I am doing something a little different in this blog featuring Robert Reich. He has recently published two articles that, I think, epitomize the current lack of moral fortitude on the part of virtually all American institutions, people in authority, business leaders and even religious leaders in the face of Donald Trump’s hell-bent drive to become the U.S.’ first dictator. I have reiterated frequently that Trump appears to be driven by three, and only three, major forces: (1) Staying out of jail for the rest of his life; (2) Eliminating anyone, or anything, that, in any way, has ever criticized or contradicted him; and (3) Leveraging the Presidency of the United States to make as much money as he possibly can. It is all about Donald Trump, and nothing else.
I am quoting Robert Reich because his words encapsulate the almost total lack of defense of American democracy by virtually all levels of traditional leadership across the country. Gavin Newsom, the Governor of California, seems to be the only one who has the guts to face-down and oppose Trump’s intimidation campaign and call out his behavior with the most-effective tool to combat authoritarianism, namely humor. These two articles by Robert Reich are produced below, without any editing on my part.
Article 1:
“As Trump and his goons strip Americans of our constitutional rights, the silence of the nation’s leadership class is deafening.
I’m old enough to remember when, during the Vietnam War, university presidents utilized their bully pulpits to remind America of its moral center.
Today, university presidents are cowed. One college president recently told me point blank that “university presidents have no business speaking out on public issues.”
The chancellor of my own university, the University of California at Berkeley – the very place where the “free speech movement” began in 1965 – still hasn’t explained why Berkeley last week handed over to the regime the names of 160 students, lecturers, and faculty members who took part in pro-Palestinian demonstrations. Some are here on visas and terribly vulnerable. Others lack tenure and are vulnerable in different ways.
It’s not just university presidents who have become silent or complicit. Whatever happened to America’s religious leaders?
During prior crises of conscience, such as the struggle for civil rights, the voices of the nation’s religious leaders were loud and confident. They brimmed with moral authority. Today, we hear only the strident voices of the religious right.
What happened to America’s business leaders? They’ve never been especially reluctant to speak out on public issues. For years Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, has acted as a self-appointed spokesperson for American business, sometimes reminding CEOs of their social responsibilities. This time? Utter silence. Other CEOs have gone over to the dark side, competing to suck up to the tyrant-in-chief, eager to lavish him with praise, gush over his accomplishments, even hand him gifts of solid gold bullion.
The leaders of America’s legal community? “I want to keep my head down,” the senior partner of a large firm told me. “We have too much to lose.”
The leaders of the media? They’re busy consolidating their ownership over ever more of the nation’s media and dare not upset Trump’s FCC and toady Brendan Carr. What of their responsibility to protect free speech? They’re far more interested in maximizing the value of their shares of stock.
And whatever happened to the nation’s political leaders? Where are their voices in this time of democratic crisis? Most Republicans are zombies and most Democrats, wimps. Chuck Schumer, the Senate minority leader, won’t even endorse Zohran Mamdani for New York mayor – even though Mamdani is among the most popular young politicians with young voters. We have to wait for Ted Cruz – Ted Cruz! – to sound the alarm about the FCC’s attack on freedom of speech?
The sad fact is that, like so much else Trump’s reign of terror has revealed, America’s leadership class no longer leads. It hides. It has relinquished its obligations to the common good, to freedom of speech, freedom to assemble, freedom from government arrest and imprisonment without due process, freedom to vote and participate in our democracy, freedom from arbitrary and capricious government decisions.
Instead, people in positions of significant responsibility have succumbed to greed, small-mindedness, insularity, and cowardice. During a crisis like the one we’re now in, these so-called leaders have abdicated their moral responsibility.
It’s not all bad that America no longer has a leadership class. True leadership doesn’t necessarily require high office. It doesn’t require a fancy title. Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela, and countless others who have moved the world held no formal positions of power. They had moral power to tell the truth and mobilize others.
The disappearance of America’s leadership class at a time like this means that the rest of us have to be leaders. We can no longer wait to be led by those with the power and authority to lead. You must lead, I must lead, all of us must lead. We are the leaders we’ve been waiting for.”
Article 2:
“It’s getting worse.
Trump’s regime forces late-night comedians off the air. He threatens to take away broadcast licenses of networks whose TV personalities criticize him. Demands that the Attorney General prosecute his enemies. Sues The New York Times for criticizing him. Bombs boats in international waters. Occupies more cities. Accuses the left but not the right of political violence. Targets “liberal” organizations. Targets (and sometimes disappears) people who look Latino. Allows Putin and Netanyahu to do their worst. And so on.
If you are feeling frightened or disoriented, you have every reason. Yet we have learned several lessons about how to deal with this tyrant, and we must practice them.
First, it is not possible to appease him. As Columbia University, several big law firms, and media companies such as ABC and CBS have shown, seeking to appease him only further encourages his tyranny. It is better to fight and litigate than to settle.
Second, it’s hard to stand up to him separately, since every university, law firm, media company, and other target of Trump’s wrath is competing with every other for students, consumers, clients, or advertisers. Which is why it’s important for us to join together to create a united front.
Harvard is doing a good job confronting the regime but would do better if it acted as umbrella for all of higher education – litigating against the regime as a whole and speaking with one voice against its incursions on academic freedom and free speech.
Every tyrant in history has sought to divide and conquer. It’s one of Trump’s major ploys. He wants to attack institutions individually so they don’t join together. He also seeks to divide America — by politics, ethnicity, race, religion, region, sexual orientation and preference – so that we’re fragmented and angry with each other.
The third lesson is that confronting a tyrant requires courage. Large profit-driven corporations like ABC and CBS have none. Columbia and several other universities, as well as the law firms that surrendered to Trump, have shown little. But The New York Times and Wall Street Journal have displayed backbone, as has Harvard. And hundreds of thousands of you have shown courage by making good trouble at Republican town halls and participating in peaceful demonstrations.
Courage can be contagious. It is easier to be courageous if others are courageous, which is why solidarity is essential. Demonstrations show us we’re not alone – that we’re part of a broad movement to take back our democracy. (Mark your calendars for the next No Kings protests, on October 18.)
A fourth lesson: Confronting tyranny is an ongoing effort. It requires tenacity. The oppression we’re experiencing will not end soon. Which is why it’s important to pace ourselves, maintain our strength, and not get burnt out.
Fifth, confronting tyranny requires that we act in small ways against it as well as large. We must correct lies when we hear them coming from anywhere, even members of our family. We cannot tolerate bigotry, from anyone. We have to push our elected representatives – as well as the organizations that employ us and the institutions in which we participate – to fight back.
Sixth, we must look for opportunities to celebrate even small wins and find ways to maintain our hopefulness. Tyrants want those whom they oppress to lose hope so the tyrants can take over all facets of society. We must not ever lose hope.
Finally, the best antidote to feelings of panic, helplessness, and stress is activism. The more we speak up, write our members of Congress, push the leaders of our companies and universities to take strong stands, organize locally, participate in demonstrations, boycott companies that are surrendering to the tyrant (such as canceling our Disney+ subscriptions), and protect the most vulnerable among us – the better we feel and the stronger we become.
My friends, these are among the hardest times most of us have ever experienced. I understand the stress you feel. I share it. But please do not despair. Do not feel helpless. Channel your outrage, anger, and sadness into action. It is up to us to preserve democracy and protect social justice. Our predecessors in this struggle – generations who have sacrificed for these values – demand it. Our children and grandchildren deserve it.”
Foreign affairs journalist Ishaan Tharoor, reporting on Trump’s speech this past week to the United Nations General Assembly, perhaps captured the larger picture of the Trump issue. He said, “A senior foreign diplomat, posted at the U.N., texted me the following message.” “This man is stark, raving mad. Do Americans not see how embarrassing this is?”
