An Eyewitness to Trump’s Dictatorial Dream of Crushing Blue State Opposition on His Way to Becoming An American Fuhrer
We begin with an eyewitness to Trump’s provocative use of a federalized National Guard mobilized against the stance by California’s governor and LA’s mayor and sent in response to a minor demonstration that resulted in an escalation which attracted larger demonstrations over the weekend, providing Trump with the images Fox News amplified to justify his use of the Insurrection Act and possibly the declaration of martial law. Now that Trump has escalated further by mobilizing 700 U.S. Marines in response to the LA protests and Governor Newsom’s lawsuit, we speak with Dr. Manuel Pastor, a Distinguished Professor of Sociology and American Studies & Ethnicity at the University of Southern California where he also directs the Equity Research Institute and is co-Director of USC’s Center for the Study of Immigrant Integration. His books include Just Growth: Inclusion and Prosperity in America’s Metropolitan Regions and Uncommon Common Ground: Race and America’s Future.
With Trump Itching to Provoke an Insurrection to Justify a Dictatorship, Has Los Angeles Played Into His Hands?
Then we examine whether Trump’s apparent itching to provoke an insurrection to justify the dictatorship he yearns for that his idol Putin has is underway, now with the opening salvo exploding on the streets of Los Angeles over the weekend. Joining us is John Lawrence, a visiting professor at the University of California, Washington Center who worked in the House of Representatives for 38 years and served as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s chief of staff for 8 years. He is the author of Arc of Power: Inside Nancy Pelosi’s Speakership, 2005-2010 and a new historical novel, Sherlock Holmes and The Case of the Revolutionary Daughter. He blogs at DOMEocracy, where his latest article is “Trump’s Reichstag Moment.”
Trump’s Dual Strategies of Scaring Off Protests and Instigating Provocations to Enact Fascism
Then finally, we speak with Barbara Walter, the Rohr Professor of International Affairs at the School of Global Policy and Strategy at the University of California San Diego and one of the world’s leading experts on civil wars, violent extremism, and domestic terror. The author of five books, her latest is the New York Times bestseller How Civil Wars Start and How to Stop Them. She joins us to assess Trump’s two-pronged strategies of scaring off protests against him and instigating provocations to justify a fascist takeover.