[POST] "Working toward the Führer"

Next up? Judicial "monsters" who need slaying

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Thanks to DOGE, Donald Trump rules the entirety of the executive branch with zero fear of being held accountable for anything he does as president or however much his family enriches itself on the side (the haul is easily a couple billion-plus dollars to-date and possibly as high as $5B).

We’re not yet in Putin-esque range ($70-200B), but give it some time and maybe a third term or a political hand-off to one of his kids.

Thanks to the 2024 election, Congress is completely compliant in this power grab, surrendering all of its oversight function and even its budgeting function — zero political pushback even as the bond market prepares its own harsh judgment.

And when anyone dares step out of line, the threat of being “primaried” is raised — and backed by the millions upon millions of dollars (roughly a quarter billion) Trump has accumulated in various campaign-fundraising-like schemes for a man who cannot run for the presidency again.

That’s the public and political version of cracking the whip. The behind-the-scenes efforts involve encouraging all manner of mafia-like threats be lobbed at the recalcitrant politician, their spouses, even their kids. According to the US Capitol Police, threats against lawmakers, their families, and staff have surged dramatically in recent years to almost 10,000 incidents investigated in 2024 — more than double the number from 2017, when Trump first entered the White House. These threats are delivered via mail, phone calls, social media, and direct confrontations, and often specifically target family members to increase pressure and intimidation.

With the “deep state” now wiped out in the executive branch, and Congress increasingly cowed by threats of physical violence from unseen mobs who can always reference January 6 to demonstrate that, not only can such threats be acted upon but that they’ll be legally forgiven by the current administration, Trump now escalates his pressure campaign against the courts and judges in particular.

His Memorial Day tweet makes clear his intent:

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY TO ALL, INCLUDING THE SCUM THAT SPENT THE LAST FOUR YEARS TRYING TO DESTROY OUR COUNTRY THROUGH WARPED RADICAL LEFT MINDS, WHO ALLOWED 21,000,000 MILLION PEOPLE TO ILLEGALLY ENTER OUR COUNTRY, MANY OF THEM BEING CRIMINALS AND THE MENTALLY INSANE,THROUGH AN OPEN BORDER THAT ONLY AN INCOMPETENT PRESIDENT WOULD APPROVE, AND THROUGH JUDGES WHO ARE ON A MISSION TO KEEP MURDERERS, DRUG DEALERS, RAPISTS, GANG MEMBERS, AND RELEASED PRISONERS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD, IN OUR COUNTRY SO THEY CAN ROB, MURDER, AND RAPE AGAIN — ALL PROTECTED BY THESE USA HATING JUDGES WHO SUFFER FROM AN IDEOLOGY THAT IS SICK, AND VERY DANGEROUS FOR OUR COUNTRY. HOPEFULLY THE UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT, AND OTHER GOOD AND COMPASSIONATE JUDGES THROUGHOUT THE LAND, WILL SAVE US FROM THE DECISIONS OF THE MONSTERS WHO WANT OUR COUNTRY TO GO TO HELL. BUT FEAR NOT, WE HAVE MADE GREAT PROGRESS OVER THE LAST 4 MONTHS, AND AMERICA WILL SOON BE SAFE AND GREAT AGAIN! AGAIN, HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY, AND GOD BLESS AMERICA!

Adolf Hitler was always careful to avoid making direct threats — even after becoming Nazi Germany’s supreme ruler. Instead, he only needed to make clear to his empire of followers whom he wanted targeted and then let them figure out what needed to be done. This was called “working toward the Führer (in German, "dem Führer entgegenarbeiten").

This is how Nazi officials, bureaucrats, and ordinary citizens would receive and interpret and even anticipate Hitler’s wishes: proactively seeking to fulfill what they believed were his goals—even without direct orders. If you want to read up on this, then check out Ian Kershaw’s two-volume biography of Hitler — by far the most complete and fascinating history of the man.

Kershaw famously articulated this dynamic across the two volumes, indicating that this is how you get things like the Holocaust — which Hitler never specifically called for, much less officially ordered but simply put out there as desirable, necessary, and good. Point being, many in the Nazi regime sought to interpret and implement Hitler's perceived desires, often going beyond even explicit instructions to demonstrate loyalty and zeal.

Sound familiar? What is that phrase we keep hearing?

Ah yes, “no longer aligns with the administration’s priorities.”

Under Hitler, such internal competition naturally resulted in extreme measures such as the escalation of anti-Semitic laws and the implementation of the Holocaust. In Kershaw’s astute analysis, the phrase captures how a dictatorship can function not only through top-down commands but also through the self-motivated actions of those seeking to ingratiate themselves with the leader, thereby amplifying the regime’s power and brutality.

Again, feel familiar?

Trump likes to compare himself to Christ, and so, doing what Jesus wants — no matter where it leads — cannot possibly be too extreme, much less wrong. The secular variant of this logic has likewise been already offered by Trump as part of his attacks on judges who dare defy him.

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GUARDIAN: Trump under fire for likening himself to Napoleon amid attacks on judges; President posted ‘he who saves his country does not violate any laws’ quote attributed to French emperor

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Monsters are for what, exactly, Mr. President?

I’ll tell you what they’re good for: they’re good for slaying.

Attorney General Pam Bondi makes clear whom the Department of Justice will and will not investigate:

• Be perceived as a dangerous political opponent? Then you will be investigated and hounded.

• Be perceived as aligning yourself with the America First agenda (working toward the Führer), and you are free to go about your righteous business.

No wonder federal judges are contemplating no longer relying on the DoJ for personal security services as offered by the US Marshals.

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GUARDIAN: US federal judges consider creating own armed security force as threats mount

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Federal judges are discussing a proposal that would shift the armed security personnel responsible for their safety away from the Department of Justice (DoJ) and under their own control, as fears mount that the Trump administration is failing to protect them from a rising tide of hostility.

The Wall Street Journal revealed on Sunday that the idea of creating their own armed security detail emerged at a meeting of about 50 federal judges two months ago. A security committee at the twice-yearly judicial conference, a policymaking body for federal judges, raised concerns about the increasing number of threats against judges following Trump’s relentless criticism of court rulings against his policies.

Think about for a second: federal judges feeling like they no longer enjoy sufficient personal protection by the executive branch while the president publicly calls them “monsters” that need to be dealt with.

The weaponization of the DoJ is complete — mandated by Trump to dismantle any and all resistance to his will throughout the three federal branches … you know, to the degree that his faithful followers won’t have to bother with voting in the future because the “evil” opposition will be sufficiently destroyed.

And so the intimidation campaign unfolds, with the faithful working towards the Führer: judges have faced a wave of intimidation tactics, including bomb threats, "swatting" incidents, and unsolicited deliveries to their homes (typically pizzas) — acts entirely designed to serve as warnings that their safety and that of their families are at risk.

And yes, the murders will come. Our Veep indicates that ruling against Trump is to contradict the will of the people: popularity equals legality — the threat of mobocracy (tyranny of the majority) so warned against across the Federalist Papers.

What makes it worse, of course, is that Trump commands the complete obedience of only about 25 percent of the polled US public.

How much did Hitler command? His electoral support never reached 40%, so his hardcore supporters are widely estimated to have ranged between 15-20% of the public.

Again, feel familiar? An intolerant/intransigent minority coming to power against a disorganized and divided opposition? Destroying all former political norms?

Other than the Constitution itself, the judicial branch is the only thing standing between Trump and total dictatorial control of the federal government. As such, in Trumpian logic, they must be exposed to the “will of the people” — however nasty and even violent it must become to keep the Messiah/Emperor/King/Red Caesar in power.

Trump and his allies have responded to judicial resistance with escalating attacks: calling for the impeachment of judges, publicly denouncing them, threatening budget cuts to the judiciary, and encouraging Congress to restrict judicial authority. Conservative groups have mobilized the masses of right-wing faithful to pressure lawmakers in support of Trump’s efforts to undermine the courts.

Resembling the Hitlerian dynamic of “working toward the Führer,” this building pressure on the judiciary will not remain merely rhetorical or procedural. Those lines of attack essentially normalize political violence against judges and their families. This trajectory mirrors patterns seen in other democracies where authoritarian leaders erode judicial independence to consolidate power, often justifying increasingly aggressive tactics, including public shaming and even violence, as expressions of popular will.

And, if and when that fails? Then we enter the territory of the Executive Branch simply ignoring the courts, and, at that point, the only thing standing between dictatorship and democracy will be the US military, and that’s when civil war becomes a distinct possibility.

Am I disturbed to be spending my Memorial Day contemplating such things?

I am deeply disturbed.

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