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The Essence of Tyranny: Trump Is Rapidly Gaining a Monopoly on the Use of Force
In every part of the government that involves the use of force, Trump is putting into power people who are more loyal to him than they are to the United States.
Feb 26, 2025
What is occurring now in the United States has very little to do with making the government more “efficient,” or rooting out “incompetence," or “depoliticizing” parts of government that should be nonpartisan.
Nor is it motivated chiefly by President Donald Trump’s desire get rid of “DEI” and “woke,” or “weaponize” law enforcement, or establish white Christian nationalism, or wreak vengeance on his enemies.
The real story is this.
In every part of the government that involves the use of force—the military, the investigation and prosecution of crimes, the authority to arrest, the capacity to hold individuals in jail—Trump is putting into power people who are more loyal to him than they are to the United States.
As he tries to consolidate power, we must protect the institutions in our society still able to oppose Trump’s tyranny—independent centers of power that can stop or at least slow him.
He has purged (or is in the process of purging) at the highest levels of the Department of Defense, the Justice Department, the Department of Homeland Security, the Inspectors General, and the FBI, anyone who is not personally loyal to him.
Trump is rapidly gaining a personal monopoly on the use of force. This is his most fundamental goal. This is the essence of tyranny.
On Friday, he fired Air Force General CQ Brown Jr. as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff—the nation’s highest-ranking military officer, as well as the principal military adviser to the president, secretary of defense, and National Security Council.
This was followed by the firings of Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Lisa Franchetti and Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force General Jim Slife.
The media sees the firings as “part of a campaign to rid the military of leaders who support diversity and equity in the ranks.” This may be part of Trump’s motivation, but it is not the major driver. The firings are part of a campaign to purge the Defense Department of leaders who are not totally loyal to Trump.
For Brown’s replacement, Trump has nominated retired Air Force Lt. General John Dan “Razin” Caine—a career fighter jet pilot.
Caine has not served in any of the positions—Joint Chiefs vice chairman, chief of staff for one of the branches of the armed service, or head of a combatant command—that nominees are legally required to have held in order to be nominated. By law, a president may waive those requirements if he “determines such action is necessary in the national interest.”
Trump isn’t putting Caine in this pivotal position because of the national interest. He’s putting Caine there because of Caine’s unequivocal personal loyalty to Trump. Trump boasted to an audience at last year’s Conservative Political Action Conference that Caine had told him, “I love you, sir. I think you’re great, sir. I’ll kill for you, sir.”
The same is occurring at the Justice Department, where Emil Bove, Trump’s former criminal lawyer who’s now the chief enforcer there, is imposing a Trump loyalty test on prosecutors—demanding they comply with Trump’s demands, however unacceptable and incompatible with norms, or leave.
It’s no accident that Bove has targeted the Justice Department’s most powerful officials and divisions—shaking up the national security division, insisting that the FBI’s acting leadership turn over a list of agents who worked on the Capitol riot investigations, and targeting the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York (the most prestigious U.S. attorney’s office in the country, known for guarding its independence).
Trump says he’s “depoliticizing” law enforcement in response to former President Joe Biden’s supposed bow to partisan politics. But Biden’s actions had nothing to do with partisan politics. And, ironically, neither are Trump’s: His are about personal loyalty.
On Sunday night, Trump announced that MAGA podcaster Dan Bongino will be deputy director of the FBI, alongside newly installed chief Kash Patel. Bongino is a former cop, Secret Service agent, conspiracy theorist, and Fox News commentator who joined Trump’s MAGA world in the 2010s and now hosts a popular podcast.
The media sees this as another example of Trump embracing Fox News (Bongino is the 20th ex-Fox News host, journalist, or commentator to bag a senior job in the new Trump administration).
But that’s not it. Bongino’s most important attribute is the same as Patel’s—unswerving personal loyalty to Trump. As elsewhere, Trump is turning the FBI into an extension of his personal will.
Every tyrant throughout history has gained a personal monopoly on the use of force so he can impose his will on anyone, for any purpose. Tyrants achieve this by delegating power only to people personally loyal to them.
Trump is even testing the personal loyalty of federal judges.
“He who saves his Country does not violate any Law,” Trump recently posted on social media (a direct nod to Napoleon and other dictators), attached to a headline that his administration refuses to obey a district court order unfreezing billions of dollars in federal grants.
All this is happening just as Trump is effectively handing over large swaths of the world to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping—the only world leaders he respects and understands, because they, too, are tyrants.
On the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the United States voted with Russia, North Korea, Iran, and 14 other authoritarian Moscow-friendly countries against a United Nations resolution condemning Russian aggression in Ukraine and calling for the return of Ukrainian territory. The resolution passed overwhelmingly nonetheless.
Why am I telling you this when you’re probably already feeling rage and despair over what’s happening? Because seeing the whole for what it truly is — rather than being upset by this or that part of it — is essential for fighting back.
We—the vast majority of people in the United States—do not want to live in a dictatorship. Yet we now have a president and a regime bent on an authoritarian takeover of America and on joining the other major authoritarians of the world.
As he tries to consolidate power, we must protect the institutions in our society still able to oppose Trump’s tyranny—independent centers of power that can stop or at least slow him. Not this Congress, tragically, but federal courts and judges. Many of our state governors and attorneys general, state legislatures, and state courts. Perhaps even our state and local police. Hopefully, our communities.
Ultimately this will come down to our own courage and resolve: To engage in peaceful civil disobedience. To organize and mobilize others. To fight against hate and bigotry. To fight for justice and democracy.
Remember this: Tyranny cannot prevail over people who refuse to succumb to it.
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Patel Taps Far-Right Misinformation Peddler Dan Bongino for Deputy FBI Director
"I know this feels like a bad dream," said one Democratic senator. "It isn't."
Feb 24, 2025
In a move cheered by the MAGA faithful but derided by critics, FBI Director Kash Patel picked Dan Bongino—a former New York City police officer and Secret Service agent turned Fox News and podcast host known for spreading right-wing conspiracy theories—as the agency's deputy director.
In what he called "great news for Law Enforcement and American Justice," U.S. President Donald Trump took to his Truth Social site to announce Patel's selection of Bongino for the number two FBI post.
On Monday, Bongino said in a statement: "My career has always been about service. I'm here to work. I'm here to lead. And I'm here to ensure that America's law enforcement institutions uphold the values and integrity they were built upon."
Patel congratulated Bongino, whom he called a "warrior."
"With Pam Bondi as our new attorney general, we are assembling a team focused on restoring public trust, upholding the rule of law, and ensuring justice is served," Patel said on Monday.
The Bulwarkreported Monday that the FBI Agents Association issued a memo implying that Patel broke a commitment he made to appoint "an on-board, active special agent" as deputy director, "as has been the case for 117 years."
Critics lambasted Patel's pick, with progressive podcast host David Paskman
writing on the Bluesky social media site, "We're so screwed."
Adam Goldman and Devlin Barrett wrote in The New York Times: "The combination of Mr. Patel and Mr. Bongino will represent the least experienced leadership pair in the bureau's history. It is also all but certain to prompt concerns about how the men, who have freely peddled misinformation and embraced partisan politics, will run an agency typically insulated from White House interference."
Some critics expressed fears that Trump will use Patel and Bongino to attack political opponents.
Others called Bongino a "grifter."
Bongino worked as a New York police officer from 1995-99 and as a Secret Service agent from 1999-2011, leaving the agency to run for U.S. Senate—the first of three unsuccessful political campaigns.
After failing in politics, Bongino became a popular conspiracy theorist on social media and right-wing talk radio. In addition to hosting his own Fox News program from 2021-23 and a podcast with millions of listeners, he has frequently appeared on Alex Jones' Infowars fake news program. He also hosted a show on the National Rifle Association's defunct online video channel.
Bongino is the author of more than half a dozen books, some of them promoting conspiracy theories about the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections. He quickly became one of the most strident purveyors of Trump's "Big Lie" that the 2020 election was stolen by the so-called "deep state" and Democrats.
Since then, Bongino has used his platforms to amplify conspiracy theories and lies about topics including the January 6, 2021 U.S. Capitol insurrection and the Covid-19 pandemic. He was banned from both YouTube and Google's ad service for spreading pandemic-related misinformation. In 2020, The New York Times included him on its list of "misinformation superspreaders."
At times, Bongino seemed to relish his notoriety, once explaining that "my entire life right now is about owning the libs."
Last year, the purportedly non-political appointee ripped "scumbag commie libs," the "biggest pussies I've ever seen," in a vague threat posted on Elon Musk's social media site X.
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Senate GOP Confirms 'Unqualified Extremist' Kash Patel to Lead FBI
"Senators who disregarded the clear and present danger of Patel's nomination have only made our nation less safe," said one critic.
Feb 20, 2025
Government watchdogs said Thursday that Republicans in the U.S. Senate had demonstrated that "political fealty" to President Donald Trump takes precedence over the nation's best interests when they voted to confirm Kash Patel, a conspiracy theorist and former federal prosecutor, to lead the FBI.
Patel has joined Trump in threatening to prosecute journalists and written a children's book elevating the baseless claim that Trump was the winner of the 2020 election—but has shown what Tony Carrk, executive director of Accountable.US, called a "total lack of relevant experience to lead the FBI," potentially placing the country in danger of national security threats as the head of the top law enforcement agency will likely place his focus on enacting political revenge on Trump's political opponents.
"If and when Trump FBI Director Patel follows through on his threats to trample democratic norms and jail journalists and political critics, the Republican senators who allowed it will be every bit as responsible," said Carrk. "If and when Patel undermines our national security interests in service to the foreign adversary-linked companies he got rich consulting for, senators who voted yes will have no one to blame but themselves."
"Senators who disregarded the clear and present danger of Patel's nomination have only made our nation less safe and more susceptible to foreign influence," added Carrk.
All but two Republican senators voted to confirm Patel, with Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) joining the Democrats in opposing him.
"Patel's confirmation is a direct threat to the safety and freedoms of every American, and every Republican senator who voted for him owns what comes next."
The rest of the Senate GOP voted to hand Trump "exactly what he wanted: a political enforcer at the helm of the FBI," said Christina Harvey, executive director of Stand Up America.
"Kash Patel is an unqualified extremist who openly promised to go after Trump's perceived enemies, including members of Congress, journalists, and law enforcement officials," said Harvey. "No FBI director in history has been so unqualified for the job. Patel's confirmation is a direct threat to the safety and freedoms of every American, and every Republican senator who voted for him owns what comes next."
Republicans who supported Patel's confirmation, said Public Citizen co-president Lisa Gilbert, "made it clear that their loyalty is not to the American people or democracy, but to the increasingly authoritarian leadership of Donald Trump."
In 2023, Patel told former Trump adviser Steve Bannon that he would "go out and find the conspirators, not just in government but in the media. We're going to come after the people in the media who lied about American citizens who helped Joe Biden rig presidential elections."
In addition to pushing election denial conspiracy theories and threatening journalists, Patel has embraced the QAnon movement—identified by the FBI itself as a domestic terrorism threat—and expressed a desire to dismantle the law enforcement agency, replacing its headquarters with a "museum for the deep state."
He has also threatened to retaliate against thousands of FBI agents who have investigated the violent riot perpetrated by Trump supporters on January 6, 2021, aimed at overturning the 2020 election results.
"Patel's confirmation is a clear signal that federal law enforcement will be weaponized for political revenge," said Wendy Via, co-founder of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE). "His own words lay out the blueprint—silencing critics, dismantling oversight, and punishing those he deems enemies. This is authoritarianism, not justice."
The FBI, said GPAHE, cannot be seen as "an independent institution" with Patel at the helm.
"It has become a weapon in a broader strategy to suppress dissent and reshape American governance in Trump's image," said the group. "As democracy crumbles under the weight of extremism, Patel's record signals that federal law enforcement will no longer serve the rule of law—it will serve the political ambitions of those in power."
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