I say it's a blitzkreig. By Hal M. Brown

Robert Hubbell titles his Substack today "It's a Coup."

He writes:

Musk and Trump's unlawful actions go far beyond unauthorized “cuts” accomplished by computer hacking; they extend to the extinguishment of entire agencies and departments created and funded by Congress under the authority of Article I of the Constitution.

So, the “cuts” and “closures” are not merely “controversial,” or “disputed,” or “illegal.” They overthrow the constitutional order and separation of powers by claiming that the president exercises the authority granted to Congress in Article I of the Constitution.

That is a coup. There is no other word for it.

Paul Krugman defines the Trump coup with a more accurate word:

For what’s happening in America right now is an attempted autogolpe.

Latin American readers are surely familiar with the term. An autogolpe is literally a “self-coup” — when a legitimately elected leader uses his position to seize total control, eliminating legal and constitutional restraints on his power. Are Musk and Trump trying to pull off an autogolpe here? Of course they are. And they are doing so with, as far as I can tell, the full support of every Republican in the House and the Senate.

You should look at everything they do through that lens. Yes, we can ask whether a policy move makes sense in terms of its announced goals. But you should also always ask, “How does doing this serve the autogolpe?””

This is from Paul Krugman's Substack.

Krugman says tomatoes, Hubbell says tomatohs. Either way one says it, it describes how Trump is attempting to become a dictator.

There is another word to describe what Trump is doing. He is engaged in a multi-front assault on democracy. If this was literally warfare, there is a word we could use to describe it. That word is "invasion." However, considering the speed of this invasion and the methods he is using, it more appropriately should be called a blitzkrieg. It is fitting that this is a German word meaning "lightening war."

This is the word used to describe the Nazi tactic which was intended to avoid a prolonged war. This is from the Holocaust Encyclopedia:

"Blitzkrieg," a German word meaning “Lightning War,” was Germany’s strategy to avoid a long war in the first phase of World War II in Europe. Germany's strategy was to defeat its opponents in a series of short campaigns.

Germany quickly overran much of Europe and was victorious for more than two years by relying on this new military tactic of "Blitzkrieg." Blitzkrieg tactics required the concentration of offensive weapons (such as tanks, planes, and artillery) along a narrow front. These forces would drive a breach in enemy defenses, permitting armored tank divisions to penetrate rapidly and roam freely behind enemy lines, causing shock and disorganization among the enemy defenses. German air power prevented the enemy from adequately resupplying or redeploying forces and thereby from sending reinforcements to seal breaches in the front. German forces could in turn encircle opposing troops and force surrender.

Here's their illustration:

Imagine Trump and his army being Germany and all the countries being the American agencies he's assaulted with tanks, the institutions he's shelled with artillery, and the Constitution he is dropping bombs on.

Addendum:

When I woke at 2:00AM and couldn’t fall asleep worrying about what Trump was doing to our democracy I originally thought I'd title this “The Second Longest Day” and refer to the book and movie about D Day. Here’s how that Substack would begin:

Trump infamously declared that he would only be a dictator on day one. This reminds me of D Day and how it was dramatized in the book and movie “The Longest Day.” In fact, D Day is said to have lasted 85 days from June 6, 1944 to August 30, 1944 when Allied forces crossed the Seine River. D Day was as much of a blitzkrieg as the Nazi invasion of Europe.

The outcome of the Allied blitzkrieg saved the free world from Hitler and Nazi domination. The outcome of the Trump and the MAGA blitzkrieg is yet to be determined.

Related from yesterday about what we can learn from the Underground reistance during World War II:

Update:

My real life friend, Dianna Jackson, wrote an essay in her Substack, Hiccups Happen, titled “Milquestoast is Normal”.

She begins:

If only the news organization at this newspaper (The NYTimes) had the courage to blare out the news on the front page, above the fold. Good grief. What will it take for them wake up and call a cup of coffee a cup of coffee? Good headline? TRUMP AND ELON MUSK ARE TAKING OVER THE GOVERNMENT BY UNLAWFUL MEANS Or how about this? AS A CONVICTED FELON, TRUMP IS IN VIOLATION OF THE CONSTITUTION. Doesn't an old lady like the Times need to scream out the news that they are attempting to destroy the rule of law? Milquetoasting is normal. None of this is normal. Besides that, the entire first section of the paper should spell it all out not just once, but every week. IMHO.

I agree with her. Another headline, using my word, would be “Trump, Musk, and MAGA on blitzkrieg to destroy democracy.”