretary the power to provide temporary relief to some borrowers during a national emergency. Biden destroyed that argument himself by declaring the pandemic over on 60 Minutes. SCOTUS agreed and struck down the scheme on July 10, 2023.

At the time, Biden signaled that he would defy the Court: “This fight is not over … I will stop at nothing to find other ways to deliver relief to hard-working middle-class families.” And, like any genuine autocrat, he has demonstrated that no ruling by a mere court of law will stop him from implementing his illegal vote-buying scheme. His Education Department proudly boasts, “In total, the Biden-Harris Administration has approved more than $116 billion in student loan forgiveness for more than 3.4 million borrowers.” As recently as last week, the White House website announced that the plan continues apace: “Today my Administration is approving another $4.8 billion in student debt cancellation for 80,300 people.”

All of which brings us back to the dire warnings Biden and the corporate media have issued about the danger to the republic that Donald Trump allegedly represents. Yet, it’s difficult to remember him siccing the Justice Department on any of his political opponents with the obvious intention of jailing them. Like all presidents, Trump had a few decisions struck down by SCOTUS, but can anyone remember him simply ignoring the Court’s rulings and continuing to pursue a policy the justices declared unconstitutional? If you consider the questions listed above, and they just scratch the surface, it isn’t difficult to determine which of these two men have an affinity for authoritarianism. It certainly isn’t former President Trump.

https://spectator.org/dictatorship-is-as-dictatorship-does/