Loyal Opposition or Enemy Within? How Trump Changed Politics
Being part of the loyal opposition to TrumpWorld and the MAGA party is a status that may become increasingly dangerous as Trump rolls out his picks to control the U.S. legal system moving forward.
The loyal opposition, that’s me! And maybe a few of you folks as well. What it means is that while we may be opposed to the policies and actions of the party and president in power, we remain loyal to our nation’s principles and its democratic history.
It’s a status that legitimizes, normalizes, and institutionalizes political opposition. But in the age of Trump, it’s also increasingly becoming dangerous territory.
In 2021, just six years after the Donald Trump era began with him descending down that golden escalator, CBS News published a poll saying most Democrats see Republicans merely as political opponents, but most Republicans view Democrats as “enemies.” A poll published last month brought us a step further, finding that Republicans — at least the ones who still think Trump won in 2020— “somewhat” or “strongly” agree that Democrats are “downright evil.”
It’s a hateful view that began with Trump’s untethered attacks against his political foes, the legacy media and the U.S. justice system.
Trump floated his first “treason” accusation in January 2018 against then-FBI agent Peter Strzok. Since then, he’s pinned that label ons Barack Obama, the Justice Department, congressional Democrats, the news media, Republican critic Liz Cheney and a leader of the Black Lives Matter group, among many, many others. But his used of the word ignores its actual definition.
The Constitution basically defines treason as attempting to overthrow the government of one's country, or of assisting its enemies in war. In Trump’s “newspeak,” it means anyone who opposes Trump, the “big brother” of our incoming government.
You may have previously heard the words “newspeak,” “big brother” and let’s throw in the word “doublethink.” George Orwell used them in his book “Nineteen Eighty-Four” about a totalitarian government’s use of language to keep its citizens under control. “Fake News” is another example of the newspeak Trump has pushed on America, along with “Make America Great Again” and my personal favorite, “it’s not a lie, it’s an alternative fact.”
While we’re thankfully nowhere near the situation described in Orwell’s book, you kind of get the idea Trump and his MAGA minions are doing their best to place down stepping stones that might lead us there.
Traditionally, political opponents in the U.S. make their arguments and hope that the majority of voters agree with them. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don’t. If you lose, you try harder the next time. Meanwhile, authoritarian governments worldwide — including, in particular, Vladimir Putin’s Russia — jail or kill their “political enemies.”
You might recall the saga of Alexei Navalny, whose only offense was opposing Putin politically. He was poisoned and, when he survived, sent to a remote Russian prison where he died at age 47.
And now, just three years after that poll was published, we have Kash Patel, nominated by Donald Trump to lead the FBI, and Pam Bondi, nominated to run the Justice Department, both of whom have openly avowed to use their positions to attack Trump’s political foes. Patel has threatened to go after journalists criminally and civilly. He’s called the media “the most powerful enemy the United States has ever seen.”
Bondi, meanwhile, has vowed to investigate and prosecute what she’s referred to as out-of-control federal prosecutors and FBI agents.
The idea of a “loyal opposition” began in 18th-century England to let the out-of-power party express its views without fear of being charged with treason. It’s frankly frightening how far, and how quickly, we’ve moved away from one of the most basic aspects of Democracy.
Healthy democracies recognize how a nation can gain from a diversity of voices and make space for dissent. When politicians treat each other as enemies, however, legislatures replace relevance with pure partisanship. Party discipline reigns supreme … negotiation and compromise are rarely practiced, and debate becomes as venomously personal as it is politically meaningless.
We’ve already seen that happen in Washington, and it’s only going to get worse with Trump as president and MAGA holding a majority in both houses of Congress.
A big contributing factor is that politics is no longer simply about winning elections. It’s now become a dominant religion in the U.S., as David Brooks, a New York Times opinion writer, wrote in October.
“In an increasingly secular age,” he wrote, “political parties are better seen as religious organizations that exist to provide believers with meaning, membership and moral sanctification.” And, yes, we all know about the hatred at the center of the world’s religious wars.
In the view of Trump, the MAGA high priest, anyone who opposes him is a member of the “the enemy from within,” and is more “dangerous” to our country than are Russia and China. He describes political opponents as “very bad people, sick people, radical left lunatics” who are “destroying this country.”
Still, I actually don’t think of the Republicans I know as enemies, or very bad people. I’m sticking with being the “loyal opposition” even if it hurts. You just can’t let all that hate pile up inside you, as it has Donald Trump.
My views won out with eight years of Barack Obama and four of Joe Biden. MAGA’s views won out with Donald Trump. Four years from now, and even two years from now in the mid-term elections, everything could change once more. Or maybe not.
If you haven’t read Orwell’s “Nineteen Eighty-Four,” dig in now. If you haven’t read it for awhile, pick it back up. Some of the similarities to what we’re going through now may catch your interest.
At this point in our country’s history, it seems like almost half of America has fallen for the MAGA versions of “newspeak” and “doublethink.” How about you?